Happy Sixth Week of Summer!

So far we have looked at the chance something could happen in terms of words (e.g. likely, impossible, unlikely, certain). But we can also express the chance that something could happen as a fraction.

For the next example, you spin each spinner once and add the numbers. You are trying to find out all the possible combinations of spins and their totals. The first column is done for you. At the top of the table it shows spinner 1. If you spin 1 on spinner one, the possible totals spinning 1, ,2, 3, 4, or 5 are listed in the first column. There are actually 25 different combinations you can spin believe it or not!

Dice are often used to show the probability of an event happening.


So let's look at the rolls on a die (singular for dice). How many even rolls? How many odd? Well, 2, 4, 6 are even and 1, 3, 5 are odd. So the odds or chance of rolling an even or odd number are equal. We often say "fifty-fifty" chance. The fifty refers to fifty percent of the time. So what's the fraction? It would be 1/2. Half the time you will probably roll an even number and the other half an odd. Remember, this is over time. If you actually rolled a die 10 times you may get 5 even and 5 odd, but it is certainty. If you rolled that die 100 times you would probably get closer to 50 even / 50 odd.

Card games are also good tools to show probability. Dice and cards...... just like they use in a casino. Sadly, probability is what attracts people to gamble. There is the "chance" that they might roll that unlikely roll or be dealt that unlikely card. But you know probability so you can determine that is is probably much more likely to lose than win! Back to math....

It's also important that you understand PROBABILITY TREES (especially in grade 5). All the outcomes are put on a diagram that looks like the branches of a tree. The boxes at the end (top of the tree) are all the possible outcomes. Try one!

The tree diagram tells us the first possible sandwich is whole wheat with lettuce and tuna. The second possible sandwich is whole wheat with lettuce and ham. So there are 8 possible sandwiches. You either have whole wheat or 7 grain / lettuce or tomato/ tuna or ham.

Remember the total possible outcomes is found in the last boxes of your probability tree.

Try this experiment with a parent, sibling or friend. Did you "beat the odds"?

Reminder:
Extra practice on Mathletics!


This is my last post for the summer. Time to get ready for next year. Farewell my Magnificent 4/5 Minions. Enjoy the remainder of the summer and see you in September!