Venn Diagrams

A Venn diagram sorts a group by two attributes: each circle holds one attribute, the overlap holds both and the region outside holds neither. This NSW Year 8 maths subtopic goes beyond Stage 4, since the NSW syllabus places Venn diagrams in Stage 5, and it uses the Stage 4 rule of favourable outcomes over the total.

You will read and complete diagrams from lists and from totals, find a missing overlap by adding the two circles and taking away the “or” total, and recognise mutually exclusive events, whose circles do not overlap. You will then find probabilities for “and”, “or”, “only” and “neither” from counts such as students in the choir and band, or hikers who saw a kangaroo or a wombat. It is part of Year 8 Probability.