8th Grade Winter Break Project

How to Win on the “Wheel of Fortune”

Information Sheet

Objective: Students will apply and use the concept of theoretical and experimental probability in surveying and gathering data to determine statistical conclusions on how to win.

Introduction: There are some letters in the English language that we seem to use more often than others. On the game show “Wheel of Fortune” there are some letters that people always try first (like r or s) because they are found in so many words and in the word-spelling board game scrabble, there are some letters (such as x or q) that have higher values because they are so hard to use in a word. In this project, you will explore this idea and determine which letters are the most and least frequently used in the text of a novel, a newspaper, and a magazine.

You will need:

A novel

A newspaper

A magazine

Directions:

  1. Choose a novel to use. Turn to any page and tally the first 300 letters on the page. Don’t forget to write the name of the book and the page number you used.
  2. Count up your tallies for each letter and write the total. Then write the frequency of each letter as a fraction, a decimal , and a percent.
  3. At the bottom of the page, list the top ten letters and their percentages.
  4. Then list the bottom five letters and their percentages.
  5. Choose a section from a newspaper (such as Style or Sports). Choose an article from that section and tally the first 300 letters on the page. Don’t forget to write the name of the newspaper, which section you chose, and the name of the article you used.
  6. Repeat steps 2-4 for the newspaper.
  7. Choose a magazine and select an article from it. Write down the name of the magazine, the name of the article, and the page number. Tally the first 300 letters on the page.
  8. Repeat steps 2-4 for the magazine.
  9. Complete the “Survey Questions” and “Statistical Conclusions” pages.
  10. Staple the alphabet sheets to the inside of the front cover.
  11. Staple the “Survey Questions” and “Statistical Conclusions” worksheets to the inside of the back cover.
  12. Attach your grading sheet to the back cover of your project.
  13. Finally, create a cover page for your project. It should include the name of the project (How to Win on the “Wheel of Fortune”), your name, your teacher’s name and the mod you have math.

How to Win on the “Wheel of Fortune”

A Statistical Study of the Letters of the Alphabet

Name of novel: ______

Page # ______

Survey 300 letters!!!

Letter / Tally / Total / Fraction / Decimal / Percent
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
GRAND TOTAL / 100%

Complete the following:

TOP TEN LETTERSBOTTOM FIVE LETTERS

1. ______% 6. ______% 22. ______%

2. ______% 7. ______% 23. ______%

3. ______% 8. ______% 24. ______%

4. ______% 9. ______% 25. ______%

5. ______% 10. ______% 26. ______%

How to Win on the “Wheel of Fortune”

A Statistical Study of the Letters of the Alphabet

Newspaper: ______Section:______

Article Name: ______Page # ______

Survey 300 letters!!!

Letter / Tally / Total / Fraction / Decimal / Percent
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
GRAND TOTAL / 100%

Complete the following:

TOP TEN LETTERSBOTTOM FIVE LETTERS

1. ______% 6. ______% 22. ______%

2. ______% 7. ______% 23. ______%

3. ______% 8. ______% 24. ______%

4. ______% 9. ______% 25. ______%

5. ______% 10. ______% 26. ______%

How to Win on the “Wheel of Fortune”

A Statistical Study of the Letters of the Alphabet

Magazine: ______

Article Name: ______Page # ______

Survey 300 letters!!!

Letter / Tally / Total / Fraction / Decimal / Percent
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
GRAND TOTAL / 100%

Complete the following:

TOP TEN LETTERSBOTTOM FIVE LETTERS

1. ______% 6. ______% 22. ______%

2. ______% 7. ______% 23. ______%

3. ______% 8. ______% 24. ______%

4. ______% 9. ______% 25. ______%

5. ______% 10. ______% 26. ______%

SURVEY QUESTIONS

(Helpful Hint: Vowels are the letters A, E, I, O , and U. All of the other letters are consonants.)

  1. How many vowels are in the top ten for all three surveys?______
  1. Considering all three surveys, which consonants would be the most useful in a word spelling game like hangman, scrabble or “Wheel of Fortune?”

______, ______, ______, ______, ______

  1. Which vowel might be the least useful? ______
  1. What percentage of the 900 letters surveyed were vowels? ______
  1. See if you can make ten different words using only thetop five letters.
  1. See if you can make five different words using only thebottom five letters.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Name ______Date______

Statistical Conclusions: LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET

TRUE or FALSE:

  1. You should never expect to find the letter Q on “The Wheel of Fortune.”

TF

  1. The letter K is useful when playing games like “Hangman” and “Wheel of Fortune” because of its frequency.

TF

  1. I and O are the most frequently used vowels.

TF

  1. The Top Ten letters account for about 75% of the letters needed to write in the English language.

TF

  1. Most words in the English Language could be spelled without the letters J, Q, and X.

TF

  1. If you were producing stickers with the letters of the alphabet for use in labeling personal items, such as books, pens, bags and bathroom doors, which of these letters would you need most? (Circle 5 answers)

ABCDEFGHIJ

  1. To do a more accurate study for the above “alphabet stickers,” I would need to make a survey of … (circle the best answer)

(a)a popular magazine

(b)a list of students names

(c)a dictionary

(d)a novel

  1. In the game of “Scrabble,” which of these letters would you expect to be worth the most? Hint: The harder it is to use, the more points it is worth. (circle the best answer)

HVS

  1. In “Scrabble,” which of these letters would you expect to be worth only 1 point, meaning that it is more frequently used? (circle the best answer)

QNK

8th Grade Winter Break Math Project Grading Sheet

4 / 3 / 2 / 1 / 0 / Score
Parent
Letter / Parent Letter was signed and returned. / Parent letter was NOT signed and returned.
Alphabet Sheet / All three Alphabet Survey Sheets are complete and calculations are correct. / All three Alphabet Survey sheets are complete with few calculation errors. / Two Alphabet Survey Sheets are complete with few calculation errors or all three are done but with many calculation errors. / One Alphabet Survey Sheet is complete with few calculation errors or two alphabet sheets are done with many errors. / One alphabet survey sheet is done with many calculation errors.
Survey Questions / All questions were answered accurately based on students data. / All questions were answered with 1 answered incorrectly based on students data. / All questions were answered but with more than one answered incorrectly. / Not all questions were answered, but those answered are correct. / Survey Questions sheet was not done at all or all answers are incorrect.
Statistical Conclusions / The Statistical Conclusions sheets are complete with all questions answered accurately. / The Statistical Conclusions sheets are complete with few questions answered incorrectly. / All questions were answered but about half of them are incorrect. / Not all questions were answered, but those answered were correct. / Statistical Conclusions sheets not done at all or all answers are incorrect.
Overall
Neatness / Entire Project is neat and presented in required format. / 3-4 parts of project are neat and project is presented in required format. / 1-2 parts of project are neat and project is presented in required format. / Project is not neat, but is presented in the required format. / Project is not neat, nor is it presented in the required format.
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