Dice Probability

Intended Purpose: to show students how to determine the most likely numbers to be rolled with two 6-sided dice and using 50 rolls to check the prediction

Intended Audience: (grade level/curricular area, etc.)  6th grade

Resource Requirements: (include, file type, platform, cost, user level, etc.) Microsoft Excel and a computer lab

Abstract: This is an exercise that I put together for the 6th grade before probability was taught in their math class.  I don’t teach terms like theoretical or experimental probability.  We just do the activity.  When the classroom teacher taught the terminology the students were immediately able to make a connection to what they had done in my classroom.  Their teacher said that she thought they had a better understanding of probability by learning it this way.

Justification: (why/how is this a quality resource?)

I think that this is a quality resource because it integrates technology into the math curriculum and it provides a guide for teachers to use to do it themselves.