I want to teach students exponents, roots and scientific notations. Based on my experience, these concepts are difficult for students to understand. I want to use games and active practices to apply in the classroom to teach more effectively.
So, do you know any game or active practice or suggestion?
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Agreed, teaching "order of magnitude" for the first time can be tricky.. I personally enjoy sources like the following link.
As you slide through the scale, you can see that while the "order" is adjusting linearly, it's clear that things are "growing" or "shrinking" in scale in an exponential speed.
It's not really a mathematical approach to the concept, but it sounds like building intuition of the concept at a high level is the hardest part (as opposed to just algebraic mechanics).
Good for you! Using game based learning to educate is awesome. Unfortunately, I don't know any programs of the top of my head, but I can give you some ideas you might want to incorporate.
1) try a game I call "exponential bingo" where the student are given different cards that have about 25 different solutions and you can have them solve problems to win small prizes (like candy).
2) Have them play a game I call "Reverse Math" where the students are given a solution, and are then to try and create a problem that fits the course work they are working on. The students would then be able to critique their and other students work and would be given "points" based on correctness, complexity, and originality.
3) have an extra daily or weekly problem for the students to solve. That way you can continue to pique the interest of students whom are ahead of the class.