created by NCTM Illuminations
In this lesson, students in grades 6 through 8 learn about wildfires and calculating the probable path and extent of destruction.
Students use the scenario of forest fires to explore the real-world application of probability.
Possible responses
Students examine the root causes of wildfires and reason about environmental factors that may influence their spread or containment.
Wildfire Worksheet for Coin-Toss Simulation.
Using coin tosses as factors, students determine the probable path and extend of a wildfire's potential spread.
Students gain insights into the iterative nature and use of probability.
Using coin tosses as factors, students determine the probable path and extent of a wildfire's potential spread.
Image of a plot showing the percent of a forest that burns
Using the Fire Simulation, students can plot the relationship between probability of spreading and percent of forest burned.
Students discover the predictive quality of running probabilities.
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