Problem of the Week #1

Spring Into Action and Solve this Math Problem for Extra Credit

The Million $ Mission

You're sitting in math class, minding your own business, when in walks a Bill Gates kind of guy - the real success story of your school. He's made it big, and now he has a job offer for you.

He doesn't give too many details, mumbles something about the possibility of danger. He's going to need you for 30 days, and you'll have to miss school. (Won't that just be too awful?) And you've got to make sure your passport's current. (Get real, Bill, this ain't Paris). But do you ever sit up at the next thing he says.

You'll have your choice of two payment options:

1. One cent on the first day, two cents on the second day, and double your salary every day thereafter for the thirty days; or



2. Exactly $1,000,000. (That's one million dollars!)

I jump up out of my seat at that. You've got your man, Bill, right here. I'll take that million. I'm out of here. And off you go on this dangerous million-dollar mission.
So how smart was this guy? Did he make the best choice? Show your work to support the choice you think is best.

(courtesy of Cynthia Lanius)

Probabilities for Sum of Two Dice

In Math 7 we recently experimented with the sum of two dice and explored theoretical and experimental probabilities. I collaborated with my colleague, Mrs. Owins, and we used the following handouts to guide the discussion and experiment. Most of the students incorrectly predicted the sum with the highest probability prior to the discussion and experiment. Hopefully, they have cleared up the misconception all sums have an equal chance of occurring or that larger sums occur more often.

The students enjoyed the interactive dice from the SmartBoard Gallery. Here's a link to some interactive dice online that will also graph the data as you roll. Mrs. Owins and I also had our classes record their group data in an Excel spreadsheet so the students could see how the number of rolls affects the closeness of theoretical and experimental probabilities.

I've since discovered this wonderful site at Mathwire.com which also has activity sheets and resource links for the sum of two dice experiment. But more importantly, this site has some interesting two-dice games students can play to sharpen their understanding of the probabilities involved.

For students wanting to expand their knowledge of probabilities involving two-dice, I recommend the site developed by Jo Edkins--you can find many other fun things on this site as well.

Sudoku and Simon Games

Here's a few fun games to exercise your brain.

Scientific Calculator for Homework

Here's a cool virtual scientific calculator to use on your homework.