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Do You Wanna
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Author: Jean Cushman Publisher/Date: Clarion Books; 1991 ISBN: 0-395-56516-2 Grade Levels Recommended for Use: 5-8 Brief Summary: Danny and Brian explore the role of probability in their lives, at home, at school, even at birthday parties. Topics: probability; chance Suggested Activities: Read page 91 to the students. Have students construct a spinner with four sections colored red, blue, green, and red. A paperclip serves as a spinner if one end is bent out straight. Place the tip of a pencil in the curved end of the paperclip positioned on the spinner center. Use the thumb and forefinger to flick the long end of the paperclip to make it spin. Have pairs of students spin their spinners 20 times and record what happens. Compile the class totals for each color (red, blue, green) and discuss the outcomes. Calculate the experimental probabilities and compare them to the theoretical probabilities. Read page 21 to the students. Ask the students what are their chances that they can roll a one, two, three, four, five, or six with a single number cube. Discuss equally likely chances and why it happens. Next give each pair of students a pair of dice and have them roll their dice 20 times and record the sums on a table. Compile the class totals for each outcome, calculate the probabilities, and discuss them. Why are some sums more likely to be rolled? Have students construct a dice table of outcomes for two dice and calculate the theoretical probability of rolling each sum. Compare these theoretical probabilities with the experimental probabilities compiled by the class. Websites: Dice
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