| 1. |
What is the probability of rolling a 3 with one die?
Students can work independently or in groups to gather data depending
upon the number of die available. |
 |
|
| 2. |
What is the probability of drawing a king from a
deck of cards?
Students work in groups to gather data. |
 |
|
| 3. |
| What is the probability of drawing a red marble from
a bag containing 3 red marbles and 5 blue marbles?
Students work independently or in groups
depending upon the number of manipulatives. If
marbles are not available, colored slips of paper also
work well. |
|
|
| 4. |
|
What is the probability of tossing a tail using a
penny?
Students work independently or in groups to gather data.
|
 |
|
| 5. |
| A box
contains 20 slips of paper. Five of the slips are
marked with a "X", seven are marked with a "Y", and the
rest are blank. The slips are well mixed.
Determine the probability that a blank slip will be
drawn without looking in the bag on the first draw. |
 |
Have students determine the
probability theoretically and then have each conduct the
experiment with ten trials and see how close the empirical
probability was to the theoretical probability. Combine
data from all students in the class to see if a larger number of
trials will result in an empirical probability that more closely
resembles the theoretical probability.
|
For each activity listed above, set the minimum number of trials:
For example: minimum number of trials = 100
Have students tabulate information as it is gathered
in some organized manner:
| Group member |
Number of 3s. |
Number of rolls |
| Sue |
9 |
30 |
| Joe |
12 |
30 |
| Wally |
18 |
40 |
You may also wish to have students compare their results
with the theoretical probability, and
write a short paragraph explaining the comparison.
