In this section, a paper folding activity provides an illustration of both exponential growth and decay. A piece of paper is needed.

1. Fold a sheet of paper in half as many times as possible.
   
   
2. After each fold, record the information on your own paper in a chart like the one below. Move your mouse over the question marks to reveal the answers.

• How many times did you fold your piece of paper?
  Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

  Check Your Answer

  6 to 9 times
  
• Was it more than 6?
  Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

  Check Your Answer

  Yes or No

The number of regions of the paper after being folded shows exponential growth and the area of each piece of paper after being folded shows exponential decay.

Watch this video of the Mythbusters folding a piece of paper the size of a football field. Is it possible a larger piece of paper can be folded more times than a smaller piece of paper?