MATERIALS: 2 red, 2 blue, and 2 green counters, slips of paper, or beads; paper lunch bag, paper, pencils
1. Working with a small group, have one student place two red, two green, and two blue counters in the bag. Ask a student to choose one counter without looking in the bag. Have students predict which colour will be chosen and why.
2. After everyone sees the colour, set the counter aside. Based on the counters left, ask students to predict which color will be next, and write down the choices.
3. Repeat step 2 with the remaining counters
4. Have students compare their predictions to the actual
results. Ask them how they revised the predictions after their first choice,
after the second, and so on. How did the odds change each time a
counter was removed?
OUTCOMES:
G1: predict and record results in experiments using
spinners, coins, dice, coloured cubes, and other simple equipment
* Adapted from:
Barden, C. (1997). Logical Reasoning
& Probability: 35 Hands-On Activities for Grades 2-3.
Cypress, CA: Creative Teaching Press.
Students will be paired with another Grade Three student from another school. Students need to collect information about themselves that they will send to their “buddy” at the other school either via email or written correspondence. The goal is that the buddies will meet and have to identify each other based only on the information they received about one another. Students are responsible for generating a list of characteristics that would be most important to collect about their buddy. Teachers may want to set a limit on the number of pieces of information that can be exchanged so that students concentrate on what information is most meaningful.
Students can also represent data sent to them from the other class in various pictographs and bar graphs and come to some conclusions about the class as a whole. (Note: at this level, the symbols on graphs should represent more than one item/unit.)
OUTCOMES:
F1: select appropriate strategies for collecting,
recording, organizing, and describing relevant data
F4: implement plans with respect to the collection
of data
F2: interpret and create pictographs in which each
symbol represents more than one item
F3: create bar graphs using simple scales
* Adapted from:
Bloom, Stephen J. (1994, October).
Data Buddies: Primary-Grade Mathematicians Explore Data. Teaching
Children Mathematics, 80-86.
MATERIALS: 2 dice, bingo markers, 4 by 4 grid paper, pencils
Tell students they will be playing a bingo-type game. The numbers called will be determined by rolling two dice and adding the numbers together. Ask students what the range of numbers to pick from will be. (2 to 12) Write the numbers 2 to 12 in each square. They can use each number as many times as they wish to improve their chances of winning. To play, have students take turns rolling the dice and calling out the sum of the numbers rolled. Tell them to cover one matching number with a marker. (Even if they have written a number several times, they can only cover one per turn.) The first person to cover four in a row wins. Keep a tally of each sum called on the chalkboard so students can see the distribution of sums at the end of the game. Play the game several times to see if the outcome changes. Allow students to erase and change numbers between games if they wish to improve their chances of winning.
OUTCOMES:
G1: predict and record results in experiments using
spinners, coins, dice, coloured cubes, and other simple equipment
* Adapted from:
Bloom, Stephen J. (1994, October).
Data Buddies: Primary-Grade Mathematicians Explore Data. Teaching
Children Mathematics, 80-86.