1. Teacher Guide
This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble.
Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on our Partners In Learning site.
Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location. And if you are using Windows 8, you can also use the Bing apps to learn more about this location and topic; the Travel and News apps in particular make great teaching tools.
Ja'Dell Davis is a Los Angeles native who currently lives in New York City. She works in the Youth Services Department at the Educational Alliance as the Assistant Director for Higher Education Initiatives, where she specifically oversees college prep programming for high school seniors, and academic enrichment programming for middle school students. Ja’Dell previously taught high school in Philadelphia public schools, and implemented college access programming at Chester High School in Chester, Pennsylvania. Ja’Dell received her B.A. from Swarthmore College with a special major in History and Educational Studies, and a minor in Black Studies. She completed her M.S.Ed in Secondary School Education at the University of Pennsylvania. This fall, she will begin her doctoral studies in the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition to her work in the education field, Ja’Dell is a dancer, musician, avid people watcher, and Scrabble enthusiast.
This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: Statistics & Probability
CCSS.Math.Content.6.SP.A.1Recognize a statistical question as one that anticipates variability in the data related to the question and accounts for it in the answers. For example, "How old am I?" is not a statistical question, but "How old are the students in my school?" is a statistical question because one anticipates variability in students' ages.
CCSS.Math.Content.7.SP.A.1Understand that statistics can be used to gain information about a population by examining a sample of the population; generalizations about a population from a sample are valid only if the sample is representative of that population. Understand that random sampling tends to produce representative samples and support valid inferences.
CCSS.Math.Content.7.SP.A.2Use data from a random sample to draw inferences about a population with an unknown characteristic of interest. Generate multiple samples (or simulated samples) of the same size to gauge the variation in estimates or predictions. For example, estimate the mean word length in a book by randomly sampling words from the book; predict the winner of a school election based on randomly sampled survey data. Gauge how far off the estimate or prediction might be.

2. If you randomly met one of the spellers from this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, what is the likelihood that this speller would be visiting Washington D.C. for the first time? What is the likelihood that you’d meet a speller who speaks more than one language?
© REX/Design Pics Inc
Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.

3. If you randomly met one of the spellers from this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, what is the likelihood that this speller would be visiting Washington D.C. for the first time? What is the likelihood that you’d meet a speller who speaks more than one language?
These metal letters and symbols are the “type” that comprise the basic components of a moveable type printing press. One of the earliest movable type printing presses in the Western world created the Gutenberg Bible in the 1450s. Rectangular blocks of metal type in the shape of letters similar to these were carefully placed by hand and coated with ink to spell out in Latin each word in each verse on the page. We’ve come a long way since then, with digital devices that fit in our pockets and deliver far more information than printing innovator Johannes Gutenberg could have typeset in his lifetime.
Still, it’s fun to challenge our brains with letters and words, and few brain-teasing contests inspire more dread and victorious satisfaction than spelling bees. This week, the Scripps National Spelling Bee takes over Washington D.C., and students competing will be sorting out letters in their heads, laying them out like the block type of an old printing press.
Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.

4. If you randomly met one of the spellers from this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, what is the likelihood that this speller would be visiting Washington D.C. for the first time? What is the likelihood that you’d meet a speller who speaks more than one language? 1
Thinking/
Web Search
What is probability? What key words above let you know that this question relates to probability? 2
How many total spellers are there? Why is this number important when thinking about probability and percentage? 3
Thinking
If you randomly met one of the spellers from this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, what is the likelihood that this speller would be visiting Washington D.C. for the first time? 4
If you randomly met one of the spellers from this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, what is the likelihood that this speller would speak more than one language? 5
Web Search/
What percentage of the total number of spellers are visiting Washington D.C. for the first time? What percentage of the total number of spellers speak more than one language?
There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)

5. If you randomly met one of the spellers from this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, what is the likelihood that this speller would be visiting Washington D.C. for the first time? What is the likelihood that you’d meet a speller who speaks more than one language? 5
Minutes
You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.

6. If you randomly met one of the spellers from this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, what is the likelihood that this speller would be visiting Washington D.C. for the first time? What is the likelihood that you’d meet a speller who speaks more than one language? 1
Thinking/
Web Search
What is probability? What key words above let you know that this question relates to probability? 2
How many total spellers are there? Why is this number important when thinking about probability and percentage? 3
Thinking
If you randomly met one of the spellers from this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, what is the likelihood that this speller would be visiting Washington D.C. for the first time? 4
If you randomly met one of the spellers from this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, what is the likelihood that this speller would speak more than one language? 5
Web Search/
What percentage of the total number of spellers are visiting Washington D.C. for the first time? What percentage of the total number of spellers speak more than one language?
You can ask the students verbally or let one of them come up and insert the answer or show how they got it. This way, you also have a record that you can keep as a class and share with parents, others.

7. If you randomly met one of the spellers from this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, what is the likelihood that this speller would be visiting Washington D.C. for the first time? What is the likelihood that you’d meet a speller who speaks more than one language? 1
Thinking/
Web Search
What is probability? What key words above let you know that this question relates to probability?
(possible queries: “probability” “what is probability”)
The site Math is Fun ( gives an overview of the concept of probability, including the key words that let us know that we are dealing with probability.
- The clue in the text that this is a probability question is the phrase, “what is the likelihood”
Probability of an event happening =   Number of ways it can happen
Total number of outcomes
Probability is a decimal between 0 and 1, where the closer the decimal is to “1”, the more likely the occurrence. As the site notes, “Probability does not tell us exactly what will happen, it is just a guide” giving us the likelihood of an occurrence.
According to a Wikipedia explanation of percentages ( “Percentages are used to express how large or small one quantity is relative to another quantity.”

8. If you randomly met one of the spellers from this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, what is the likelihood that this speller would be visiting Washington D.C. for the first time? What is the likelihood that you’d meet a speller who speaks more than one language? 2
Thinking/
Web Search
How many total spellers are there? Why is this number important when thinking about probability and percentage?
For these concrete numbers, use the main page of the Scripps National Spelling Bee here: (searching for “Scripps National Spelling Bee”)
There are a total of 281 spellers in this year’s competition
Searching for “probability” for an overview of the concept of probability, the site Math is Fun ( reminds us that:
Probability of an event happening =   Number of ways it can happen
Total number of outcomes
Percentage = part
whole
The total number of spellers is important because it represents the “total number of outcomes” when calculating the probability and percentage of an event happening

9. If you randomly met one of the spellers from this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, what is the likelihood that this speller would be visiting Washington D.C. for the first time? What is the likelihood that you’d meet a speller who speaks more than one language? 3
Thinking
If you randomly met one of the spellers from this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, what is the likelihood that this speller would be visiting Washington D.C. for the first time?
For these concrete numbers, use the main page of the Scripps National Spelling Bee here: (searching for “Scripps National Spelling Bee”)
Number of spellers visiting Washington D.C. for the first time = 90
90/281 = 0.32
Probability of an event happening =   Number of ways it can happen ,
Total number of outcomes

10. If you randomly met one of the spellers from this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, what is the likelihood that this speller would be visiting Washington D.C. for the first time? What is the likelihood that you’d meet a speller who speaks more than one language? 4
Thinking
If you randomly met one of the spellers from this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, what is the likelihood that this speller would speak more than one language?
For these concrete numbers, use the main page of the Scripps National Spelling Bee here: (searching for “Scripps National Spelling Bee”)
Number of spellers that speak more than one language = 138
138/281 = 0.49

11. If you randomly met one of the spellers from this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, what is the likelihood that this speller would be visiting Washington D.C. for the first time? What is the likelihood that you’d meet a speller who speaks more than one language? 5
Web Search/
Thinking
What percentage of the total number of spellers are visiting Washington D.C. for the first time? What percentage of the total number of spellers speak more than one language?
For these concrete numbers, use the main page of the Scripps National Spelling Bee here: (searching for “Scripps National Spelling Bee”)
Number of spellers visiting Washington D.C. for the first time = 90 (part)
Total number of spellers = 281 (whole)
90/281 = 0.32 = 32%
__________________________________________
Number of spellers that speak more than one language = 138 (part)
Total number of spellers = 281 (whole)
138/281 = 0.49 = 49%

12. If you randomly met one of the spellers from this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, what is the likelihood that this speller would be visiting Washington D.C. for the first time? What is the likelihood that you’d meet a speller who speaks more than one language?
This slide is a chance to summarize the information from the previous slides to build your final answer to the question.