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Probability Worksheet

This document provides instructions for students to create a two-way frequency table based on the colors of M&Ms and Skittles in bags. It then has students use the table to calculate marginal, joint, and conditional probabilities. Students are asked to find conditional probabilities like the probability a candy is a red M&M given that the candy is red. They are also asked to define conditional probability and describe a general formula for calculating conditional probabilities from a two-way frequency table.

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LizFiedler
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450 views5 pages

Probability Worksheet

This document provides instructions for students to create a two-way frequency table based on the colors of M&Ms and Skittles in bags. It then has students use the table to calculate marginal, joint, and conditional probabilities. Students are asked to find conditional probabilities like the probability a candy is a red M&M given that the candy is red. They are also asked to define conditional probability and describe a general formula for calculating conditional probabilities from a two-way frequency table.

Uploaded by

LizFiedler
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Created By: Elizabeth Fiedler Name _________________________________________________ Date __________________

Part I: Creating and Reading a Two-Way Frequency Table


Obtain a bag of M&Ms and a bag of Skittles from the teacher. 1. Count the number of M&Ms and Skittles of each color in your bag and record this information in the frequency tables below.

Red M&Ms

Orange

Yellow

Green

Blue

Brown

Total

Red Skittles

Orange

Yellow

Green

Blue

Purple

Total

2. Create a Two-Way Frequency Table: We can combine individual frequency tables into a twoway frequency table. The types of candy make up the rows and the colors of the candy make up the columns of the table. Use the class data to fill in the two-way frequency table below. Be sure to total each row and the column.
Red M&Ms Skittles Total Orange Yellow Green Blue Purple Brown Total

We read a two-way frequency table in a similar way as a regular frequency table. The number of orange Skittles is listed where the Orange column and the Skittles row meet. We can also find the number of blue candies in the bag. We just look at the total of the Blue column.

Fiedler 3. Review Marginal and Joint Probability. a. Which of the cells in the two-way frequency table above represent a marginal probability?

b. Which of the cells in the two-way frequency table above represent a joint probability?

c. What is marginal probability?

d. What is joint probability?

4. Using your two-way frequency table, find the probability of picking the following from the class set of M&Ms and Skittles. Determine if each of the following are marginal or joint probabilities. a. Any color M&M

b. A Purple Skittle

c. A Blue M&M

d. A Red Skittle

e. Any Green candy

f. A Yellow M&M

Checkpoint #1

Fiedler

Part II: Finding Conditional Probability


Imagine that your friend chooses a candy from your bag. She looks at it, tells you that it is red, but doesnt tell you if it is an M&M or a Skittle. Knowing that your friend has a red candy in her hand, we can find the probability that it is a red M&M. This is called the conditional probability of an event because we already know something (a condition) about the event in question. Remember that we know the marginal probability of an event occurring can be found by the equation: ( )

5. Answer the following questions to find the conditional probability. a. Using the two-way frequency table data, what is the frequency of choosing a red M&M?

b. How does P(A B) relate to the frequency table?

c. What is the total number of possible outcomes? (Remember we know the candy is red.)

d. How does P(A) relate to the frequency table?

Fiedler e. What is the probability of your friend having a red M&M, if we know the candy is red?

f. How did we use P(A B) and P(A) to find the conditional probability, P(B | A)?

Checkpoint #2

Part III: Defining Conditional Probability & Finding a Formula


6. In your own words, explain what conditional probability is from the prior example.

7. What types of probabilities (marginal or joint) did you use from the two-way frequency table to find the conditional probability?

8. Describe a possible formula or process for finding a conditional probability using the probabilities from the two-way frequency table at the beginning of the activity. This formula or process should be something general that can be used to find any conditional probability from the table.

Fiedler 9. Using the process or formula you described above, find the conditional probability of choosing an M&M given that the candy is red.

10. Is this probability the same as what you found in Part 3?

Checkpoint #3

More Practice with Conditional Probability:


1. P (green | Skittle) 2. P (M&M | green)

3. P (brown | M&M)

4. P (Skittle | red)

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