Free Year 3 Likelihood vocabulary Practice | Skillo

Year 3 students sitting their first NAPLAN need to be confident with likelihood vocabulary. Identify practical activities and everyday events involving chance; describe possible outcomes as 'likely' or 'unlikely' and identify some events as 'certain' or 'impossible'. Skillo has targeted practice questions for this exact skill, mapped to the Australian Curriculum v9.0, free and ready to go.

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What is tested: Likelihood vocabulary

✓Identify practical activities and everyday events involving chance; describe possible outcomes as 'likely' or 'unlikely' and identify some events as 'certain' or 'impossible'.
✓Questions may include word problems set in real Australian contexts
✓Both calculator and non-calculator question types are covered

Sample questions

Question 1 — Easy

A bag contains 3 red marbles and 3 blue marbles. Anika pulls out a red marble and puts it on the table — she does not put it back. She then pulls out another red marble and puts it on the table too. She is about to pick one more marble from the bag. What is the chance she will pick a red marble?

A) Equally likely as picking a blue marble

B) More likely than picking a blue marble

C) Certain to be red, because she keeps picking red

D) Less likely than picking a blue marble

Answer: Option D is correct — After removing 2 red marbles, the bag now has 1 red marble and 3 blue marbles — 4 marbles in total. There is a 1 in 4 chance of picking red and a 3 in 4 chance of picking blue, so red is less likely than blue.

Question 2 — Medium

Priya has a bag with 3 red marbles and 3 blue marbles. She picks a red marble and puts it on the table. She does NOT put it back. She is about to pick again. Which statement best describes the chance of picking another red marble on the next pick?

A) Equally likely — because there are still marbles of both colours in the bag

B) Certain — because she already picked red once

C) Unlikely — because there are now fewer red marbles than blue marbles in the bag

D) Impossible — because she already picked the red marble

Answer: Option C is correct — After Priya removes one red marble, there are 2 red marbles and 3 blue marbles left in the bag. Because there are fewer red marbles than blue marbles, picking red is unlikely but not impossible. Option A is wrong because the marbles are no longer equal in number.

Question 3 — Hard

At the Taronga Zoo, a keeper spins a fair spinner that has 4 equal sections: wombat, kangaroo, koala, and echidna. The spinner has landed on koala three times in a row. What is the probability that the spinner lands on koala on the very next spin?

A) More likely than any other animal, because it has landed on koala three times already

B) Less likely than the other animals, because koala has come up too many times

C) Equally likely as any other animal, because each spin is independent and fair

D) Certain to land on koala, because it is on a winning streak

Answer: Option C is correct — Because the spinner is fair and each spin is independent, past results do not affect future spins. Every section always has the same 1-in-4 chance on every spin, no matter what happened before.

How to use Skillo for Year 3 Numeracy

Select Year 3 and Numeracy on the home screen
Use Quick Practice — questions on likelihood vocabulary will appear as part of the session
Check the Skill Breakdown on your profile to track your accuracy on likelihood vocabulary specifically
Review explanations after each question to understand the reasoning behind correct answers

Skillo is free, requires no email or account details, and is built specifically for Australian students. Every question is mapped to the Australian Curriculum v9.0 and filtered by skill so your child practises exactly what they need.

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No account needed. No email. No credit card.