Dice Game for Median, Mode, and Mean
Before the Lesson:
The students have been learning about the mean, median, and mode in statistics. In order to
practice using those skills in a fun way, they will playing a dice game similar to Yahtzee. They
should have a solid understanding of mean, median, and mode after this activity. The topic of
statistics is important because it is found everyday in the news, and can be useful in their
everyday lives to find averages. I will use the Smart Board in order to introduce the game, but
they will be doing hands-on work with the dice and scoring sheets for the remainder of the class.
I will circulate to determine their levels of understanding and correct any misconceptions.
Materials: Smart Board, Scoring Sheets for each group of partners, 4 Dice for each group
Accommodations: The room should be set up so that stronger students are placed beside weaker
math students and so that those who have trouble concentrating are seated at the front of the
room. The notes are given verbally and written on the Smart Board to accommodate different
learners. The groups will be comprised of students who are stronger at math and students who
struggle with math. Students who have difficulty working in groups should be placed in groups
with strong students or they may be given the option to work individually (form their own team).
Beginning of the Lesson (10 minutes):
We will review what the mode, median, and mean actually mean and how to find each. Then I
will introduce the game and go over the instructions on how to play it. The students need to roll
4 dice and then calculate the mean, median, and mode. They will be working in partners to do
this in order to share the work load so that the game progresses fairly quickly and avoid lag time
for the other set of partners. They will then determine which one mean, median, or mode box
they wish to fill in on their corresponding game card. Once a box is filled in, they may not
change their mind or put another check mark there. If they are unable to fill in any boxes, they
must put an ‘x’ in one of them and that space is unusable after that. If they must put an ‘x’ they
should strategically think about which spaces will be difficult to roll. For example, we will
discuss which boxes would be hardest to roll. To start the discussion I will ask “Do you think it
would be easy or difficult to get a mean of 1?”
Middle of the Lesson (A/B) (35 minutes):
The students will get into groups (pre-arranged to include strong and weak math students) and
work in partners to play against another set of partners. They will count up the checkmarks at the
end of each game, and the one with the most checkmarks is the winner. They can then rotate
partners if they wish. I will circulate to determine whether the students are playing the game
fairly and to monitor to see whether they are understanding the topics of mean, median, and
mode. I will encourage both partners to do some of the calculations.
End of the Lesson (5 minutes):
I will ask to see how many groups won a game. I will also ask them to determine which rolls
were most common, and if anyone was able to get a mode. We can discuss why means might
have been difficult to roll (hard to get whole numbers when division is involved).Dice Game Notebook Presentation for the Smart Board:
** If the class seems to be losing interest in the game I will switch up the partners
Scoring Card for the Dice Game:
Scoring Card for the Dice Game: