Mathematics
Intermediate
50 mins
Teacher/Student led
+80 XP
What you need:
IWB/Projector/Large Screen

Chance: Certain, Possible and Impossible

Explore the language of chance by sorting everyday events as certain, possible or impossible. Discover the crucial difference between an impossible event and a very unlikely one.

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    1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

    Illustration for Getting StartedHere are three questions. For each one, hands up: is it sure to happen, might it happen, or can it never happen?

    • Will the sun set this evening?
    • Could it rain at lunchtime today?
    • Will Monday come straight after Friday?

    2 - Watch and Notice ~9 mins

    Watch two spinners on the board. On the first, every part is the same colour. On the second, there are two colours. Notice which outcomes are sure, which are never going to happen, and which ones only might happen.

    3 - Write Your Three Events in Your Copy ~3 mins

    COPYBOOK MOMENT

    In your maths copy, write three headings: certain, possible and impossible. Under each heading, write one everyday event of your own that fits it.

    4 - Try It Together ~8 mins

    Key point

    Before each pupil changes the spinner, the rest of us decide in our heads what it should look like, then hands up to agree or change it. Each time, we say out loud why it fits the word before we check.

    Today we set up the spinner three ways. First, make landing on red certain. Then make landing on red impossible. Then make it only possible — where red might turn up but might not.

    Set up the spinner three ways

    5 - Class Challenge ~9 mins

    We sort these four event cards into three groups: certain, possible and impossible. We take them in this order, each one a little trickier than the last:

    • the next day of the week has a name
    • you roll a 4 on a dice
    • a pig flies to school on its own
    • it snows in Cork in July
    Key point

    For the last one, we decide together: is it truly impossible, or just very unlikely?

    Hands-on Task

    Pupil practice
    Module 9 · Data and Chance Mixed
    Lesson 103 · Chance: Certain, Possible and Impossible
    Download Activity Book page (PDF)
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