Spinner Bingo

[Decoration]

Spinner Bingo

Pupils analyse a simple game and plan a winning strategy.

Practical details

Suitability
National Curriculum levels 6 to 8
Time
30 minutes to 1 hour
Resources
Pencil and paper

Key Processes involved

Representing
Select a systematic recording method when deciding how totals may be made in different ways
Analysing
Explore the different combinations that are possible; deduce that some totals are impossible and that some are more likely than others
Interpreting and evaluating
Relate their findings to the situation and deduce which totals give the best chance of winning
Communicating and reflecting
Communicate conclusions and reasoning clearly and effectively

Teacher guidance

Check that Pupils understand the context, for example, you could show different ways of selecting a number at random including dice and spinners and ask the following questions:

  • Who has played Bingo? What is the aim of the game?
  • In Bingo numbers from 1 – 100 may be pulled out of a ‘hat’ and then called.
  • In this Bingo game, the numbers called are obtained by adding the scores on two spinners. Each spinner gives a number (eg red with 2 and blue with 3) and the number called is the sum, 5.

Pupils can tackle this task in different ways, but they might be expected to:

  • identify all the outcomes when dealing with two experiments combined
  • understand how to calculate the probability of a compound event and use this in solving a problem