Maths worksheets: Probability. Y6

probability scale 0 to 1

data 1The language of probability develops further in year 6 to include:
perhaps, might, fair, unfair, biased, random, likely, unlikely, equally likely, chance, certain, uncertain, probable, possible, impossible, good chance, poor chance, no chance, equal chance, even chance, evens, fifty-fifty chance, likelihood, probability, possibility, and, or, not.

Children should understand the probability scale from 0 to 1 and be able to put events in the appropriate place on the probability scale according to the likelihood of the event happening. A probability of 0 means that something is impossible. A probability of 1 means that something is certain to happen. Sometimes children think that some events have a probability of 0 or 1 when in fact they are quite near these values, but not actually 0 or 1. For example it is highly unlikely that we shall have built a bridge across the Atlantic Ocean by the year 2030, but this is not actually impossible, therefore the probability of it happening is extremely small, but not equal to zero. Likewise, the probability of the Sun rising as usual every morning for the next year is very high but not actually 1 as there is a very small chance of some cataclysmic event happening in the Solar System.

Two maths worksheets below look at the probability line from 0 to 1.

6701-01 Probability (pg 1)

6701-02 Probability (pg 2)

Maths worksheets: Probability. Y5

Probability, certain, likely, unlikely, impossible

data 1Probability brings with it a whole new set of vocabulary and concepts. By the end of year 5 children should be familiar with the following terms:

perhaps, might, fair, unfair, likely, unlikely, equally likely, chance, certain, uncertain, probable, possible, impossible, good chance, poor chance, no chance, equal chance, even chance, evens, fifty-fifty chance, likelihood, probability, possibility.

The two worksheets below concentrate on children being able to say whether events are impossible (such as cows giving birth to hens), unlikely (such as tossing a die and getting a 4), likely (such as waking up tomorrow) or certain (such as throwing a normal die and getting a number from 1 to 6). Finding events which are either certain or impossible are often much harder than you might think.

5701-01 Probability (pg 1)

5701-02 Probability (pg 2)