Curated OER
"Lucky Charms": Interpreting Data and Making Predictions
Seventh graders determine if a "lucky charm" will increase their chances of winning a game. Students calculate the experimental probability of each player in a game. They observe and collect data from each activity. Students compare the...
Curated OER
Fire!, Probability, and Chaos
Upper elementary and middle schoolers work with the concept of probability. They are introduced to the concept of chaos. Learners graph and analyze using a line plot, work with mean, and are introduced to the concept of variance.
Curated OER
Probability Experiment Simulation: Design and Data Analysis Using a Graphing Calculator
Seventh graders simulate probability experiments. Using a graphing calculator, 7th graders design, conduct, and draw conclusions from simulations or probability experiments. Students construct frequency tables and compare the...
Curated OER
M&M Probability
Pupils apply the scientific method in order to determine the probability of specific colors in a bag of M&M's. They determine the definition of probability and how it can be used. They make a hypothesis and conduct an experiment to...
American Statistical Association
What is the Probability of “Pigging Out”
Learners apply their understanding of luck to a probability experiment. They play a game of Pass the Pigs to determine the probability of a specific outcome. Using analysis for their data, pupils declare the measures of center, dot...
EngageNY
Applying Probability to Make Informed Decisions
Use simulations to determine the probabilities of events to make decisions. Class members are presented with several scenarios, some with known probabilities and others without. Groups run simulations to gather data that they then use to...
Illustrative Mathematics
Tossing Cylinders
Everyone loves a lesson that involves throwing things around! To understand probability, your experimenters will predict how different cylinder-shaped objects will land when tossed. When the data is collected, they will calculate the...
American Statistical Association
Exploring Geometric Probabilities with Buffon’s Coin Problem
Scholars create and perform experiments attempting to answer Buffon's Coin problem. They discover the relationships between geometry and probability, empirical and theoretical probabilities, and area of a circle and square.
Curated OER
Chances Are
Upper graders examine the concept of probability. They collect data and create a bar graph. They must interpret the data as well. Everyone engages in hands-on games and activities which lead them to predict possible outcomes for a...
Curated OER
Probability
Second graders experiment with probability. In this probability lesson, 2nd graders pick colored beans from a bag to find the chance of getting different colors. They make fair and unfair spinners and record the data after spinning them.
Curated OER
Probability Using M&M's
Students estimate and then count the number of each color of M&M's in their bag. In this mathematics lesson, students find the experimental probability of selecting each color from the bag. Students create pictographs and bar graphs...
Illustrative Mathematics
How Many Buttons?
Bring the class into the probability by having everyone count buttons on their shirts. Organize the data into the chart provided and chose different possibilities such as "female with one button" or "all students with more than four...
EngageNY
Estimating Probability Distributions Empirically 2
Develop probability distributions from simulations. Young mathematicians use simulations to collect data. They use the data to draw graphs of probability distributions for the random variable in question.
Curated OER
Calculating Theoretical & Experimental Probability
Students collect data by conducting a survey of fellow classmates. They investigate the relationship between estimates obtained from samples and theoretical probabilities. Answer keys included.
Curated OER
Determining Mean, Range, Median, Mode, and Probability
Students calculate mean, median, range, mode and probability. Then, working in teams, they use data from their workplace to compute values for these terms. Finally the class explores the term "probability" using a die.
Curated OER
Is This Really Okay for Me? A Public Health Statistical Analysis
Future public health consultants are asked in a letter to help determine if a fictitious drug is causing birth defects in a population. They perform a simulation using beans and probability calculations to come to a conclusion. Note that...
Curated OER
Data Analysis
Twelfth graders collect and analyze data. In this secondary end-of-course mathematics lesson, 12th graders formulate a question they would like to answer and decide on an appropriate means of data collection. Students present their...
Curated OER
Probability Math Game
Ninth graders investigate probability through games. In this probability lesson, 9th graders discuss sample space and distribution. They collect and analyze data using graphing.
Statistics Education Web
What Does the Normal Distribution Sound Like?
Groups collect data describing the number of times a bag of microwave popcorn pops at given intervals. Participants discover that the data fits a normal curve and answer questions based on the distribution of this data.
American Statistical Association
Don't Spill the Beans!
Become a bean counter. Pupils use a fun activity to design and execute an experiment to determine whether they can grab more beans with their dominant hand or non-dominant hand. They use the class data to create scatter plots and then...
Curated OER
Probability and Geometry
Students examine the relationship between probability and geometry to solve problems. In this geometry and probability lesson, students investigate the effect of changing percentages on a spinner to the probability of landing on a...
Curated OER
M&M Graphing and Probability
Students sort, classify, and graph M & M's. They create pictographs and bar graphs with the colors and numbers in each bag of M & M's. They calculate the ratio and probability based on class results.
Curated OER
Assessing and Investigating Population Data
Learners examine population projections. In this population data instructional activity, students research and collect data on the population of the United States. They explore and conclude future population growth patterns. Learners...
Curated OER
Data Analysis and Probability Race to the Finish
Students practice addition facts, record data, and construct a bar graph. In this probability lesson, students participate in a board game in which bicycles move towards a finish line based on players completing addition problems. Dice...