#1995. Random Money

Mathematics, level: Elementary
Posted Sun Nov 12 14:28:04 PST 2000 by Paul Brennan (paulmichaelbrennan@hotmail.com).
Lock Haven University, Taylor, Pa
Materials Required: see lesson
Activity Time: 15-25 minutes
Concepts Taught: predicting

Standard: 2.7.5 Pennsylvania

Objective: (A.) Perform simulations with concrete devices (e.g., dice, spinner) to predict the chance of an event occurring.

Grade Level: 4-5
Materials Needed: play money(nickels, dimes, and pennies), a spinner with coins for landing spots ( 8 spots for a penny, 4-nickel, 2-dime), a chart to graph the results.

Activity: Random money
Group students into pairs for this activity. Distribute the spinners that they made in art class, with play money and a blank sheet for a graph. Instruct them to make predictions on the back of their graph sheet as to what they think will happen and why. After recording their predictions, they will spin the spinner 10 times and record what happened after each spin. They will then take a few minutes to reflect on what happened during their experimenting.
After everyone is finished, have a group discussion on what happened for each group. What were your predictions, why? There should be good reasoning as to why they made the predictions they did. Discuss the odds of each event occuring.

Source: Paul Brennan - paulmichaelbrennan@hotmail.com