Lesson Plan

Specialisation: Primary Education

Subject: Mathematics
Year Level: Year 3
Unit Focus: Statistics and Probability
Lesson Focus: Probability Outcomes represented through language and fractions.

Lesson has been adapted from a Teachers Pay Teachers Unit Plan.

Introduction to Probability
Statistics and Probability
Curriculum Links:
 List outcomes of chance experiments involving equally likely outcomes and represent
probabilities of those outcomes using fractions (ACMSP116)
Timeframes and Objective:
A 60-minute lesson in which students learn to consider all outcomes of chance experiments in
various representations and demonstrate these as fractions.
Differentiation:
Extending Students:
- Allowing students to challenge themselves by listing outcomes from two dice in guided
learning activity.
- Challenging students with an unequal spinner sample space activity.
Supporting students:
- Students given the opportunity to work in a small group with teacher assistance during
guided learning activity.

Resources:
- Word Wall
- Coin
- Dice
- Dice Worksheet
Lesson Sequence:

Tuning In:
Provide the students for the success criteria including the intended learning goal for the lesson.
Allow students to ask any questions of what is required. (Setting Goals)
Ask students to participate in a Think, Pair, Share activity regarding all aspects of probability they
can remember. Students will receive 1 minute independently, 1 minute to pair and 1 minute to
share. (Collaborative Learning)
Write down any key words that are provided by the students – key words could include:
- Certain, impossible, likely, unlikely, fair and unfair.
- Introduce further terminology such as chance experiment, trial, sample space
Engage in a brief discussion explaining the meaning of these words before adding them to the
word wall to be referred to throughout the unit.

Teacher Instruction: (Explicit Instruction)

Explain to students that it is important to find all the possible outcomes to help find the
probability. It allows them to make accurate predictions.
Present students with a coin. Use vocabulary such as equally likely and explain the coin can land
either on heads or tails and one outcome is not more likely than the other.
- Students may have a misconception that heads is more likely to appear than tails.
Explicitly teach students how to find all the outcomes that can come from a coin using a tree
diagram. (Outcomes – HH, HT, TT, TH)
Discuss these outcomes and how head is not more likely based on the outcomes listed.

Activity:
Have all students stand up. Explain you will toss one coin twice. Students make predictions of toss
(by putting both hands on their heads), tails/tails (both hands on their bottom) or a heads and a
tails (one hand on head, one on bottom). Toss one coin and reveal the results. Those who are
instantly out sit down. Toss the second coin to reveal the winners. Continue to play until only one
student remains. Discuss the lack of impact each toss has on another.

How can we represent/express the chance of a single coin toss getting heads? Lead students to
their being 2 possible outcomes and one of those is heads therefore it can be represented as ½.

Now present students with a spinner. Ask students, “How do you think we find the sample space
of a spinner?”
Present students with and equal spinner with listed numbers on it.
Explain that the probability for a spinner will be listed as a fraction. Show students how to find the
probability of each number on the spinner.
Challenge students to consider how they could find the probability of an unequal spinner.
Demonstrate making EQUAL parts and continuing the process of finding the probability.

Guided/Independent Learning:
Present students with a dice. Ask students:
- What could the possible outcomes be from a dice?
- Can you explain why you think that is an outcome? How do you know?
- Ask students to come to the whiteboard and add elements to a tree diagram.

Using metalanguage, discuss the probabilities listed.

- Some terms might be there is an equally likely chance of rolling all numbers.
- Is 6 the hardest number to roll on a dice? Why?

What would happen if we roll two die? Students return to whiteboard to add to the tree diagram.
(Engagement strategy)

Students complete dice worksheet independently.

Students compare results on their worksheet. If the sample space was the same, why did you get
different outcomes?

Regain student’s attention for another guided session referring to spinners.

Teacher to draw outline of a spinner on the whiteboard in equal parts. Students are given red,
blue and green whiteboard markers and as a group create an unequal spinner.
Students discuss the sample space with teacher guidance and represent probability as fractions.
Students create a replica of the spinner from whiteboard onto small individual spinners.
Students spin their spinner 20 times recording their results.
Students discuss comparisons. If you all had the same spinner, why are your results different? The
spinner was unequal, one colour had more chance than the others, did that come out the most
for every person? Why/Why not?
Extended learners can create their own unequal spinner and write sample space and probability
for it.

Wrapping Up:’
Ask students to relocate to the carpet.
Revisit learning goal from the start of the lesson and if it has been achieved.
Allow students to express any challenges from the lesson.