No Fives Dice Activity for Modeling Exponential Decay

I got a chance to experience the no fives dice activity for modeling exponential decay at a common core workshop that I attended (OGAP) during the summer of 2013. Illustrative Mathematics has a similar dice activity called “Decaying Dice.” I am blogging about the activities that we worked through in an effort to both make them easier to find in the future and to hopefully inspire others.

Here’s the activity in a nutshell:

Give each group 50 dice.  Students roll dice.  Remove all 5s.  Record remaining number of dice.  Roll dice again.  Remove all 5s.  Record.  Roll, Remove, Record.  Continue until you run out of dice.  Have students identify the domain and range of their data.  Sketch a scatterplot.  Determine what type of regression would be appropriate.  Find the regression equation.  What does the y-intercept of this equation mean in the context of the problem?

We were given a handout to help us collect and organize our data.

The collected data forms a really nice example of exponential decay. Here was my group’s results when we completed the activity during the workshop:

I have uploaded a scanned copy of the handout that I was given at the Common Core workshop below. This is definitely on my list of activities to recreate for my Algebra 2 class!

Free Download of No Fives Dice Activity for Modeling Exponential Decay

No Fives Dice Activity – Exponential Decay (PDF) (1029 downloads )

More Resources for Teaching Exponential Functions

• 
  Precalculus Graduation Stickers
• 
  Exponents Chart (Powers of 2 to 9)
• 
  Earthquakes and Explosions – a Logarithms Problem Based Assessment (PBA)
• 
  Amy Gruen’s Exponent Puzzles
• 
  Graphing Geometric Sequences Foldable
• 
  Geometric Sequences Formula Graphic Organizer
• 
  Converting Between Exponential and Logarithmic Form Foldable
• 
  Solving Exponential Equations Foldable
• 
  Solving Exponential Equations with Logarithms Notes and Practice Book
• 
  Exponential Growth and Decay Foldable
• 
  No Fives Dice Activity for Modeling Exponential Decay
• 
  The Case of the Cooling Corpse Task
• 
  Modeling Exponential Growth and Decay Activity with Skittles