How to Make Project Probability Spinners
- 1). Have the students trace the circular object, such as a bowl, onto their pieces of cardboard. Then, have them cut out the circle they just traced. Have them repeat this process with a piece of printer paper.
- 2). Have the students fold the circular piece of printer paper they just cut out into equal quarters to find the center of the circle. Have them poke a small hole in the center of the paper circle with the tip of a pencil. Use this paper stencil to mark the center of the cardboard circle.
- 3). Cut an arrow out of card stock that is slightly less than the radius of the cardboard circle, the exact length of the arrow doesn't matter. Laminate this card stock arrow to help it spin around the circle more smoothly.
- 4). Have the students divide up their circle into sections that represent the odds of each outcome of the situation and label the different sections accordingly. So, if they were making a spinner to represent the odds of getting tails or heads when flipping a coin they would divide the circle into two equal halves.
- 5). Laminate the top of the cardboard circle to help the arrow spin smoothly.
- 6). Attach the laminated arrow to the center of the cardboard circle with a brad. Use the pointed end of the brad to pierce through the end of the arrow at least 1/4 of an inch from the end. Now the students can spin the arrow around the spinner to see how probability affects outcome.
