Introduce the concept of exponents. Provide students the definition and write an example on the blackboard. It might help to provide an example of how exponents are used in the real world. For example, finding the area of a square-shaped room involves raising the length of one side to the second power.
Teach how to calculate an exponential operation by multiplying the base number by itself according to the exponent number.
Teach how to combine exponential functions where the base number is the same. For example, (3^2)(3^3) equals 3^5. In other words, the product of two exponents with the same base is the sum of the exponents.
Explain that x^0 is always 1, while x^1 is just x.
Explain that an exponential fraction, such as (x/y)^3, can be simplified as (x^3)/(y^3).
Instruct students how to approach negative exponents. The rule is that a number raised to a negative exponent equals 1 divided by that number raised to the exponent. For example, x^-3 is equal to 1/x^3.