Probability and Statistics Activities for Grades 3 - 6

These activities will help your child develop probability and statistics skills, an important "strand" or math theme tested in the WASL math activities.

Probability and Statistics Activities - Use the following links to see the activity.
Survey Family Members Find Averages Graph Search
Spinners Coin Toss

(Activities taken from Mathematics a Guide for Parents to Everyday Mathematics and Helping Your Child at Home Grades K-6, published by Central Kitsap School District Department of Curriculum and Instruction, 2000.)

Survey Family Members

  • Your child can collect data about almost any activity and create a display of that information. For example, he/she can record how much sleep each family member gets each night, or how the family spends the weekend hours.
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Find Averages

  • Using data collected, your child can find averages. He/she might find the average number of raisins in small boxes that come in packages of four or six. He/she can count the raisins in each box, find the sum, and divide by the number of boxes. If your child is involved in baseball or basketball, he/she can find his/her batting average or free-throw average.
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Graph Search

  • When reading magazines or newspapers, help your child notice the title, the scales along the bottom and side, the kinds of numbers used, and what kind of graph it is (e.g., bar, line, circle). Ask your child to tell you what the graph is about and what it shows.
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Spinners

  • Using spinners, your child can practice probability and statistics. Make two spinners that are the same, or use spinners from commercial games. You and your child each spin the spinner 24 times. Each time you spin, compare the results to see if you have a match. Predict how many spins will result in a match. Then do the experiment. Record what comes up each time. Figure out how many matches you had.
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Coin Toss

  • You will need two different coins for this activity. Have your child toss two coins together 25 times. After each toss, record the results of the toss. What lands up--two heads, two tails, or one head and one tail? You can have your child predict what he/she things the result of the toss will be.
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