Cup of marbles

Cup of marbles

Pencil and paper
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Further Resources
Ash

Ash has a cup containing ten marbles - four blue ones, three red ones, and the remainder are yellow. He shuts his eyes and picks out a marble.

a)
The probability that it is blue is:
 
 
(A) \(1 \over 9\)      (B) \(1 \over 4\)      (C) \(4 \over 10\)     (D) \(4 \over 6\)
 
(E)   None of these. The answer is __________.
 
b)
The probability that it is yellow is:
 
 
(A) \(1 \over 9\)     (B) \(3 \over 10\)     (C) \(1 \over 3\)     (D) \(3 \over 7\)
 
(E)   None of these. The answer is __________.
 
c)
The marble Ash picked out was blue. He put this blue marble on the table and then picked out another marble. 
The probability that this marble is red is:
 

(A) \(1 \over 9\)     (B) \(3 \over 10\)     (C) \(3 \over 9\)     (D) \(3 \over 8\)
 
(E)   None of these. The answer is __________.
Task administration: 
This task is completed with pencil and paper only.
Level:
4
Curriculum info: 
Description of task: 
Students show understanding of probability by selecting a fraction to represent the chances of picking coloured marbles from a cup.
Curriculum Links: 
This resource can be used to help to identify students' understanding of identifying likelihoods written as fractions.
Learning Progression Frameworks
This resource can provide evidence of learning associated with within the Mathematics Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Read more about the Learning Progressions Frameworks.
Answers/responses: 
 

Y8 (05/1998)

a) C easy
b) B easy
c) C difficult