Math 103 - CooleyStatistics for Teachers OCC

Classroom Activity #8 – Bingo

In this lesson, students learn the game of Bingo and its more common variations. Students analyze the outcomes of the game of Bingo by utilizing their knowledge of counting, combinatorics, and probabilities.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

  • Understand the game of Bingo.
  • Calculate probabilities based off Bingo cards.

Materials

  • Bingo Activity Sheet
  • Sample Bingocards (either homemade, or store-purchased ones, or obtained from the web).

Instructional Plan

A Bingo card contains 25 small squares in a 5 square by 5 square array, with the word “BINGO” listed across the top. Five numbers from 1 to 15 are placed under the letter B, five numbers from 16 to 30 are placed under the letter I, four numbers from 31 to 45 along with the “free space” are placed under the letter N, five numbers from 46 to 60 are placed under the letter G, and five numbers from 61 to 75 are placed under the letter O. Ping pong balls numbered 1 through 75 are pulled by a person called the “Caller”from a rotating contraption called “The Cage” which selects a ball at random.The Caller displays the number on the ping pong ball up on a screen, then reads the number aloud. As a participant you would have a certain number of seconds to find the corresponding number on your bingo cards until The Caller repeats the process by calling the next number. When you find a corresponding number on your card, “Mark” it or dab it out with your dabber (a plastic bottle filled with ink, topped with a dabbing sponge). If you are the first to fill the numbers in a pattern according to the rules of the particular game, you yell “BINGO!” loudly, so that The Caller can hear you. Then, you win money! (The standard BINGO would be 5 numbers across, down, or diagonally).

Here is a sample Bingo card:

B / I / N / G / O
3 / 17 / 40 / 52 / 73
8 / 21 / 42 / 56 / 63
1 / 20 / FREE / 47 / 69
13 / 19 / 45 / 59 / 71
10 / 26 / 34 / 46 / 68

Distribute the Bingo Activity Sheet.

Explain to students how the game of Bingo is played.

Students can work in groups to answer the questions.

Extensions

  1. Teachers could come up with their own creative questions.
  2. Extend the lesson by actually playing a game of Bingo with the students.
  3. Explain other variants of the game. Here are some common variations:

Four Corners. Fill in all four corners.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears. Fill a single bingo card with three bingos (4-corners do not count).

Six Pack.Fill to make a pattern of six numbers, two rows of three each, horizontal or vertical. Sometimes you can use the free space, sometimes not.

Nine pack. Fill a square of nine numbers.

Eight states. Fill the numbers surrounding the free space.

Postage stamps.Fill two squares of four numbers on a single card, each in a corner of your card.

Kite and Tail.Fill a diagonal plus one of the corners running through the diagonal, to make what looks like a kite.

Top and bottom. Fill the top row and bottom row.

Dotted picture frame. Fill every other space around the card.

Cover all or Blackout.Usually for $500 and the last game of the night. Fill all numbers on

a card for bingo.

NCTM Standards and Expectations

Data Analysis & Probability 6-8

1.Compute probabilities for simple compound events, using such methods as organized lists, tree diagrams, and area models.

References

This lesson was created by TopCatMath.com.

BingoActivity SheetNAME ______

A Bingo card contains 25 small squares in a 5 square by 5 square array, with the word “BINGO” listed across the top. Five numbers from 1 to 15 are placed under the letter B, five numbers from 16 to 30 are placed under the letter I, four numbers from 31 to 45 along with the “free space” are placed under the letter N, five numbers from 46 to 60 are placed under the letter G, and five numbers from 61 to 75 are placed under the letter O. Ping pong balls numbered 1 through 75 are pulled by a person called the “Caller” from a rotating contraption called “The Cage” which selects a ball at random.The Caller displays the number on the ping pong ball up on a screen, then reads the number aloud. As a participant you would have a certain number of seconds to find the corresponding number on your bingo cards until The Caller repeats the process by calling the next number. When you find a corresponding number on your card, “Mark” it or dab it out with your dabber (a plastic bottle filled with ink, topped with a dabbing sponge). If you are the first to fill the numbers in a pattern according to the rules of the particular game, you yell “BINGO!” loudly, so that The Caller can hear you. Then, you win money! (The standard BINGO would be 5 numbers across, down, or diagonally).

Here is a sample Bingo card:

B / I / N / G / O
3 / 17 / 40 / 52 / 73
8 / 21 / 42 / 56 / 63
1 / 20 / FREE / 47 / 69
13 / 19 / 45 / 59 / 71
10 / 26 / 34 / 46 / 68

Suppose you are playing BINGO (by yourself) with the card above.

  1. What is the probability that the first number called is on your card?
  1. What is the probability that G59 is the first number called?
  1. What is the probability that the first number called is in your ‘I’ row?
  1. What is the probability that the first number called is in your ‘N’ row?
  1. Suppose the first number called is not on your card. What is the probability that the second number called is on your card?
  1. Suppose the first five numbersthat are called are not on your card. What is the probability that the sixth number called is noton your card?
  1. What is the maximum number of calls that can occurbefore you are guaranteed a ‘mark’on the next call?
  1. What is the maximum number of marked spaces (including the free space) that can be on any Bingo card, yet still no BINGO has been made?
  1. What is the maximum number of calls that can be made without getting a BINGO?
  1. Blackout is a variant Bingo game. The rules are simple. Fill in all spaces for a “BINGO”. What is the minimum number of calls that can be made to obtain a “BINGO”?
  1. In the game of Blackout, what is the maximum number of calls that can be made without getting a “BINGO”?