science Exploration journal
for chaperones and students
Patterns
And
Probability
This Journal is designed to help you guide young
students through Hands On Hall. As you visit each
activity, some suggestions are made for how to direct
students so that they learn the most from their
experience. Questions to ask the students at each
station are also offered to help you help the students to
learn.
One in a Million
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One in a Million
Safe Crackers
20 Questions
Roll the Dice
This exhibit has 999,999 blue beads and one yellow bead.
It’s pretty hard to find the yellow bead! The exhibit is a good
way to show kids that even though something might be hard,
it is not impossible.
Ideas for Student Interaction
• Gather students around the exhibit and have them all
look for the yellow bead while you turn the tube slowly.
• If you can’t find it, ask the students to try to explain why
it is so hard to find.
Safe Crackers
There are 3 different safes at the Safe Crackers exhibit, one
with 3 buttons, one with 4, and one with 5. The safe with 3
buttons has 6 possible combinations to open it. The one with
4 buttons has 24, and the one with 5 has 120.
Ideas for Student Interaction
• Show students a pattern for opening the safe with 3
buttons: Try 1-2-3, then 1-3-2, then 2-1-3, and so on.
• Give students the chance to try to open the safe on
their own or to recommend to you which buttons you
should push.
• Try to crack the safe with 4 buttons by trying out a
pattern. Invite students to come up and each try a
different code.
20 Questions
Patterns
And
Probability
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One in a Million
Chances Are
20 Questions
Roll the Dice
This is a computer version of the popular game 20
Questions. You will probably have to work the computer
interactions for the students, but they can come up with an
“animal, vegetable, or mineral” and try to “stump” the
computer.
Ideas for Student Interaction
• Gather students around the exhibit and have them
come up with a person, place or a thing.
• When the computer asks a question, read it to the
students and ask them for their response. This is a
good way to get students to think about specific
categories that their person, place, or thing might fit
into.
Roll The dice
Roll the dice is a good way to get students to make
predictions and see that not every combination of dice has
the same chance of happening. The exhibit consists of 2 dice
in a tube that you can “roll” by pushing a button.
Ideas for Student Interaction
• Ask students to predict how many rolls it will take to get
a 2 or a 12.
• Have students take turns pushing the button to roll the
dice.
• Have students take turns counting the dots on the dice.
If you have enough students, have one student keep
track of how many 2’s you roll, how many 3’s, how
many 4’s , and so on.
• Students should find out that 2 and 12 are more difficult
than 7.