Probability and Homework

We've just started an inquiry in probability in math. On Monday the kids worked with "mystery bags." Each bag had ten blocks in it. The blocks were all either brown, blue or red. They pulled one out at a time, recorded its color, and returned it to the bag. This was repeated over and over for three to four minutes. When the timer went off they used their data to guess how many of each color were in the bag. 

Today we used a few of these bags to generate a list of terms we might use to describe probability. One bag had nine blue and one red. They decided the probability of drawing the red block was "very unlikely," "1 out of 10", "10%," and "almost impossible." I then offered them the opportunity to draw a block out of the bag, if they wanted, to determine how much homework they would have the remainder of the week. Using the bag of 9 blues and 1 red, I told them that if they drew a blue block they would have double the homework for the week and if they drew the lone red block they would have no homework. Almost everyone in class became excited and lined up at the front of the room to take their chances. However, after seeing the first three people draw a blue block and get double homework, almost everyone sat back down. They decided the chances, 10%, weren't that great. A few remained in line. A couple even asked to try a second time.

So...some of the kids have one math sheet tonight (as planned), a few others have two (those who risked it), and a couple have four (having risked it twice). LIfe lessons in probability!

Here are the pages to complete for tonight...

Unit 5

pg. 39

pg. 39, 40

pg. 39. 40, 44, 45