What this pack is, and what it is not:
The IB guide asks for these techniques to be practised inside the topics that need them, so this is not a taught unit of the course and does not claim to be one. It is reference and remedial material for techniques every topic assumes: it supplements integrated teaching rather than replacing it. It works in the first fortnight of the course, when a class meets scientific notation and prefixes in every equation at once, and again as revision for any student who is losing marks on notation rather than on physics.

What students learn:

• Scientific notation, including a value that already carries a power of ten.
• Choosing and stripping an SI prefix.
• Order of magnitude, with the convention stated.
• Estimation that reports its own reliability.
• Repairing a compound unit.

IB skills this pack teaches and practises:

• Using and interpreting scientific notation (taught).
• Applying and using SI prefixes and units (taught).
• Comparing and quoting ratios, values and approximations to the nearest order of magnitude (taught).
• Using approximation and estimation(taught).
• Using non-SI units such as the hour, the day and the year where appropriate (practised).
• Basic arithmetic and algebraic calculation (practised).

What’s in the pack:

• Student Worksheet (17 pages)
• Teacher Key (25 pages)
• The editable worksheet

Written against the IB DP Physics guide (first assessment 2025) at both Standard and Higher Level; every skill it drills is common to the two, so one pack serves a mixed class. It declares no topic and no understanding, deliberately: scientific notation, prefixes, order of magnitude and estimation belong to the IB skills in the study of physics (Tool 3: Mathematics) rather than to any one syllabus topic. SI units and IB notation are used throughout, the data booklet’s own multiplier table is the reference for prefixes, and IB command terms (state, calculate, determine, estimate, suggest, explain) are used as an examiner uses them. Suitable for ages 16–19 as homework, as a first-fortnight reference, as remedial support for a student losing marks on technique, or as revision before the examinations. This complete pack is offered free as a sample of the premium YPhysics IB DP Physics catalogue: use it, set it, and explore the paid packs that carry the course forward.