Due to the abstract nature of mathematics, it is not possible to access mathematical objects without the use of representations. Representations can help to make mathematical ideas more concrete and available for reflection. Hence, they can help students to organize, record, and communicate their thinking. Representations refer to both product and process-that is, they work both internally and externally. Since we cannot observe internal representations directly, we make inference about them by

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... their external representations. There are three forms of representation that are frequently encountered in mathematics textbooks namely written symbols, pictures, and real-world situations. The objective of this paper is to describe the variation/forms of the above representations that are used in Indonesian mathematics textbook for Grade 8, particularly in the probability unit. The results of the study indicate that in the probability unit, the realworld situation is the most frequently used form of representation, and written symbol is the least frequent.