LESSON 1

Name of Lesson: Exploration

Duration: 60 minutes

Objectives:
To gage how much students
already know about probability,
graphs, analyzing data etc.
Objective is for students to see a
brief snapshot and start thinking
about the different topics that will
be introduced throughout the
lesson.

Curriculum Objectives:
General Outcomes:
Collect, display and analyze data to solve problems.
(Alberta Education, 2014, page 33)

Materials:
Marbles, graph/graphing paper
Formative Assessment from last
class: First class of the year.

Link to Previous Lesson(s):

First lesson of the year. Draw on previous knowledge.
Learners Differentiation:
Challenged or ELL learners: Provide the students with translated
instructions.

Lesson

Task/Activity

Formative/Summative
Assessment

General Outcomes:
Use experimental or theoretical probabilities to represent and solve
problems involving uncertainty.
(Alberta Education, 2014, page 33)

What is probability and statistics? You will ask students to draw on their
previous knowledge, to attempt to answer these questions. You will allow
students to engage in activities and collaborate with one another in activities to
get a sense of what the next 7 lessons will entail. Students will dabble in each
topic presented throughout this unit in order to get a snapshot of what is to
come.
1. Teacher will divide class into groups of 5. Each group
will receive a bag of marbles (consisting of 4 black
marbles, and 1 red marble). The students will circle the
bag around and each choose one marble. Groups will be
asked to determine ways in which they could predict
the marbles each student was getting. Ask them to come
up with their own formulas/patterns drawing on prior
knowledge.
2. Students will then be shown graphs and asked to
interpret them. Show the students a bar graph and a
line graph. Ask them when they think using a bar graph
over a line graph would be best and vise versa.
3. In their groups, ask students to collect data on the
following questions:
i) How long does it take you to get to school?
ii) What method of transportation do you use to get to
school?
Then ask students to represent that information in either a
bar or a line graph like the ones they were shown above.
Get students to use thumbs up to show if they are familiar with the topics you
are discussing.

Finish the lesson by asking each student to write a small reflection on what was
easy and fun about the class versus what they struggled with. Most likely, the
interpretations of the graphs may have been the hardest, so we will elaborate on
those concepts in lesson 2 and 3. (Rubric attached at the bottom)
Assessment: Students will be given a homework assignment in which they are
asked to ask their family members what they think probability and statistics
consist of. Students will present their findings to the class at the beginning of
lesson 2. (Rubric contained in Lesson 2)
Reflection
Throughout the lesson, be aware of students reactions to different topics. More
likely than not, the marble activity will be engaging and fun.
Be aware of the misconceptions that may exist about probability being a number greater than 1.
Use their feedback given to you at the end of the lesson to help mold your lesson
2 and lesson 3.