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Lesson Plan for Implementing

NETSSTemplate I
(More Directed Learning Activities)
Teacher(s)
Name

Christine Simerly

Position

7th Grade Mathematics Teacher

School/District

Snellville Middle School/ Gwinnett County Public Schools

E-mail

christine_simerly@gwinnett.k12.ga.us

Phone

770-972-1530

Grade Level(s)

7th grade

Content Area

Mathematics

Time line

3 days

Standards

Content
Standards

Students will be able to approximate the probability of a chance event by collecting


data on the chance process that produces it and observing it long-run relative
frequency.

NETS*S
Standards:

Students will construct knowledge using technology. Students will apply digital tools
to gather, evaluate and use information and will report the results.

Overview

The students will go to http://smsprobability.weebly.com/ and complete a variety of assignments to


demonstrate their ability to approximate the probability of a chance event. First the students will watch
a video that explains the difference between experimental and theoretical probability. After viewing the
video, students will study their probability terms using Quizlet. After reviewing experimental and
theoretical probability, students will complete the Adjustable Spinner Activity at NCTM Illuminations.
There are several questions about the Adjustable Spinner Activity that students will answer while
participating in the activity. After completing the Adjustable Spinner Activity, students will complete the
Coin Toss Exploration at Interactivate. Here again, there are several questions about the Coin Toss
Exploration that students will answer while participating in the activity. Finally, students will demonstrate
their understanding of the lesson by completing the Probability Assessment created on Google Forms
and they will create a spinner that demonstrates their understanding of probability. After creating the
spinner, the students will complete the Spinner Prediction Activity and take a screenshot of the spinner
they create to submit to the dropbox on the eClass course page. The final task is for students to
participate in an online discussion to answer the following question When does experimental
probability look most like the theoretical probability? and respond to one other person.

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Essential Questions

There are several essential questions that will be addressed in this lesson plan:
What is experimental probability?
What is theoretical probability?
How does the experimental probability compare with the theoretical probability?
When does experimental probability look most like the theoretical probability?
Assessment

Students will demonstrate their understanding of the content being taught by completing an
assessment that was created using Google Forms. Based on the assessment results, the teacher will
gain an understanding of the students knowledge of experimental and theoretical probability.
Furthermore, students will create a spinner and predict the chances of each sector to be selected by
completing the Spinner Prediction Activity. Based on the screenshot submitted and the prediction the
students make, the teacher will be able to determine whether the students have a good understanding
of the content being taught. The assessment will not be a grade for the students; rather, it will be used
as a tool for the teacher to determine which concepts the students are still struggling with. The Spinner
Prediction Activity will be graded using the Spinner Prediction Activity Rubric. Students that do not
demonstrate mastery of the content will be required to view the instructional videos found under the
Instructional Videos menu of the Weebly website that was created to teach this content.
http://smsprobability.weebly.com/
Resources

By using the online tools introduced in this lesson, students can more easily observe the long-run
relative frequency of chance events and can easily collect the data needed to analyze those results.
The Adjustable Spinner and the Coin Toss Simulator will help students to more clearly understand the
difference between experimental and theoretical probability. A website,
http://smsprobability.weebly.com/, was created to house all of the resources needed for these webbased activities. In addition to the simulation tools that students will use, there are many instructional
videos to help students. The instructional videos can be used to differentiate the information being
taught in the lesson when a student is struggling with the concepts being taught. Furthermore, the
teacher can easily assess the understanding of the students from the results of the Google.doc form,
the Probability Assessment. There are very few technology skills necessary to complete the activities in
this lesson plan. The simulation websites are using-friendly and all the instructional videos are linked
and easy to view. The one skill that students may not be familiar with doing is taking a screenshot;
however, this skill is easily demonstrated to the students prior to having them complete the activities.

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Instructional Plan
Preparation

Prior to completing the simulation activities, students must complete the introduction activities for on the
Introduction page of the Weebly.com website. The Introduction page includes an instructional video that
explains the difference between experimental and theoretical probabilities. They must also study the
terms that they will be using by practicing them on the Quizlet that is also linked to the Introduction
page. These two web-based tools will help students to gain a foundation for the experiments that they
will be conducting. Students will be self-assessing their understanding of experimental and theoretical
probability. If students feel they still dont understand the content in the introduction video, they should
view the instructional videos found under the Instructional Videos menu. Students may have difficulties
understanding the differences between experimental and theoretical probabilities, but by viewing
different instructional videos, students should gradually understand the difference.
Management

Each student will need their own desktop or laptop computer to complete the activities. Students will
work individually on the activities to construct their own knowledge of how to make predictions when it
comes to probability. Each student will be assigned a computer to use and plenty of time, 3 days, to
complete all of the activities contained in this lesson plan. By allocating plenty of computer time to
complete the activities, students will all have equitable access to the internet. There may be technical
issues that arise. For example, one or more of the websites may not being operating as it should. By
using a reputable website, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Illuminations website, it is
hopeful that this will not be an issue; however, if there is a problem with the website, other website
contain simulation tools that can be used instead. To prevent problems that may result from creating
lesson plans using web-based websites that are blocked by the county firewalls, it is recommended that
teachers test the accessibility of websites at school using a student login.
Instructional Strategies and Learning Activities

The two learning activities, the Adjustable Spinner and the Coin Toss Exploration, are designed in a
way that requires students to construct their own knowledge about experimental and theoretical
probability. Students will conduct experiments using different tools so that they are able to see that the
more trials conducted, regardless of the manipulative being used, the experimental probability becomes
closer to the theoretical probability. The teacher will act as facilitator and will trouble-shot technical
issues. The students will complete the sequence of tasks independently which require higher order
thinking. Students will analyze the results of their experiments and will draw conclusions based on their
analysis. Students will apply what they have learned to create a spinner that has sectors of different
sizes. Furthermore, students will create predictions based on the spinner created. Technology is very
useful in teaching this concept since it takes seconds to create the amount of data needed to make the
analysis. Most students connect spinners and coin tosses with games being played. By providing
learning tools associated with games and fun, students are more likely to be engaged in the learning
experience. It is more meaningful for students to construct their own understanding of the differences
between theoretical and experimental probabilities, but if a student is struggling with a concept, the
teacher will encourage collaboration with a student who has a good understanding of the topic. There is
also a discussion that students will complete where students will respond to one other classmate.

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Differentiation

There are several ways to differentiate this probability lesson. There are many instructional videos
included to help differentiate the curriculum being taught. If a student is struggling with any particular
aspect of probability, there is a video linked to the Probability website that will help him or her.
Furthermore, the Quizlet offers a tool for studying the terms used to study probability. Students who
have difficulty reading will have the option to use the audio feature on this website.
Students that finish early or want to extend their learning will be encouraged to create a fair game using
a pair of dice. Students will need to make sure every participant has an equal opportunity to win.

Reflection

The final activity that the students will complete is to collaborate by participating in the Probability
discussion on their eClass course page. Students will respond to the following question, When does
experimental probability look most like the theoretical probability? and will respond to one other
person. I knew the lesson was meaningful and worth completing based on the verbal feedback from the
students. Students may have struggled a bit on the Adjustable Spinner Activity; however, after
completing this activity, they had a better understanding of the concept being taught and were better
able to complete the remaining activities. When I originally taught this lesson, I didnt have the
instructional videos on the Probability website. Some students seemed to be struggling with the
understanding the difference between experimental and theoretical probability, so I included these
videos so that the next time I use this lesson with my students, I will have more resources available to
help these students.
Closure:

Overall, I believe the activities contained in this lesson plan were very effective at teaching these
standards. I modeled the two different web-based simulation tools and I would advise others to do this
as well. Many students just like to push buttons to figure out how a website works rather than read
directions, so I would highly recommend scaffolding so that students will be familiar with the website
and what is expected. The screencast is also a great tool for those that need step-by-step instructions
as the students are able to pause the video in between steps. Students seemed to understand this
lesson fairly well. I didnt include any videos about converting fractions to decimals and/or percentages,
but I would consider including instructional videos demonstrating this skill for students that still dont
know how to make these conversions.

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