Probability Day 1

In math class yesterday, we started our first lesson on probability! instead of having a boring lecture on probability, we learned it through an activity. Normally, you would use goldfish for the activity, but we did not have any. Each group gets a baggy with a mixture of colorful goldfish. The green fish represent "sick fish" and any other color represents a "healthy fish." Then we had a worksheet that asked questions about the fish. My group had 37 "sick fish" and 11 "healthy fish." We had to find the probability that a fish in my sample would be healthy. Which would be the number of healthy fish I have over the total number of fish. (37/48) Some of the questions seemed tricky because I would over think them. For instance, one asked to add the probability of getting a "sick fish" plus the probability of getting a "healthy fish." So you would take 37 over 48 plus 11 over 48 and it would equal 48 over 48 or 1. Everyone would get the same answer to that question no matter how many fish they had. After we finished the fun activity we tried to complete the definitions on the back. It was amazing how much we understood because of the activity. I learned more from the activity than I would have in just a lecture. The best part about this activity is not only that it teaches probability, but you can give your kids a yummy snack when you finish it! ;)

This website also has many different fun games for children to play and to practice their probability skills. Click HERE to see!