Probability and Dice

Date March 2006
Class

Algebra 2

Teacher Lanette VonSeggern
Notes

Die Tossing with the Calculator
My Algebra 2 students completed the Die Tossing with the Calculator activity to begin our probability unit.  Due to state standard deadlines in our district, the students had to jump chapters to perform probability.  The students were not aware of the probability options on their calculators.  I enjoyed the discussion on experimental probability and theoretical probability.  The students were glad to use the calculator rather than throw the number cube that many times.

I will definitely use this activity again in my courses.  It is important to show the students many uses of technology – yet also note the limitations of technology as well.

Date January 2006
Class

 

Teacher Cassandra Joseph
Notes

Rolling the Die
I grouped students into groups of 4.  I had each of them roll a die 25 times and then total up their individual tallies.  I then had them add up the totals for each number.  We then talked about since there were 4 of them and they each rolled 25 times how many total rolls were there…100.  Then we talked about how probability and percentages were alike and how you could find one from the other.
Next we did rolling two dice, and went through the same process with totaling and then finding the group total and talking about probability and percents again.
My students enjoyed the hands on of rolling the die and did very well with this activity.  I only have 40 minute classes and I used this on a short week, so they also enjoyed not having homework as it took most of the period.  We are not quite to probability and percent yet, we will get to them next week, but I feel I have laid some background for when we get to the sections covering this and hopefully they will remember and make the connection.
Note:  My classes did not divide evenly, so with the smaller group I had one of the members double their results and then add them to the rest of the group so that there was a group total of 100.

Date December 2005
Class senior class
Teacher Terry Hagen
Notes

Rolling the Die
We started to talk about probability and I thought that it would be great to talk about what a fair outcome would be and what would happen to the stats if they weren’t fair dice. I have only three students in my class so what a great opportunity to show what would happen. I had each student roll a pair of dice 25 times and we recorded the results on the board. One student’s results were way different then the others and the students couldn’t figure out why. They traded dice and found out that they were again different. They wondered why until one of the students looked at one of the dice and found out why. You see, I have one die that has no 2 or no 4.They now new why the results were not true to what we expected them to be. What a wonderful way to introduce fair into the world of probability.

Date January 10, 2006
Class

 

Teacher Cassandra Joseph
Notes As an intro to the probability and statistics chapter in our book, I did the rolling the die activity with my students. They liked the "hands on" gathering of their own data and getting to work in groups. I had them in groups of 4 or as close to it as possible, so when they were done rolling and we had discussed the probability of getting a certain number when they rolled, I had them total up their group (so it was out of 100 rolls) and linked probability to percent.
The students liked the activity and made the connection well. Hopefully they will retain it until we get to that particular section in the book.
Note: I had to have a couple groups of 3, so I had 1 of the members double their results and then add them to the rest of the group to get a total of 100 rolls.
Date December 2005
Class 9th grade
Teacher Terry Hagen
Notes Rolling dice. Students were grouped in pairs. I had each pair record 25 rolls. Then I made a chart on the board to display the data. With 10 groups we should have 500 tallies but we were 4 short. That was a good thing so I could talk about sample space and error when an experiment happens. We compared our results to the theatrical probability and they were very close even when we made our mistake in the tallies. Overall I think this went very well and the students will not forget that experimental probability depends on the sample space and how well the experiment is conducted. The theoretical and the experimental may not always come out the same.
Date Sept. 30, 2005
Class Algebra 2
Teacher MaryBeth Weier
Notes

These activities went very, very well thanks to the activity worksheets.  The students had a good understanding of what they were to do and did not have much trouble answering the questions on the activity sheets.  Most of the students were not very familiar with the graphing calculator and the STATPLOT and STAT menus. But with the clearly written directions on the activity sheets, we were able to complete the activity without too many questions.  These hands-on activities are great.  The students were very attentive and involved. 
The only thing I might have done differently was to do an introduction to the graphing calculator activity earlier in the year.  Usually I do one but I switched some things around this year and did not get a chance to do it.  I was pleased that I did not have as many questions as I anticipated.  With the widespread use of computers and calculators now, the students seem more technologically prepared than they use to be.