The game Last Man Standing will help students learn and understand math prefix definitions. Write prefix definition statements on index cards. For example "These words have a prefix that means one, two, three, one hundred etc." and place the statements in a bag or basket. The students will stand in a single-file line, pick a card, read the statement and come up with word that contains the correct number prefix. A child who picks "These words have a prefix that means one," may answer unicorn or unicycle. Students who give an incorrect answer will sit down. Continue until one person is left. The last student standing wins the game.
Kids enjoy watching dolphins and other animals. Children will discover the meaning of number prefixes while participating in this fun animal math prefix activity. Remind students that some numbers may have more than one prefix such as one can mean mono or uni. Give several examples. The teacher will print and cut out several beach balls and dolphins from construction paper. Write a math prefix such as oct, bi and tri on the balls and the meanings such as 8, 2, and 3 on the dolphins. Laminate and glue the dolphins to a manila folder. Students will correctly match balls to the dolphins.
Students enjoy playing games while learning. Provide children with blank, nine-square bingo game cards. Create calling cards by writing a variety of number prefixes such as deci, deka, mega etc. on index cards. Write several large numbers and decimals that are multiples of 10 on the board, such as 0.1, 10, 1,000, 100,000 etc. and instruct students to choose numbers from the board and write them on the bingo cards. An adult will call a prefix. Children will place a marker over the correct number on the bingo board. When a student has a full board, the child shouts "Bingo" and the game is over.
A metric prefix is a name or symbol that comes before a unit of measure to create a decimal multiple or sub-multiple. Fifth-grade students will enjoy playing concentration while matching prefix numbers, symbols and units of measure. Write a variety of metric prefixes, symbols and units of measurement on index cards. Make sure each card has a match. Lay the cards face down on a table. Students will pick up two cards and remove the cards when a correct match is found. Continue until all the cards have been correctly matched.