Twelve Day of Christmas: Experimental Probability (Class)

Twelve Days of Christmas

Today we moved from theoretical probability (what SHOULD happen) to experimental probability (what DID happen).

We sat in a circle.  I had a container with 364 beads.  There were 12 different colors.  Each color represented a gift (black for partridge in a pear tree), and there were the same number of each bead as gifts given (12 black for the 12 days "my true love" received a partridge in a pear tree).  We passed the container around 100 times to see how many of each "gift" we pulled.  We recorded our data on our Experimental Probability spreadsheet:

Once we had our data, we turned the information into a fraction, then a decimal, and then a percent.  It was much easier today because we were dealing with a denominator of 100!  So a fraction of 3/100 = .03 = 3%.... no calculators needed!  The interesting part is that each classes' data is different because you are dealing with luck!  So the data we gathered in each class is below:

 To finish off the day, we created a new circle graph that shows today's percentages.  Each class' graph will be different.  

Finally, the classes were asked to complete an exit ticket.  They were to write two generalizations comparing the Theoretical Probability Circle Graph to the Experimental Probability Circle Graph.

HOMEWORK:

1. Complete the circle graph/exit ticket
2. Countdown 2.3