What students learn in AC9M4P01
This unit helps students build a clear, usable understanding of Possible everyday events and the possible outcomes of chance experiments.... The goal is not to memorise one answer pattern. Students should be able to explain the idea, recognise it in a new example and apply it in a short practice or worksheet task.
- Start with the main idea: describe possible everyday events and the possible outcomes of chance experiments and order outcomes or events based on their likelihood of occurring; identify independent or dependent events.
- Use concrete examples, pictures, oral explanation and short written responses before moving to independent practice.
- using lists of events familiar to students and ordering them from “least likely” to “most likely” to occur; considering and discussing why the order of some events might be different for different students predicting the outcome of a coin toss after 5 heads have been flipped in a row, discussing the assertion that because so many heads came up, it is more likely that a tail rather than a head will come up next; discussing with reasons why the assumption is correct or incorrect
- Finish with mixed questions so students must choose the correct strategy rather than copy the last example.
Curriculum coverage and elaborations
The content description and elaborations below show the curriculum ideas taught in this unit. Items marked as teaching context support lesson planning but may not appear in the initial eight-question activity.
- Content description: describe possible everyday events and the possible outcomes of chance experiments and order outcomes or events based on their likelihood of occurring; identify independent or dependent events
- E1: using lists of events familiar to students and ordering them from “least likely” to “most likely” to occur; considering and discussing why the order of some events might be different for different students
- E2: predicting the outcome of a coin toss after 5 heads have been flipped in a row, discussing the assertion that because so many heads came up, it is more likely that a tail rather than a head will come up next; discussing with reasons why the assumption is correct or incorrect
- E3: predicting how likely, from least likely to most likely, of selecting a red ball from a bag containing 10 red balls and 5 white balls, a bag containing 20 of each, or one that has 25 red balls and 20 white balls, justifying their decision
- E4: identifying school activities where the chance of them taking place is affected by the chance of other events occurring; for example, given that there is a high chance of a storm on Friday, there is only a small chance that the coastal dune planting project will go ahead
- E5: listing the outcomes of everyday chance situations and identifying where one cannot happen if the other happens; for example, discussing that it cannot be hot and cold at the same time; selecting a card from a deck and discussing if it is red it cannot be a spade or a club
- E6: identifying different dependent events where the chance of one outcome occurring will be affected by the occurrence of other outcomes and different independent events where the chance of one outcome occurring will not be affected by the occurrence of other outcome(s)
- E7: exploring how ordering outcomes based on their likelihood of occurring is an essential component of early warning systems that use artificial intelligence to make decisions, such as natural disaster warning systems
- E8: discussing how likelihood relates to the decisions an artificial intelligence tool makes when generating predictive text; for example, discussing which word would most likely come next in a sentence, then refining the decision as the first letter is revealed
How to use this unit
Read the topic guide, use the teacher slide for instruction, then complete the Worksheet, Practice and Test. These three activities use the same eight-question unit bank.
Teacher resource
AC9M4P01 teacher slide
Use this one-page PDF to introduce the key idea, vocabulary and teaching sequence before students begin the activities.
Open teacher slide (PDF)Common mistakes to watch for
- Rushing to a rule before checking the concrete model, drawing or number sentence.
- Using the correct answer once but not being able to explain why it works.
- Mixing up similar vocabulary such as more/less, before/after, longer/shorter or equal groups/sharing.
International curriculum mapping
This table gives closest-topic mapping for search and planning. The Australian Curriculum code is exact; overseas entries are broad equivalents because each jurisdiction structures outcomes differently.
| Region | Curriculum | Closest mapping |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Australian Curriculum v9.0 | AC9M4P01 — describe possible everyday events and the possible outcomes of chance experiments and order outcomes or events based on their likelihood of occurring; identify independent or dependent events |
| Victoria | Victorian Curriculum F-10 | Year 4 Maths: closest match in Probability. Use this page as a VIC-aligned practice and worksheet reference. |
| NSW | NSW Curriculum | Stage 2 Maths: closest content focus for Possible everyday events and the possible outcomes of chance experiments... and related outcomes. |
| United States | Common Core / NGSS | Grade 4 Common Core Mathematics/ELA closest topic match for Possible everyday events and the possible outcomes of chance experiments.... |
| England / UK | National Curriculum | Key Stage 2 / Year 4: closest programme-of-study match for Possible everyday events and the possible outcomes of chance experiments.... |
| Canada | Provincial and territory curricula | Grade 4 closest topic match. Canada varies by province, so use this as a broad Ontario/BC-style learning outcome reference. |
| New Zealand | New Zealand Curriculum | Level 2 Maths: closest achievement-objective topic for Possible everyday events and the possible outcomes of chance experiments.... |
| India | NCERT / CBSE | Class 4 closest NCERT/CBSE topic match for Possible everyday events and the possible outcomes of chance experiments.... |