Sometimes we need big numbers to describe small things

The purpose of this lesson is to help students visualize how small a nanometer is by relating the size to the numbers- millions, billions and trillions and then relating those numbers to how small particles of matter are. It begins to lay the foundation for future learning about atoms in the middle grades. The lesson uses the book How Much is a Million? written by David M. Schwartz and illustrated by Steven Kellogg. The book helps young readers conceptualize and visualize how much a million is.