Content Area: Math

 

Index: 4.4B Grade 3 CPI 1

 

Standard: 4.4 - Data Analysis, Probability, and Discrete Mathematics

 

Strand: B - Probability

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 1 -  The student will use everyday events and chance devices, such as dice, coins, and unevenly divided spinners, to explore concepts of probability

·        Likely, unlikely, certain, impossible

·        More likely, less likely, equally likely

 

Grade: 3

 

Sample Activities:

 

·        Students work through the Elevens Alive! lesson that is described in the Introduction to this Framework. They make number sentences adding up to 11 by dropping 11 chips which are yellow on one side and red on the other, and writing 11= 4+7 when four chips land yellow-side-up and seven chips land red-side-up. They notice that they are writing some number sentences more frequently than others, and these observations lead into a discussion of probability.

 

·        Each child plants five seeds of a fast growing plant. They count the number of seeds which sprout and discuss how many seeds might sprout if they had each planted ten, or twenty, or a hundred seeds. They explain their reasoning. (The numbers can be adjusted for different grade levels.)

 

·        Students predict how many M&Ms of each color are in a large unopened mystery bag. To help make these predictions, cooperative groups are given a handful of M&Ms from the bag; they tally the count of the colors, report their results, and prepare graphs of their results. Students refine their predictions by looking at the class totals. The mystery bag is then opened and the colors counted. Students discuss how their prediction matches the actual count and how the experiment helped them make their prediction.

 

·        Students examine various types of raisin bran cereal. They experiment with scoops of cereal and determine the number of raisins that appear in each scoop. They make inferences about which brand might be the "raisiniest."

 

Sample Assessment Questions:

 

·        Open-Ended Questions: Probability