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Can you decide whether these short statistical statements are always, sometimes or never true?
Alison and Charlie are playing a game. Charlie wants to go first so Alison lets him. Was that such a good idea?
Imagine flipping a coin a number of times. Can you work out the probability you will get a head on at least one of the flips?
Engage in a little mathematical detective work to see if you can spot the fakes.
What statements can you make about the car that passes the school gates at 11am on Monday? How will you come up with statements and test your ideas?
What can you say about the child who will be first on the playground tomorrow morning at breaktime in your school?
Some people offer advice on how to win at games of chance, or how to influence probability in your favour. Can you decide whether advice is good or not?
Move your counters through this snake of cards and see how far you can go. Are you surprised by where you end up?
The class were playing a maths game using interlocking cubes. Can you help them record what happened?
This interactivity invites you to make conjectures and explore probabilities of outcomes related to two independent events.
In this game the winner is the first to complete a row of three. Are some squares easier to land on than others?
Kaia is sure that her father has worn a particular tie twice a week in at least five of the last ten weeks, but her father disagrees. Who do you think is right?
Six balls are shaken. You win if at least one red ball ends in a corner. What is the probability of winning?
Seven balls are shaken. You win if the two blue balls end up touching. What is the probability of winning?
Discs are flipped in the air. You win if all the faces show the same colour. What is the probability of winning?
Have a go at this game which involves throwing two dice and adding their totals. Where should you place your counters to be more likely to win?
Anna and Becky put one purple cube and two yellow cubes into a bag to play a game. Is the game fair? Explain your answer.
Roll two red dice and a green dice. Add the two numbers on the red dice and take away the number on the green. What are all the different possible answers?
What are the likelihoods of different events when you roll a dice?
What is special about dice?
How can we use dice to explore probability?
A simple spinner that is equally likely to land on Red or Black. Useful if tossing a coin, dropping it, and rummaging about on the floor have lost their appeal. Needs a modern browser; if IE then at least version 9.
Simple models which help us to investigate how epidemics grow and die out.
Fancy a game of cricket? Here is a mathematical version you can play indoors without breaking any windows.
Uncertain about the likelihood of unexpected events? You are not alone!
The beginnings of understanding probability begin much earlier than you might think...
This article explains how tree diagrams are constructed and helps you to understand how they can be used to calculate probabilities.
You'll need to work in a group for this problem. The idea is to decide, as a group, whether you agree or disagree with each statement.
Find out about the lottery that is played in a far-away land. What is the chance of winning?
In the time before the mathematical idea of randomness was discovered, people thought that everything that happened was part of the will of supernatural beings. So have things changed?
Which of these ideas about randomness are actually correct?
Can you generate a set of random results? Can you fool the random simulator?
These red, yellow and blue spinners were each spun 45 times in total. Can you work out which numbers are on each spinner?
Think that a coin toss is 50-50 heads or tails? Read on to appreciate the ever-changing and random nature of the world in which we live.
This article, written by Nicky Goulder and Samantha Lodge, reveals how maths and marimbas can go hand-in-hand! Why not try out some of the musical maths activities in your own classroom?
This article, for students and teachers, is mainly about probability, the mathematical way of looking at random chance and is a shorter version of Taking Chances Extended.
Charlie thinks that a six comes up less often than the other numbers on the dice. Have a look at the results of the test his class did to see if he was right.
In this game you throw two dice and find their total, then move the appropriate counter to the right. Which counter reaches the purple box first?
Here are some examples of 'cons', and see if you can figure out where the trick is.
Can you beat Piggy in this simple dice game? Can you figure out Piggy's strategy, and is there a better one?
This is a game for two players. Does it matter where the target is put? Is there a good strategy for winning?
All you need for this game is a pack of cards. While you play the game, think about strategies that will increase your chances of winning.
A maths-based Football World Cup simulation for teachers and students to use.
When you throw two regular, six-faced dice you have more chance of getting one particular result than any other. What result would that be? Why is this?
Mrs. Smith had emptied packets of chocolate-covered mice, plastic frogs and gummi-worms into a cauldron for treats. What treat is Trixie most likely to pick out?
Bipin is in a game show and he has picked a red ball out of 10 balls. He wins a large sum of money, but can you use the information to decided what he should do next?
In a race the odds are: 2 to 1 against the rhinoceros winning and 3 to 2 against the hippopotamus winning. What are the odds against the elephant winning if the race is fair?
Your partner chooses two beads and places them side by side behind a screen. What is the minimum number of guesses you would need to be sure of guessing the two beads and their positions?
Is a score of 9 more likely than a score of 10 when you roll three dice?