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Title: Coin Tosses with a Catch!
Objective or Purpose: Students will learn about probability distinctions between two
different outcomes.
Materials: One penny for each child, a data worksheet, chart paper, and markers.
Activities: Conventional coin flips, recording data, coin catches off arm, recording
data, and graphing the entire classes results.
Lesson Design Teacher Procedure Student Activities
Anticipatory Set
Journal writing and review comments, questions, and discussions.
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Pre-class work activity: Worksheet on probability.
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Listen, The quick check is done as a warm-up activity. The student will complete the warm-up sheet in about six minutes.
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Input and Modeling
Introduce the "stuff needed for success", and show what they need to know.
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Keywords for the week are: Probability,
equally likely, outcomes, half and half, fifty-fifty, one half, 50 on the dollar, .5, trends, speckle diagrams. 45 degrees, learning curve. Demonstrate that a coin has two sides, and if tossed, there two equally likely outcomes-heads or tales. Demonstrate the coin toss method, and how to record data to the worksheet. Demonstrate catches off the elbow, and show that there are also two outcomes. Catch or Drop! Do they think catch or drop in activity two will be the same as heads or tails in activity one?
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Listen, see, and take notes.
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Guided Practice
Show-em how it's done.
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Display on the overhead projector instructions for the days activity. Have individuals complete their data worksheets. Demonstrate on the board how to graph data, and have each group enter their data on chart paper for display!
On a second sheet of chart paper, enter individuals data for activity two. Explain that the difference between the two activities is that heads or tails is equally likely, but catch or drop is not equally likely. There is a learning curve to catching a coin. The more trials, the easier it is to catch one.
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Hear, see, do - The students are to start their group activity and complete it before the end of the period.
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Closure
Comparisons and wrap-ups
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Are the probabilities between the two activities the same? Which of the two activities are equally likely? How do you know? Close similarities and differences with a Venn diagram.
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Listen to the summary of the day's class, and note what homework is posted for the next class period.
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Independent Practice: Try to make up your own worksheet to help you determine the
probability of an event.
Extension to the lesson: A "di" ,dice, has six sides, each with a dot, or dots moving
sequentially from one dot to six dots per side. What is the probability of one roll to land
on any one number?
Duration of the lesson: Approximately 49 minutes.
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