Understanding index notation (powers) such as 2⁴ meaning 2 × 2 × 2 × 2, and evaluating simple powers.
Where your child meets this in real life: Scientific notation, computing powers of 10, understanding exponential growth
SEAGReady breaks understand indices into 3 steps, taught in order so each skill builds on the last.
Write and evaluate squares and cubes using index notation (e.g., 5² = 5 × 5 = 25)
Evaluate powers beyond cubes using index notation (e.g., 2⁴ = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 16)
Recognise the pattern in powers of 10 and understand that any number to power 1 equals itself
Three free sample questions from our understand indices course. Every question comes with a full explanation, and hints that guide without giving the answer away.
Josh is learning about index notation. He sees 5 squared written as 5 with a small 2 above it. What does 5² equal?
Cillian sees 2⁵ written on the whiteboard. How many times must he multiply 2 by itself?
Josh notices that 10² = 100 (2 zeros) and 10³ = 1,000 (3 zeros). Using this pattern, what is 10⁴?
This is the exact interactive worked example your child sees in SEAGReady. Step through it and watch the method build up.
Holly is learning about index notation in maths class. She sees the expression 4 squared written as 4 with a small 2 above it.
What does 4 squared mean, and what is its value?
4²
The small 2 is called the index or power
Step 1 of 5
Holly is learning about index notation in maths class. She sees the expression 4 squared written as 4 with a small 2 above it.
What does 4 squared mean, and what is its value?
4² = 16. The index 2 means we multiply 4 by itself.
The key insight: The small number tells you how many times to multiply, not what to multiply by!
Common mix-up: 4² = 8. Multiplying base by index (4 × 2 = 8) instead of multiplying the base by itself.
These are the misconceptions we see most often in understand indices, including the ones our practice questions are specifically designed to catch.
Struggling with understand indices? The real gap is often in one of these earlier topics.
SEAGReady finds the exact step where your child gets stuck, teaches it with worked examples like the one above, and brings it back for review so it sticks.
Free to start · no card needed