Big Ideas: There is a pattern in our number system when multiplying a number by a power of ten. In fourth grade, students learned that in a multi-digit whole number, a digit in one place represents ten times what it represents in the place to its right. In grade 5, students learn to use whole number exponents to denote powers of ten. Students grapple with why multiplying by a power of ten shifts the digits of a whole number or decimal that many places to the left. Vocabulary: exponent, powers of ten, multiplication, expanded form, standard form Special Materials: base ten blocks