Education Technology


Year 9: What are the Chances?

by David Tynan

Objectives

  • ACMSP226 – Calculate relative frequencies from given or collected data to estimate probabilities of events involving 'and' or 'or' .
  • Use of a random number generator to simulate chance events
  • Linking experimental relative frequencies with theoretical probabilities

Vocabulary

random integer, relative frequency, theoretical probability, simulation

About the Lesson

Part 1 - Focuses on individual trials of the rolling of a die.
Part 2 - Focuses on generating results for a larger number of trials, and the use of count commands and histograms as tools for analysing these results. It also introduces relative frequency as an approximation to the theoretical probability of a particular outcome.
Part 3 - Introduces the theoretical probability via the sum of two-dice experiment. Students compare the theoretical values with the relative frequencies obtained via the simulation.