Fermi problems, standard form and prefixes.

As part of an introductory course for 11th Grade we look at calculations, standard form and big/small numbers. This two-lesson activity is based around Fermi problems. Firstly, there are some practical and estimating activities to encourage 'rough' calculations and confidence with big numbers. The second lesson is all about expressing numbers in standard form, gaining a sense of magnitude, and learning the prefixes met all the time in Physics (I mean the kilo, micro etc type ones).