Area of Learning:

Focus: Chance and Probability

Maths
Victorian Curriculum links:
Level 2
Identify practical activities and everyday events that involve chance. Describe outcomes as
likely or unlikely and
Level 3
Conduct chance experiments, identify and describe possible outcomes and recognise
variation in results (VCMSP147)
Level 4
Describe possible everyday events and order their chances of occurring (VCMSP175)
Identify everyday events where one cannot happen if the other happens (VCMSP176)
Identify events where the chance of one will not be affected by the occurrence of the other
(VCMSP177)
Date: 25/4/16

Learning
Intention:

Identify everyday events that if one happens the other cannot.

Success
Criteria:
Remove One probability game:
http://www.middleschoolmathmoments.com/2013/03/removeone-probability-game.html?m=1

Warm Up:

Students use a piece of paper as their "game board" and

number the paper from 12-2 (or 2-12) . They then place 15
chips next to the numbers. They are told that they can place
one chip next to every number and then place the extras next
to any number they want. Or, they can leave some numbers
with no chips and put several on others. Usually, they place the
chips like those in the picture to the right.
2. Once students have their chips set up, the teacher rolls 2 dice
and finds the sum of the numbers that are rolled.
3. If students have a chip next to that sum, the students may
remove ONE chip from their paper (thus the name of the game
-Remove One).
4. Play continues, with the teacher rolling the dice and the
students removing one chip each time the corresponding sum is
rolled.
The "winner" is the student who removes all of the chips first.
Without much class discussion, we play the game a second
time. Normally, I just ask them to make some quiet observations
to themselves before placing their chips again. Students
typically notice that the sums of 6, 7, and 8 are rolled the most
often and that 2 and 12 are usually rolled the least often, so
they arrange their chips differently.
After the second game, we have a discussion about all of the
possible outcomes (sums) one can get when rolling 2 dice. We
also discuss how many ways there are to roll each of those
outcomes, and what the probability is of rolling each sum. We
find this probability in fraction form, and then often convert
them to decimals and percents.
After this discussion, we play the game for a third time, and
students' "game boards" often look like this:

Timing:
10
minute
s

Timing:
Mini Lesson:

Discuss the language of opposites and brainstorm.

E.g. hot/cold, wet/dry, open/closed etc...

Task:

Left to Chance game

Worksheet
On Demand

Differentiation
:

Focus Group:
Seahorses

Enable:
Left to chance: Do first two
questions
Worksheet: Below level
Do worksheet together on
floor
At level Work in groups
Above level work by
themselves
Topic: One of the
activities above

5 10
minute
s
Timing:
30
minute
s

Extend: Complete other activities

Members: All members of seahorses

Conferencing:
Lesson
Reflection:

PST Reflection

3,2,1,
3 things I know
2 things I have learnt
1 thing I would still like to know.

Timing:
10
minute
s