Probability Lesson Plans

How to teach Probability using Mangahigh - interpret data from different sources

Get your students engaged with probability scale through the use of Mangahigh’s adaptive quiz ‘Probability scale’. Students will start with ‘Easy’ questions to help introduce new ideas and then move onto ‘Medium’ questions with some scaffolded support. Students then progress onto ‘Hard’ questions that really test their understanding, and the most able will move on to ‘Extreme’ questions that will challenge even the brightest students.

Lesson idea for teaching probability scale

Example of blended learning lesson

55 mins

Introduction - 5 mins
Write these 4 statements on the board:
1. A coin landing on heads.
2. A fair dice landing on a 6.
3. My mother being female.
4. My sister being male.
Discuss what the probability of each of these statements is and how it can be shown as a percentage, decimal or fraction. Order these statements from likely to unlikely and discuss what the probability numbers look like.
Activity - 15 mins

Set the Mangahigh activity ‘Probability scale’. Each time students play through the activity they will answer 10 questions. Encourage students to make at least three attempts, i.e. attempt at least 30 questions. Students will receive a bronze medal award and thus demonstrate they have a secure understanding if they can prove their competency at the hard questions. The most able students might achieve a silver or gold medal by answering extreme questions. Move through the class offering help where needed and challenge students to explain their solutions. Use your Mangahigh analytics platform to check progress and support struggling students.
Class discussion - 10 mins

Play through the activity ‘Probability scale’ from your Mangahigh teacher platform on the whiteboard with the whole class. Challenge students to explain their solutions.
Continue activity - 15 mins

Students return to the ‘Probability Scale’. For the most able, set an additional activity ‘Experimental probability’. Use your Mangahigh analytics platform to identify any students who have struggled with the first activity ‘Probability Scale’ and support them or encourage them to work with their peers.
Written assessment - 10 mins
Write the following statements on the board:
1. A coin landing on tails.
2. A fair dice not landing on a 6.
3. My father being female.
Ask the students to attempt on paper:
1. Write the probability of each event as a decimal
2. Write the probability of each event as a fraction
3. Write the probability of each event as a percentage.
Bonus questions:
1. I am certain that if I rolled a dice I would get a 1, true or false?
2. Explain your reasoning for your answer to the last question

How to teach Probability using Mangahigh - probability of single events

Introduce your students to calculating the probability of single events through the use of Mangahigh’s adaptive quiz ‘Probability of single events’. Students will start with ‘Easy’ questions to help introduce new ideas and then move onto ‘Medium’ questions with some scaffolded support. Students then progress onto ‘Hard’ questions that really test their understanding, and the most able will move on to ‘Extreme’ questions that will challenge even the brightest students.

Lesson idea for teaching probability of a single event

Example of blended learning lesson

55 mins

Introduction - 5 mins

On the whiteboard draw a bag with 10 marbles in: Discuss and colour in the marbles using the definitions that: half the marbles are blue, 10% of the marbles are red and 0.4 marbles are green. Then continue by asking what the probability of taking out a red marble is and how many different ways can you write this mathematically.
Activity - 15 mins

Set the Mangahigh activity ‘Probability of single events’. Each time students play through the activity they will answer 10 questions. Encourage students to make at least three attempts, i.e. attempt at least 30 questions. Students will receive a bronze medal award and thus demonstrate they have a secure understanding if they can prove their competency at the hard questions. The most able students might achieve a silver or gold medal by answering extreme questions. Move through the class offering help where needed and challenge students to explain their solutions. Use your Mangahigh analytics platform to check progress and support struggling students.
Class discussion - 10 mins

Play through the activity ‘Probability of single events’ from your Mangahigh teacher platform on the whiteboard with the whole class. Challenge students to explain their solutions.
Continue activity - 15 mins

Students return to ‘Probability of single events’. For the most able, set an additional activity ‘The probability of events not happening’. Use your Mangahigh analytics platform to identify any students who have struggled with the first activity ‘Probability of single events’ and support them or encourage them to work with their peers.
Written assessment - 10 mins
Write these 4 statements on the board:
1. There are 10 marbles in a bag, 3 red, 3 blue and 4 green, what is the probability that blue is chosen?
2. There are 12 marbles in a bag, half are red, a quarter are blue and a quarter are green, how many blue marbles are in the bag?
3. There are 20 marbles in a bag, 7 red, 10, blue and 3 green, there is a probability of 0.5 that I will pick out a blue marble, true or false? Explain your reasoning.
Students attempt to write down the correct answer for each event.