Horse Race Dice Game
Who doesn’t like a day at the races? The horse race activity is a
vehicle for getting students to practice recording data and determine what are
the most likely possible outcomes when rolling a pair of standard dice. Students
must set up a racetrack on a gameboard/whiteboard and number 2 to 12 across the
bottom (all possible sums that can be rolled with two dice). Each of the sums
is a “horse”. When students roll the dice, that horse advances down the track.
The first horse to get to the finish line (let’s say 8 paces forward) wins.
Students can “bet” (read: predict) which horse they think will be the winner,
and that can make it a lot of fun! After the race, ask the students if some
sums seemed to come up more than others. The horse race should determine that 7
is the most likely sum to roll.
This activity ties into the Data Management and Probability strand, and
could be used in grades 5 and up. There is a second part to the activity that
uses 8 sided dice, but within my placement class, I think I would choose to
just do part one.
I think this activity could be used at many points within a Data
Management unit, although I wouldn’t use it for a consolidation activity. It is
a great way to get hands-on in the classroom while teaching about probability.
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