Rock, Paper, Scissors

August 29, 2013

To continue with the theme of probability, we played Rock, Paper, Scissors today! 45 times. Actually I think my partner and I only got 44, but we had some human error interference. We marked some accounts differently but we aren't too competitive so it we just agreed to change our answers according to one person's paper. 

Note to self: Make sure to explain how to play rock, paper, scissors. You may have people in your class from other cultures or even your own culture who have never played rock, paper, scissors before. Therefore, it is important to review to rules of the game and how to play.

This activity was accompanied with a matrix to help keep track of results. 

The real point of this activity was for us to decide if rock, paper, scissors is a fair game. 

My results show that I won half of our trials and the other half were split  evenly between my partner's results and the occasions that we tied.

Honestly, I have never been good at this game. I hardly ever win. I do have to admit though, that when I noticed that most of my winnings were when I chose scissors, I starting choosing scissors to see if I would keep winning when my partner chose paper. Now I'm not sure it had to do with the fact that I was choosing scissors but more the idea that my opponent was partial to choosing paper. This is when I began to strategically choose my next move. I was not reading the "body" language of my opponent, only quickly assessing the results on the paper. 

In the end, I won :) I don't think this game was completely fair because of my sneaky observations.

Obviously these people know how to win every time without a matrix in front of them!

MATH CLUB!!

So today in Math Club, we played Farkle. I really do not like the name of that game but after it took me like 20 minutes to figure out how to play I realized why the slogan was "A Risk-Taking Game!" You had to know your odds. In a nutshell, you roll the dice for points. Generally, it is in your benefit to roll three or four of a kind so you had to calculate the probability of receiving the results beneficial to you to see if the risk is worth it, or to stick with what you have! 

That's what I was doing the whole time, calculating probability :) Made me feel like such a proud math club member!! 

Cut the Deck!

August 27, 2013

Note to self: When you get decks of cards, make sure you take out the jokers!

The lesson started with the students writing down everything they know about a deck of cards. Such as how many cards are in one deck, how many cards in each suit, what those suits are, how many face cards, etc. This was a good memory jogger to get your brain thinking in numbers for a minute. Then worksheets were handed out asking us to calculate probability without mathematical notation so it was easier to comprehend. 

I do like the idea of working with cards because it is yet another tangible item that can be utilized in the classroom. 

My favorite questions on this sheet were where it would ask for the probability of a queen, and then not a queen. It gets you used to the idea of the complement(make this word clickable) of one problem and where you can learn to take less steps to get to an answer and not make your brain so tired! 

P(Queen)= 4/52 = 1/13
P(Not a Queen)= 13/13 - 1/13 = 12/13

Next, we used small pom poms from a craft store to help us calculate probability with tree diagrams. I love visual strategies!

As much as I love mathematical formulas, I much better understand them when I understand WHY they work. Also, if I don't remember the formula quite correctly then understanding a concept can help me derive the equation myself and still arrive at the desired answer. 


Another important lesson I learned today was to understand the meaning of words! Ahhh, english in math, what a lovely sight!! I really do feel lucky that I have found a subtle if not extreme love for most general education subjects. 

AT LEAST means there is no maximum! 
AT MOST means there is no minimum! 

If the question is asking for the probability of at least drawing one white marble  from a bag then... at least would include all events where there are at least one marble in the outcome. So if there are 27846236 white marbles in a particular outcome, you count that one too!!

If the question is asking for at most three white marbles drawn from a bag then 1,2,3 and even ZERO white marble in the outcome counts! 

Go Fishing with Probability!

August 21, 2013

Today, I came to MAT 157: Mathematics for Elementary Teachers II prepared. Though, when walking into a classroom with a great teacher, you can only be so prepared because those teachers often surprise you. That is the type of teacher I aspire to be one day. 

We learned a new classroom management technique when placing students into groups which involved only a stack of playing cards. You take two-of-a-kind out of the deck to match the number of students present in the room so they may match themselves together. This method takes a little bit of preparation but I appreciate the exposure for when classroom procedures become monotonous. Note to self: Roxanne also warned us that older children will start switching cards, so you must be strategic when handing out the cards. Maybe the beginning of the class as the students walk in.

Our lesson was a slight overview of probability and a strategy to teach it involving goldfish. The snack, not the water creature. A ziploc bag with the colorful goldfish were handed out, all different totals. A general worksheet accompanied the activity that required students to predict probabilities of sample scenarios and then apply those predictions. 

Specifically my partner and I received a total of 47 goldfish. 15 yellow, 15 orange, 7 red, and 10 green. 

My partner and I got through the worksheet pretty quickly. She didn't really wait for me. Not like she had to, we are in college, but she never asked for my opinion. When we came the question where we had to use our probabilities to relate to a pond of 300 fish, she saw it easiest to convert to a percentage. That threw me off for a second because that seemed like and extra step that I hadn't thought of. My brain thought that a proportion would fit best for the scenario. If I didn't have confidence in myself a student, this may have thrown me off and caused me to question myself which I slightly did. But I decided to go for it my way anyhow and we came up with almost the same answer. She came up with one less healthy fish in the pond and one more sick fish than I did. She rounded using percentages so it makes sense why our answers were slightly varied. 

This moment was very important to me as an educator because even though my partner and I were working the same problem, we had different strategies. That is perfectly okay unless you are testing for mastery of a certain technique which... if they come up with the same answer, they shouldn't necessarily be counted wrong if they can explain their though processes. Every person learns and works differently. 

Note to self: This is extremely important to keep in mind to anticipate when are where work in students may vary and how specific you need to be in your directions. 

Another note to self: If you don't want students to eat the goldfish, tell them other students have also used these goldfish and put their hands ALLLL over them already :)