A frequency is a measure of how often something happens. It is often a count of successes for a given number of trials.

What does it mean for an event to be likely?

If an event is likely, then we are pretty sure it will happen, but it may not.

What does it mean for an event to be unlikely?

If an event is unlikely, it means it probably won’t happen, but it could.

What kinds of things are chance events?

Some examples are rolling number cubes, flipping coins, shooting baskets, winning a game, and winning the lottery.

What is a probability?

Probability is the extent to which something is likely to occur. Probabilities have values between 0 and 1, describing likelihoods from impossible (0) to certain (1).

What is a probability model?

A probability model describes how probability is distributed amongst all possible outcomes in a sample space. In a uniform probability model, all outcomes are equally likely. In a non-uniform probability model, some outcomes are more likely than others.

What is theoretical probability?

A theoretical probability is one you calculate based on the number of outcomes possible and the number of outcomes in the event.

What is experimental probability?

An experimental probability is one you calculate by conducting an experiment and determining the frequency of an event in a fixed number of trials.

Which is more likely, a 0.2 chance it will rain, or a 0.6 chance it will snow?

Likelihood increases with larger numbers. Since 0.6 is larger than 0.2, it is more likely to snow than to rain.

Probability: Single Events

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What you will learn from this videoWhat you will learn

We'll learn about the probability of an event happening.
We will also learn how to PREDICT the chances of an event happening.
And we'll see how this knowledge can help us compete in sports, be on a game show, and understand bottle tricks!

Discussion Questions
- Before Video
  What is a frequency?ANSWER
  - A frequency is a measure of how often something happens. It is often a count of successes for a given number of trials.
  A chance event is any event where the outcome is uncertain. What are some chance events?ANSWER
  - Answers will vary.
  What does it mean for an event to be likely?ANSWER
  - If an event is likely, then we are pretty sure it will happen, but it may not.
  What does it mean for an event to be unlikely?ANSWER
  - If an event is unlikely, it means it probably won’t happen, but it could.
  What kinds of things are chance events?ANSWER
  - Some examples are rolling number cubes, flipping coins, shooting baskets, winning a game, and winning the lottery.
- After Video
  What is a probability?ANSWER
  - Probability is the extent to which something is likely to occur. Probabilities have values between 0 and 1, describing likelihoods from impossible (0) to certain (1).
  What is a probability model?ANSWER
  - A probability model describes how probability is distributed amongst all possible outcomes in a sample space. In a uniform probability model, all outcomes are equally likely. In a non-uniform probability model, some outcomes are more likely than others.
  What is theoretical probability?ANSWER
  - A theoretical probability is one you calculate based on the number of outcomes possible and the number of outcomes in the event.
  What is experimental probability?ANSWER
  - An experimental probability is one you calculate by conducting an experiment and determining the frequency of an event in a fixed number of trials.
  Which is more likely, a 0.2 chance it will rain, or a 0.6 chance it will snow?ANSWER
  - Likelihood increases with larger numbers. Since 0.6 is larger than 0.2, it is more likely to snow than to rain.
Vocabulary
- Probability DEFINE
- Impossible DEFINE
- Likely DEFINE
- Unlikely DEFINE
- Certain DEFINE
- Equally likely DEFINE
- Event DEFINE
- Trial DEFINE
- Outcome DEFINE
- Frequency DEFINE
- Expectation DEFINE
- Experimental probability DEFINE
- Theoretical probability DEFINE
- Sample space DEFINE
- Law of Large Numbers DEFINE
Reading Material
Practice Word Problems
Practice Number Problems
Lesson Plan
Teacher Guide
Assessment
Online Quiz Game Quiz PDF Exit Ticket