Numbers - interactive tools

Sounds like it would be great, but I have not come across that. I know it can generate random numbers using the function =RAND or =RANDBETWEEN. But if there is a way to do that, I would love to see how to do that too.

Hi. There isn't a way that I know of, and I know this doesn't answer your actual question, but we get the kids to make a spinner in Scratch, then open the project in slide-over mode along with Numbers to record their results. That way they can spin the wheel and record their results without switching between apps.

We get them to create the actual spinner costume using Numbers before they start working in Scratch. The idea is that they create a spinner that will favour one colour over the others.

I feel that one of the strengths of this is that they get to do some coding, as well as thinking about and testing probability. But if you'd rather skip that part (or you'd like to give them a model to work from) my Scratch project is here.

As I say, it's not an answer to your actual question, but it does save you switching between screens to obtain then record your data.

I hope it helps.

Hi Eric

This is a great idea! Thank for sharing this and combining the two platforms can work really well. What age group have you done this with?

Hi Mary! Thanks. We do this with Yr 6. The Australian Curriculum for year 6 Maths says:

Students conduct simulations using digital tools, to generate and record the outcomes from many trials of a chance experiment.They compare observed frequencies to the expected frequencies of the outcomes of chance experiments.

I think this covers some of that. When they generate the spinner costume in Numbers they can set the proportion of the wheel each colour takes up. Then they can compare the observed frequencies from small and large samples to understand the importance of sample size.

Obviously the dream is to do the coding in Swift, but we haven't made it as far as that yet. That can be my 2025 challenge.