1.) Coin
2.) Six-sided Die
3.) Paper
4.) Pen or Pencil
5.) Calculator
Prepare a tally sheet to count how many times the coin has landed on heads or tails.
Prepare a second tally sheet to count how often you have rolled each number with the die.
Begin by calculating the theoretical probability for a coin to land on heads or tails. Write the probabilities in fraction form.
Theoretical Probability = (# of favorable outcomes)/(# of possible outcomes)
Toss the coin 10 times. After each toss record if you got heads or tails in your tally sheet.
Count how often you got heads and how often you got tails. Write your results in fraction form. For example, 3 tails out of 10 tosses would be 3/10 or 0.3.
(The denominator will always be the number of times you toss the coin, and the numerator will be the outcome you are measuring, such as the number of times the coin lands on tails.) You could also express the same results looking at heads landings for the same 10 tosses. So that would be 7 heads out of 10 tosses: 7/10 or 0.7.
Do another 10 coin tosses and record your results
Compare your results from the second round to the first round. Are they the same? Why or why not?
Continue tossing the coin. This time toss it 30 times in a row. Record your results for each toss in your tally sheet. Look at your results from the 30 coin tosses and convert them into fraction form.
Count how many heads and tails you got for your total coin tosses so far, which should be 50. Again, write your results in fraction form (with the number of tosses as the denominator (50) and the result you are tallying as the numerator)
Calculate the theoretical probability for rolling each number on a six-sided die. Write the probabilities in fraction form.
Take the dice and roll it 10 times. After each roll record which number you got in your tally sheet.
After 10 rolls compare your results (written in fraction form) with your predictions
Do another 10 rolls with the dice, recording the result of each roll
Now roll the dice 30 times in a row (recording the result after each roll). Count how often you rolled each number in all combined 50 rolls. Write your results in fraction form.
Compare your calculated probability numbers with your actual data for both activities (coin and dice)