Lesson Plan

Day: Friday Date: 1/9/17 Lesson Duration: 50 min

Year: 10 Strand: Statistics & Probability Topic: Chance

Curriculum Content Description ACARA Code: ACMSP247

Use the language of ifthen, given, of, knowing that to investigate conditional statements and identify common mistakes in interpreting
such language.

Purpose of Lesson
Understand and apply the use of tree diagrams to represent the sample space for experiments involving two or more stages.

Students Prior Knowledge & Experience What the students already know about the topic
Students have experience with determining discrete probabilities of events.
Students have experience with unions and intersections of events.

Learning Objectives On completion of the lesson students will be able to:

Objective Blooms Taxonomy Level of Complexity
1 Produce a tree diagram to list all the possible outcomes of a sample space Understand
2 Use a tree diagram to determine the probability of certain outcomes Apply

Evaluation How will you know the lesson objective has been achieved
1 Students will complete and hand in the exercises in the textbook associated with the tree diagram section.

Preparation & Resources

Students will need: Textbook: 10 & 10A Essential Mathematics for the Australian Mathematics
Teacher will prepare:

Catering For Diversity what adjustments or considerations will be made to ensure equitable outcomes for all students
Prior to the class I will have a discussion with the teacher to identify if there are any students with special needs/requirements with respect
to adjusting the learning experience or the learning environment and if there are any students on an Individual Education Plan or Behaviour
Management Plan.

Timing Lesson Experience - Overview

1. Introduction how will I engage the students?
5 mins Ensure students have textbooks
Introduce topic of Tree Diagrams
Engage students through an example selecting two famous players of a soccer team
2. Sequence of learning activities how will the students gain the skills and knowledge to meet the lesson objectives?
25 mins Represent the process of selecting the players in a tree diagram
Branches show chance of outcome at each stage
Look at total sample space and listing outcomes
Recall definition of probability
Use tree to find probabilities
Box & counter example
Not always equal chance for each option so need to show probabilities on the branches
Probability of final outcome is equal to the probabilities on the branches multiplied together
Use tree to find probabilities
Marble example without replacement
Replacement vs Without Replacement
Show how probabilities on branches are determined
Use tree to find probabilities
20 min Textbook exercises
 3. Conclusions summarise the learning and relate it to learning objectives
When we need to show all the possible ways we can make a series of choices we use a tree diagram. The tree can also tell
us the probability of obtaining certain outcomes.

Lesson Evaluation reflect on what did/didnt work, what would you change, why?
How did I feel the lesson went?

The lesson was successful and I feel I am becoming more confident and competent with each lesson. This was reflected in my mentors
feedback in which he said it was an excellent lesson and the students were more focused and on task than they usually are on a Friday
afternoon.

This was the second time I have taught this particular group of students. I felt they were more comfortable with me and were more
responsive to my interactive approach to teaching. In addition, during the independent working time they seemed much more comfortable
to approach me for help.
Were potential problems predicted?

Prior to the lesson I was worried about how attentive the students would be as it was a Friday afternoon immediately after lunch. I planned
an introductory example I hoped would capture their attention.

From previous lessons I have learned to ask them to get the textbooks from the cupboard in the back of the room at the start of the lesson
rather than deal with the disruption and loss of momentum part way through the lesson.
What were the most effective elements of the lesson? Why?

The school has a Soccer Program so there are a large number of students who are interested in soccer. I used this to my advantage to
engage them in the topic at the beginning of the lesson. I presented an example of a two stage selection process using visual props of two
famous soccer players they would recognise. The example worked particularly well and managed to hook the students immediately. In
addition, I continued to utilise the visual props throughout the lesson and found them to be useful tools when dealing with individual
student questions.

I found it effective to leave a worked example written up on the board. As students asked questions during the independent working time, I
was able to refer back to the example as it provided a visual reminder of the steps/process to follow when working out the solution.
What were the least effective elements of the lesson? Why?

I find the time allocated for the second half of the lesson for independent work to be frustrating. Rather than a Think-Pair-Share approach,
my Mentor utilises a system where the class can work cooperatively with their desk partner. A large portion of the students are self-
motivated and work well independently or with their partner. However, there always seems to be a couple of students who disengage at
this point. With a large class, keeping an eye on what everyone is doing and answering questions means it is difficult to continually track the
students who are disengaged. Also, I feel like I lose touch with what the students are doing, even those who are working productively.
Consequently, I have no way of immediately gauging how effectively the learning outcomes have been met. I would like to try a system
where the students are given one or two specific question they need to complete immediately. I need some way of quickly assessing these
questions and establish some kind of reward or recognition process attached to the completion of these questions. After the completion of
the two required questions, the students can then follow the current process where they select which of the excercise questions they
complete. The questions in the textbook become increasingly difficult and require more critical thinking. The students choose what level of
complexity questions they attempt, which I think is an appropriate way for differentiating the learning experience.
Was your lesson plan effective for managing the class? How did your students react? Was there a high level of participation?

My lesson plan worked perfectly for this class. I managed to get the students engaged early in the lesson and kept their attention for the
entire theoretical component of the lesson. The students continued to participate productively in the independent working time.
Were you satisfied with your timing?

The timing in my lesson plan was accurate.

If I were to repeat the lesson what would I change? How could I improve it?

Drawing tree diagrams for more than two stages or when there are a lot of options can get difficult as the tree can become quite large. If
you do not leave enough space between branches at the beginning of the drawing there is often not enough room to show all the possible
outcomes at the end of the tree. If I were to repeat the lesson I would include instruction on how to draw tree diagrams by working out the
total number of expected outcomes then work backwards when drawing the tree.

As mentioned earlier, I would like to change the second part of the lesson where the students work independently.