Deck of Playing Cards

A handout for students doing questions on selecting cards from a pack of playing cards.

When doing probability, some students have never played card games before, and they do not know what a pack of playing cards looks like. This simple sheet is a sample space, which gives students a comprehensive overview of all the types of cards in a deck of playing cards.

This overview can be made smaller on a photocopier such that four of them fit on one A4 sheet of paper, which then can be photocopied. This saves photocopying and paper, and students can stick the small overviews in their exercise books.

Before I issue each student with their own copy, I usually organise students in small groups, and give them a pack of playing cards, which they have to lay out on their table in the same way as on the overview. Students who have never used playing cards find this useful. When the playing cards have been laid out, we have a Q&A session on probability questions related to selecting one card from a pack of playing cards.

For your convenience, the Word file is included as well, which will allow you to adapt the overview.

This is a simple resource, which I hope you will find useful.

Please, feel free to leave comments.

Thank you.