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Preparatory Activities
2007 Materials Development Institute

reflect on current practice

Respond to the following questions in the 2007 Materials Development Institute discussion*. Read others' posts and reply when appropriate.

1. Question 1:* Do you think probability is an important middle school concept? Why or why not?
2. Question 2:* What do you think the are the big ideas and concepts of middle school probability?
3. Question 3:* What probability concepts do you teach in your classes? Can you briefly discuss if you use technology in these lessons (and if you do, how you use it)?

 

solve and discuss a problem

Try the following problem and post your thoughts to this discussion thread*.

Ruth prefers, when she participates in a lottery, to choose consecutive numbers like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. She claims that in this way she increases her chance of winning.

On the other hand Jenny claims that the chance of getting six consecutive numbers like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 is smaller than that of getting a random sequence of numbers. She says that a lottery is something chancy and therefore there is no chance of getting a sequence of consecutive numbers.

What is your opinion with regard to the two beliefs, that of Ruth and that of Jenny?

(Fischbein & Gazit, 1984; Fischbein & Schnarch, 1997)

 

solve and discuss a Problem of the Week (PoW) from our Library

Submit a solution to: 3319: A Dicey Situation*

 

Hint 1: Use the login information that you've been given to access this membership-only area of the Math Forum.

 

Hint 2: Use the "If you know your problem number, enter it here" field. Type the number 3319 and click Go, to easily locate the problem.

 

Discuss the problem with others on this discussion thread*.

* requires password