Everything sits somewhere between impossible and certain
Impossible means it can never happen. Certain means it always happens. Most things are somewhere in between: unlikely, even chance, likely.
Class 3 to 12 · 39 games
Chance, explained with pictures
How likely something is, from impossible to certain.
In everyday life: The toss at the start of a match, rolling a six, rain in June.
Count the outcomes to compare two chances
A spinner with 3 red parts out of 8 gives red a 3 out of 8 chance. More favourable parts out of the same total means more likely.
Likely is not the same as guaranteed
A 5 out of 6 chance still fails sometimes. And a coin has no memory — four heads in a row does not make tails more likely next time.
A worked example
A bag has 1 red ball and 3 blue. How likely is red?
1 out of 4 — unlikely
There are 4 balls in all and only one is red, so red comes up about one time in four.
Words to know
- outcome
- One thing that could happen.
- likely
- It happens more often than not, but not always.
- even chance
- Both results happen about equally often.
In the games
You will sort events into impossible, possible and certain, order events from least to most likely, and compare two chances.
Skills
- Impossible, possible, certain · Class 4
- Compare how likely things are · Class 5
- Compare two chances · Class 6
- Read a chance off a spinner · Class 6
- Chance over many tries · Class 7
- Count all the outcomes · Class 7
- Probability as a fraction · Class 8
- Two events together · Class 9
- Conditional probability · Class 12
By class
Class 3 chance (1) · Class 4 chance (4) · Class 5 chance (5) · Class 6 chance (7) · Class 7 chance (10) · Class 8 chance (5) · Class 9 chance (4) · Class 12 chance (3)
Practise chance in Tivumo
No download, no account for your child. Classes 3 to 12, more than 1,000 games.