The class was opened with probability examples dealing with weather. Have you ever heard
it's a fifty percent chance of rain? The students were asked what is probability? The
instructor flipped a coin then asked, what is the chance of getting heads or tails? Together
as a class, they figured out the probability by experimenting with the coin. Thomas flipped
the coin a total of 10 times in which the class figured out that each time the coin is
flipped there is a fifty/fifty chance of getting heads or tails. The class then engaged in a
discussion about the two types of probability: theoretical and experimental. Interactivate
websites were used to demonstrate the two types of probabilities.
The Fire applet was used to experiment with probabilities. The students were asked to click
the tree in the middle of the forest and observe how much of the forest gets burned down.
The students were able to change the percentage of forest that burns allowing them to see
the different effects percents have as a whole. The racecar applet was the next
interactivate website to be used. This also allowed the students to get involved and
understand probabilities. The final activity was the M & M activity. This activity
required hands on participation from the students. The students were ask to randomly pick M
& M's from a bag and record their results. As a whole class they figured out the
probability of picking a certain color M&M from the bag.
Thomas summarized the class and recaptured the meaning of theoretical and experimental
probabilities.