Probability & Predictions

Understand theoretical and experimental probability, and use them to make predictions about real-world events.

Grade 6-8Intermediate50 min

About This Lesson

In this lesson you'll explore probability — the math of chance! You'll calculate how likely something is to happen, run real experiments, and discover why more trials leads to better predictions.

Essential Question

If you flip a coin 100 times, how many heads do you expect? Is it guaranteed? Why or why not?

Standards

CCSS 7.SP.C.5, 7.SP.C.6, 7.SP.C.7

Learning Objectives

1Calculate theoretical probability of simple events
2Conduct experiments and compare experimental to theoretical probability
3Use probability to make predictions from large sample sizes

Materials Needed

Coins
Dice
Spinners
Colored bags with tiles
Tally chart worksheets

Key Topics

probabilitystatisticspredictionsfractionssimulation