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Significant Figures Stations Activities

Categories Significant Figures , Miscellaneous Activities , Science

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I created these significant figures stations activities for my physical science students to work through as they practice significant figures.

practice worksheet for significant figures

This was my first time ever using stations where different students were doing different activities at the same time. It was great and entirely chaotic!

I set up 5 stations for my students to work through.  I expected my students to be able to work through all 5 stations in one fifty-minute period, but it ended up taking two fifty-minute periods for my students to finish all five stations.

Station 1: Significant Figures Looping Cards

practice worksheet for significant figures

The first station was a set of looping cards.  I found these cards online on TES (link no longer active).  I changed the font, edited the table so each card would be the exact same size, and modified the wording of a few of the questions.  I shared my updated version here . 

Even with the written instructions, my students had trouble getting started with this station.  With most groups, once I showed them how to figure out the first couple of cards they seemed to catch on quickly.

practice worksheet for significant figures

Station 2: Significant Figures Ordering Cards

practice worksheet for significant figures

The next station featured fifteen cards.  Each card has a number that has anywhere from one to five significant figures.  Students didn’t know this, but there were three cards with one significant figure, three cards with two significant figures, etc.

practice worksheet for significant figures

Here are the cards in action:

practice worksheet for significant figures

Students needed to sort the cards by smallest number of significant figures to largest number of significant figures. You can download this set of ordering cards here .

Station 3: Significant Figures Rectangle Puzzle

practice worksheet for significant figures

The next station features a puzzle that can be found on Teachers Pay Teachers .

Students had to assemble these 12 pieces into a 3 x 4 so that the edge of each piece is touching the edge of another piece that has the exact same number of significant figures.

practice worksheet for significant figures

Some of my students had a really hard time wrapping their mind around how this puzzle worked.  Others raced through it.

practice worksheet for significant figures

Station 4: Two Truths and a Lie

This next station was one of my favorites!

practice worksheet for significant figures

Students had to write two truths and a lie involving significant figures using construction paper and markers.  Before the quiz on the next day, students looked at each set of two truths and a lie and tried to determine which was the lie.

I wrote a blog post earlier that has pictures of the various truths and lies they came up with.  You can find that here .

practice worksheet for significant figures

My new document camera from Ipevo came in super handy to display each student’s work for the rest of the class to see.

practice worksheet for significant figures

Station 5: Arithmetic with Significant Figures Task Cards

The last station gave students practice performing arithmetic with significant figures.

practice worksheet for significant figures

Somehow I managed to not take a single picture of my students working at this station.

Here are the 10 questions students were asked to work through:

practice worksheet for significant figures

This station is the one my students struggled with the most.  I had to keep directing them back to their notes over and over and over.  Learn more about this activity and get the file here .

Free Download of Significant Figures Station Directions

Significant Figures Station Instructions (PDF) (935 downloads )

Significant Figures Station Instructions (Editable Publisher File ZIP) (822 downloads )

More Significant Figures Activities and Resources

significant figures poster project example.

Saturday 5th of February 2022

I am a veteran chem teacher doing block scheduling for the first time in a while. Your activities are so creative and will really help break up the period! Thanks!

Sarah Carter

Wednesday 16th of February 2022

So glad you are able to use these activities! I miss teaching science.

Thursday 31st of January 2019

Good Morning,

I just wanted to say thank you so much for this idea. I absolutely love the different stations. I have a couple of questions though. 1. Do you grade this stationed worked and if so how do you grade it? On participation or on correctness? 2. How do you crowd control and make sure the students are actually doing the task at hand? 3. How do you separate the students in groups for these stationed activities?

I apologize for all the questions but I would love to see how you fully went about this. Thank you again. A.J.

GED Teacher - Damon Tinnon

Wednesday 21st of September 2016

Looks great, thank you Elizabeth

Elizabeth Wolf Zook

Check out http://www.mmlsoft.com/index.php/products/tarsia You can make your own tarsia puzzles. I just discovered it and I love it!

Sarah Carter (@mathequalslove)

Saturday 15th of October 2016

Thanks for sharing the link with my readers!

Caitlin Roney

Tuesday 20th of September 2016

I absolutely love your blog. Your ideas are fantastic! How do you find time to blog during/after the school day?!

Basically I just have no life outside of school :)

WorkSheets Buddy

Download Math, Science, English and Many More WorkSheets

Worksheet on Significant Figures | Significant Figures Practice Worksheets

Take the guidance on the concept of Significant Figures by taking the help of Worksheet on Significant Figures. Practice all the problems present in the Significant Figures Worksheets and get a good grip on the topic. Test your subject knowledge by taking the practice tests available on our website. Also, you can easily enhance your problem-solving skills by solving Worksheet on Significant Figures on a daily basis. Assess your preparation standards and concentrate on the areas you are facing difficulty.

Significant Figures Examples with Answers

Check different problems impose on Significant Figures and get a grip on every concept available in the Significant Figures.

1. Find the Number of a Significant Figure in Each of the Following (a) 8.4 (b) 173.6 m (c) 407 g (d) 4.68 m (e) 8.1165 kg (f) 0.054 km (g) 0.00343 l (h) 93.040 mg (i) 30.030300 g (j) 40.00 km (k) 3.600 ml (l) 70.002

(a) There are 2 significant figures available in 8.4. They are 8, 4. (b) There are 4 significant figures available in 173.6 m. They are 1, 7, 3, and 4. (c) There are 3 significant figures available in 407 g. They are 4, 0, and 7. (d) There are 3 significant figures available in 4.68 m. They are 4, 6, and 8. (e) There are 5 significant figures available in 8.1165 kg. They are 8, 1, 1, 6, and 5. (f) There are 2 significant figures available in 0.054 km. They are 5, and 4. (g) There are 3 significant figures available in 0.00343 l. They are 3, 4, and 3. (h) There are 5 significant figures available in 93.040 mg. They are 9, 3, 0, 4, and 0. (i) There are 8 significant figures available in 30.030300 g. They are 3, 0, 0, 3, 0, 3, 0, and 0. (j) There are 4 significant figures available in 40.00 km. They are 4, 0, 0, and 0. (k) There are 4 significant figures available in 3.600 ml. They are 3, 6, 0, and 0. (l) There are 5 significant figures available in 70.002. They are 7, 0, 0, 0, and 2.

2. Round off each of the following correct up to 3 significant figures (a) 57.3628 g (b) 6.31874 kg (c) 44.422 km (d) 60.001 cm (e) 0.0023596 m (f) 0.0024030 l

(a) Given that 57.3628 g. It has 6 significant figures. To round off the given number into 3 significant digits, we need to round it off to 1 place after the decimal. The digit 6 is greater than 5. So, the digit 3 becomes 4, and the digits 6, 2, and 8 disappear. Therefore, 57.3628 g = 57.4 g rounded off to 3 significant figures. (b) Given that 6.31874 kg. It has 6 significant figures. To round off the given number into 3 significant digits, we need to round it off to 2 places after the decimal. The digit 8 is greater than 5. So, the digit 1 becomes 2, and the digits 8, 7, and 4 disappear. Therefore, 6.31874 kg = 6.32 kg rounded off to 3 significant figures. (c) Given that 44.422 km. It has 5 significant figures. To round off the given number into 3 significant digits, we need to round it off to 1 place after the decimal. The digit 2 is less than 5. So, the digit 4 remains 4, and the digits 2, and 2 disappear. Therefore, 44.422 km = 44.4 km rounded off to 3 significant figures. (d) Given that 60.001 cm. It has 5 significant figures. To round off the given number into 3 significant digits, we need to round it off to 1 place after the decimal. The digit 0 is less than 5. So, the digit 0 remains 0, and the digits 0, and 1 disappear. Therefore, 60.001 cm = 60.0 cm rounded off to 3 significant figures. (e) Given that 0.0023596 m. It has 5 significant figures. To round off the given number to 3 significant digits, we need to round it off to 5 places after the decimal. The digit 9 is greater than 5. So, the digit 5 becomes 6, and the digits 9, and 6 disappear. Therefore, 0.0023596 m = 0.00236 m rounded off to 3 significant figures. (f) Given that 0.0024030 l. It has 5 significant figures. To round off the given number to 3 significant digits, we need to round it off to 5 places after the decimal. The digit 3 is less than 5. So, the digit 0 remains 0, and the digits 3, and 0 disappear. Therefore, 0.0024030 l = 0.00240 l rounded off to 3 significant figures.

3. Round off (a) 16.367 g correct to the three significant figures. (b) 0.00949 mg correct to the two significant figures. (c) 0.005618 g correct to the one significant figures. (d) 28.303 mm correct to the four significant figures. (e) 33.422 km correct to the four significant figures. (f) 4.0832 kg correct to the two significant figures. (g) 0.004628 mm correct to the one significant figures.

(a) Given that 16.367 g. It has 5 significant figures. To round off the given number into 3 significant digits, we need to round it off to 1 place after the decimal. The digit 6 is greater than 5. So, digit 3 becomes 4, and the digits 6, and 7 disappear. Therefore, 16.367 g = 16.4 g rounded off to 3 significant figures. (b) Given that 0.00949 mg. It has 3 significant figures. To round off the given number into 2 significant digits, we need to round it off to 4 places after the decimal. The digit 9 is greater than 5. So, the digit 4 becomes 5, and the digit 9 disappear. Therefore, 0.00949 mg = 0.0095 mg rounded off to 2 significant figures. (c) Given that 0.005618 g. It has 4 significant figures. To round off the given number into 1 significant digit, we need to round it off to 3 places after the decimal. The digit 6 is greater than 5. So, the digit 5 becomes 6, and the digits 6, 1, and 8 disappear. Therefore, 0.005618 g = 0.006 g rounded off to 3 significant figures. (d) Given that 28.303 mm. It has 5 significant figures. To round off the given number into 4 significant digits, we need to round it off to 2 places after the decimal. The digit 3 is less than 5. So, the digit 0 remains 0, and the digits 3 disappear. Therefore, 28.303 mm = 28.30 mm rounded off to 4 significant figures. (e) Given that 33.422 km. It has 5 significant figures. To round off the given number to 4 significant digits, we need to round it off to 2 places after the decimal. The digit 2 is less than 5. So, digit 2 remains 2, and the digits 2 disappear. Therefore, 33.422 km = 33.42 km rounded off to 4 significant figures. (f) Given that 4.0832 kg. It has 5 significant figures. To round off the given number to 2 significant digits, we need to round it off to 1 place after the decimal. The digit 8 is greater than 5. So, the digit 0 becomes 1, and the digits 8, 3, and 2 disappear. Therefore, 4.0832 kg = 4.1 kg rounded off to 2 significant figures. (g) Given that 0.004628 mm. It has 4 significant figures. To round off the given number to 1 significant digit, we need to round it off to 3 places after the decimal. The digit 6 is greater than 5. So, the digit 4 becomes 5, and the digits 6, 2, and 8 disappear. Therefore, 0.004628 mm = 0.005 mm rounded off to 1 significant figure.

4. Round off (a) $ 3067.665 to the nearest cents. (b) 0.00588 m to the nearest cm. (c) 18.0333 kg to the nearest g. (d) $ 49.63 to the nearest dollar.

(a) Given that $ 3067.665. It has 7 significant figures. To round off the $ 3067.665 to the nearest cents, we need to round it off to 3 places after the decimal. The digit 5 is equal to 5. So, digit 6 becomes 7, and the digit 5 disappear. Therefore, $ 3067.665 = $ 3067.67 (b) Given that 0.00588 m. It has 3 significant figures. To round off the 0.00588 m to the nearest cm, we need to round it off to 3 places after the decimal. The digit 5 is equal to 5. So, the digit 5 becomes 6, and the digit 8, and 8 disappear. Therefore, 0.00588 m = 0.01 m. (c) Given that 18.0333 kg. It has 6 significant figures. To round off the 18.0333 kg to the nearest g, we need to round it off to 3 places after the decimal. The digit 3 is less than 5. So, the digit 3 remains 3, and the digits 3 disappear. Therefore, 18.0333 kg = 18.033 kg. (d) Given that $ 49.63. It has 4 significant figures. To round off the $ 49.63 to the nearest dollar, we need to round it off to the nearest number. The digit $ 49.63 is closer to $ 50. Therefore, $ 49.63 = $ 50.

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  1. Significant Figures Stations Activities

    2 Station 2: Significant Figures Ordering Cards. 3 Station 3: Significant Figures Rectangle Puzzle. 4 Station 4: Two Truths and a Lie. 5 Station 5: Arithmetic with Significant Figures Task Cards. 6 Free Download of Significant Figures Station Directions.

  2. Significant Figures Practice Flashcards

    Determine how many significant figures are in the numbers shown. Learn with flashcards, games, and more — for free.

  3. Significant Figures: Precision in Measurements Practice ... -

    Learn Significant Figures: Precision in Measurements with free step-by-step video explanations and practice problems by experienced tutors.

  4. Worksheet on Significant Figures

    Practice all the problems present in the Significant Figures Worksheets and get a good grip on the topic. Test your subject knowledge by taking the practice tests available on our website. Also, you can easily enhance your problem-solving skills by solving Worksheet on Significant Figures on a daily basis.

  5. Significant Figures Worksheet with Answers

    Practice Worksheet for Significant Figures 1. State the number of significant digits in each measurement. 1) 2804 m 4) 0 m 2) 2 km 5) 4 x 105 m 3) 5 m 6) 4 x 10 -5 m 7) 750 m 8) 75 m 9) 75,000 m 10) 75 m 11) 75,000 m 12) 10 cm 2. Round the following numbers as indicated: To four figures: 3 21 375 112 45. To one decimal place: 1 2 5 7 8. To two ...