In the Bag

You have 2 different bags of marbles.
One bag has 3 Red and 2 Blue the other has 5 Red and 3 Blue.

Mzo picks one marble from each bag at random.

• What is the probability he picks one of each colour?
• What is the probability he does NOT pick a red?

Play the game with a friend. You could just use bits of paper folded so you can’t see the colours and you don’t need bags.

Decide on what colour combination will win, say that picking one of each colour will win. Then take it in turns pick a marble from each bag, notes the result, and puts them back. Score a point for a winning result; you could both win or both lose or one could win and not the other.

Record all the results to turn your game into an experiment. Then work out theoretically the probability of each result.

How close were the experimental and theoretical results?

What happens if everyone in the class plays the game with a partner and you add up all the experimental results for the whole class?

Click here for the Notes for Teachers.