PROBABILITY

Vocabulary

100

What does it mean when the chance of something happening is certain? 

It will ALWAYS happen. It definitely WILL happen. 

200

What does it mean when an event is likely to happen?  

It probably will happen, but it is not certain that it will. 

300

What is probability? 

Probability is the chance of something happening by examining all of the possible outcomes. 

400

What does it mean when two events are equally likely to occur? 

They have the same chance of happening. 

500

What does it mean when something has an unlikely chance of happening? 

It probably will not happen, but it could still happen. 

What are the Chances?

100

If you reach into a bag that has 5 black marbles, what are the chances that you will pick a red marble from the bag? 

Impossible

200

If you reach into a bag that has 6 Starburst and 2 Skittles, what are the chances that you pick a Starburst from the bag? 

Likely

300

If you reach into a basket without looking that has 3 volleyballs, 5 kick balls, and 1 basketball, what are the chances that you will pick a basketball? 

Unlikely

400

If you're fishing in a pond that has 20 catfish, 14 trout, and 17 bass, what are the chances that you will reel in a catfish? 

Likely

500

If you reach into a bag without looking that has 5 purple bouncy balls, 3 red bouncy balls, and 6 jump ropes, what are the chances that you will pick a jump rope instead of a bouncy ball? 

Unlikely

Combinations

100

For lunch you have to pick one main course and a side of fruit. Your choices for the main course are a sandwich or cheeseburger. For the fruit, you get to choose from an apple, banana, or orange. What multiplication problem could you use to figure out how many possible combinations you could make? 

2 x 3=6

200

You decide to go to the ice cream shop after your baseball game to celebrate your big win. When you get there, you decide you want an ice cream sundae. For a sundae you can get chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry ice cream with your choice of topping. The toppings are either hot fudge, caramel sauce, or sprinkles. What are all of the possible combinations you could make? 

Chocolate and hot fudge, chocolate and caramel, chocolate and sprinkles

Vanilla and hot fudge, vanilla and caramel, vanilla and sprinkles

Strawberry and hot fudge, strawberry and caramel, strawberry and sprinkles

300

You are trying to decide what outfit to wear for picture day. You pick out your favorite shirts and pants to choose from. You have a purple shirt, blue shirt, and green shirt and for pants you have striped pants or jeans. What combinations can you make with the shirts and pants you have chosen? 

Purple with striped, purple with jeans

Blue with striped, blue with jeans

Green with striped, green with jeans

400

You are ordering a sandwich at Subway and you have to choose one meat and one condiment to go on your sandwich. You can choose from ham or turkey for your meat and mayo, ranch, or sweet onion sauce for your condiment. Look at the list below to determine which combination is missing. 

Ham and mayo

Ham and sweet onion 

Turkey and mayo

Turkey and ranch

Turkey and sweet onion

Ham and ranch

500

You are dressing up for a costume party at school and have to choose which wig and which sunglasses to wear. You have a rainbow wig, purple wig, or pink wig. For sunglasses, you have striped sunglasses, polka dot sunglasses, or tie dye sunglasses. What possible combinations are missing from the list below? 

Rainbow and striped 

Rainbow and polka dot 

Rainbow and tie dye

Purple and polka dot 

Purple and tie dye

Pink and striped

Pink and tie dye

Purple and striped

Pink and polka dot