Probability Word Problems Worksheets
These types of problems flow naturally to word problem form. We are trying to understand the odds of something that we desire to happen. Being able to calculate this value can not only help us in a game of chance, but it can also help us to make better decisions and much more informed choices. At its core probability is just the fractional value that indicates the odds of something that we covenant occurring. In this section we will explore a strategy for tackling these types of problems. These worksheets and lessons help students acquire skills needed to tackle word probability that include the use of probability.
Aligned Standard: HSS-IC.B.6
- Victor's 6 Space Spinner Lesson- What is Victor's chance of landing on the $1,000 space with 2 spins?
- Mixed Probability Lesson - What is the chance of Mike, Raymond, and Sandy getting the same baseball card?
- Probability Word Problems (Cards and Dice) Worksheet 1 - Only the second one requires a tree diagram, the others are two-steps.
- Mixed Probability Word Problems Worksheet 1 - What is the chance of randomly choosing a dress, lotto choices, and numbers.
- Probability Word Problems Multi-Part-Problems Worksheet - There are multiple parts to each of these problems.
- Answer Keys - These are for all the unlocked materials above.
Probability Word Problems (Cards and Dice)
A wheel of fortune followed by cards and dice.
- Practice 2 - A wheel of fortune has 12 white, 6 blue and 2 red sectors. You'll win $10 for spinning a red sector and $5 for spinning a blue one. Tom and John decide to try their luck.
- Practice 3 - Mary has a deck of cards. She draws one card at random, puts it back and draws another one.
- Practice 4 - A lottery wheel contains 25% winning tickets. John buys two tickets. What's the probability of...
Mixed Probability Word Problems Worksheets
Random choice situations are presented to you.
- Practice 2 - A box contains 4 cards with the letters P, O, S and T. You take out a card and then put it back into the box. Doing that two times, what are the probabilities of drawing...
- Practice 3 - Mary has the following coins in her wallet: 3 quarters, 4 dimes and 7 nickels. Taking out one coin at random, what are the probabilities of...
- Practice 4 - Sally and Mary are buying a bag of candies for each of them. A bag contains a variety of candies with the following flavors: 5 caramel, 6 chocolate, 5 lemon and 4 apple. Each girl takes out a candy at random from her own bag.
Multi-Part-Problems
Every situation you are presented with here is completely different.
- Sheet 2 - In a survey, 2000 people were asked about their preferences on the size of cars. 45% of the participants were women. 40% of the men and 60% of the women said they like small cars, the rest prefers big cars.
- Sheet 3 - In a town, 25% of all inhabitants have black hair and 30% have blue eyes. 10% have both black hair and blue eyes.
- Sheet 4 - Out of 200 students, 130 have their own computer and 85% their own Smartphone. 55% have both a computer and a Smartphone.
Tips for Probability Word Problems
Probability and statistics problems, in general, are mostly presented to students in word or story problem form because that is exactly what they are; problems that relate to everyday life. You see this more and more as you get deeper into the probability curriculum at all levels. If you encourage students to follow a level-headed approach to these types of problems, they will find it much easier than ever before. Here is the approach that we encourage you to use with students:
Step 1 : Locate Keyword(s) - Proper to jumping into statistics we were focused on finding keywords in word problems that give away the type of operations that were required. We are now looking for one of three common keywords that apply to statistics (and), (not), and (or). The (and) keyword normally has a multiplication operation attached to it. (or) indicators often involve addition and (not) indicators often have us apply the complement rule.
Step 2 : Determine the Event - We need to identify the experiment and those events by which we need to find the probability. An event is the value that we are focusing on within the problem. It is best to always find what we are looking for and highlight it within the problem itself or write it next to the problem.
Step 3 : Understand the Nature of the Event - We need to decipher the nature of the event(s). Does this event depend on the outcome of another event or is it completely independent? This will determine the approach that we take when applying statistical rules. Find out the number of potential outcomes of the experiment and previously mentioned events.
Step 4 : Determining Probabilities - Now that we understand the nature of the data, we should know which probability fits it. Outline and arrange your problem to this formula or equation and make sure to substitute the values within the formulas. From there it only comes down to following through and finishing up all the math involved. I always end every problem back taking a look at the original questions and see if our solution works well for that problem.