Math Activity Two

Remember...two players (opponents) each have an unmarked and marked bone. The shooter needs to guess where the unmarked bones are hidden. We determined there are four possible outcomes and that theoretically, there is a one in four chance of finding the the unmarked bones successfully. In Question 4, we determined that if the same event occurred twenty times, it is probable the shooter will be successful five times. Well, let's try it!. (Scroll Down)

Here is the experiment.

You will be in groups of four (each person will have a chair).

• Two players will have a set of bones (one marked and one unmarked). Your bones will actually be a marked and an unmarked eraser. These two players will hide the bones (switching behind their backs or under their shirts). Let's call these players B for players with bones.
• Another player will be a Shooter (the person guessing where the bones are hidden). The shooter will use LAHAL HAND SIGNALS (see teacher resources for worksheet) to guess where s/he thinks both unmarked bones are hidden. Let's call this player S for shooter,.
• Another player will be a Recorder. This person will make sure the guess and result are clear. When the shooter gives his/her hand signal, the Recorder will say, "The guess is (both left, both right, both inside, or both outside). Then s/he will record that guess. The Bone players will then open their hands to reveal the place where the bones are hidden. The recorder will say, "The actual place is (______) and identify where the unmarked bones were hidden. The recorder will then record guesses and results on the RECORDING PAGE (see teacher resources for worksheet).
• This event will be repeated twenty times. How many times was the shooter able to correctly identify the place of the two unmarked bones? The recorder will count and record the result.
• Each group will write the EXPERIMENTAL PROBABILITY result on the board. Let's talk about the result. How close are the results of each group? What accounts for the differences? How close is EXPERIMENTAL PROBABILITY to THEORETICAL PROBABILITY? What accounts for the differences?

OPTION: If you wish, you can perform the experiment two times. Or, if you wish to switch roles after every success (finding two unmarked bones), that is okay,. However, make sure that exactly twenty events take place and that each event is recorded correctly!!!

Image from Creative Commons (CCO)

https://pixabay.com/en/clipboard-student-writing-work-pen-2899586/

Materials needed for the experiment

Each group will need 4 white erasers (small enough to be hidden in a hand). 2 Erasers should be marked. 2 erasers should be unmarked.

Images from Creative Commons (CC0)

https://pixabay.com/en/clipboard-student-writing-work-pen-2899586/

https://pixabay.com/en/arrow-download-down-south-green-149964/

Seating plan drawing by Susie Grace