Preview · the opening missionRead this to the class:
In a board game, you need a six to start. Jayden has been waiting for six turns and is convinced: "Six is the hardest number to roll. The die is against me." His sister says every number is just as likely. The game company has received an angry letter. Your team's job: collect real evidence about how often each number comes up, and write the company a reply it can trust.
Teams of three, with jobs that rotate every 10 rolls: Roller (shakes the die in the cup and rolls), Caller (reads the number aloud), Recorder (makes a tally mark).
Look inside the PDF
Sample pages, stamped “preview”. The download is the clean, full lesson.
In the full lesson PDF
7 printable pages
- Predict (5–10 min)
- Hunt (20 min)
- Reveal (10–15 min)
- Act (10 min)
- Background for the teacher
- Assessment
- Student sheet
- Worksheet: Label it
- Worksheet: Try it at home
On the student sheet
- My prediction
- Our 30 rolls
- The whole class
- What did we find?
- Our reply to Jayden
- Exit ticket
- Label it
- Try it at home
US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white. The student sheet is on its own page, ready to photocopy.
Free with an account (any 3 lessons), or US$19 for all 4 lessons in this unit.
What students show by the end
- Uses the probability scale
- Finds experimental and theoretical probability
- Explains sample size
From the lesson’s rubric, which scores each one as not yet, getting there or got it.
Questions teachers ask
How long does “Is a six harder to roll?” take?
50–60 min. Group size: teams of 3.
How much prep does it need?
10 minutes: each team needs one ordinary six-sided die and a paper cup or a tray to roll into, so dice don't bounce off the desk. Draw a big class tally table on the board with columns 1 to 6 and a row for each team. Draw a probability line from 0 to 1 on the board.
What materials do I need?
Six-sided die; paper cup or shallow tray to roll into. Cost: about $5 for a class set of dice if you have none.
Which curriculum standards does it cover?
Common Core Math (US): 7.SP.C.5, 7.SP.C.6 and 7.SP.C.7 (partly).
What’s in the lesson PDF?
A teacher guide that walks you through predict, hunt, reveal, act, background for the teacher and assessment, then a student sheet (“My prediction”, “Our 30 rolls”, “The whole class”, “What did we find?”, “Our reply to Jayden”, “Exit ticket”, “Label it” and “Try it at home”) on its own page, ready to photocopy. It’s US Letter and prints cleanly in black and white.
Can I try it for free?
Yes. A free account includes any 3 full lessons of your choice, and this can be one of them. After that, this unit is US$19 for all 4 lessons, yours to keep, or every lesson is US$199 a year.