Probability and Graphing Donuts

I recently used a template from Talkin Pinata Teaching to practice making graphs and reviewing probability terms with my students. We had so much fun with this lesson; here's how we did it!

1. Make the Donuts

I printed out 2 donuts for each student. First, they covered the first template with school paper towels (the brown ones that don't actually work as paper towels AT ALL!) and cut out on donut lines. Next, they cut out the frosting from donut template #2. To decide which frosting flavor they would use students picked out of a bucket. We discussed that all the frosting options were in each of the buckets and that it was not certain that they would get the flavor they were hoping for, etc. Once students had chosen their frosting flavor they covered the frosting template with the color assigned to their flavor, cut it out on the frosting lines, and attached the frosting to their donut. Then it was time to add the sprinkles. Students chose their sprinkle colors the same way they chose the frosting flavors, except this time we did three rounds of picking. The first round students added 10 sprinkles in their chosen color. The second round we added 7 sprinkles, and the final round we added 12. Voila, completed donuts!

2. Graph with the Donuts

We took our donuts out to the hallway to use the tiles as we created a graph. The students placed their donut in its spot one-by-one and analyzed the results. Then we came back into the classroom to collect our donut data and create a graph on the SMART board. 

3. Probability Terms

The next day we added probability terms to describe our donut shop. The students chose their vocabulary term out a bucket to begin. All the students who chose likely wrote on a purple heart, unlikely used a green heart, certain wrote on a blue heart, and impossible wrote on yellow. Students had to write a sentence describing our donut shop using the word that they picked from the bucket. When they finished their first sentence most students chose to write another, and another, and another! It was a great way to get them using probability vocabulary and practice analyzing data!

I hope your students enjoy this lesson as much as mine did!
(It also makes for a super cute Valentine's bulletin board!)

​Thanks for stopping by!