standard_description: Develop a probability distribution for a random variable defined for a sample space in which theoretical probabilities can be calculated; find the expected value. For example, find the theoretical probability distribution for the number of correct answers obtained by guessing on all five questions of a multiple-choice test where each question has four choices, and find the expected grade under various grading schemes.
problem_activity: Activity
This activity gives students the opportunity to see that an estimate of the probability for an event should be close to what is expected from the exact probability in the long-run; however, the outcome for a chance event is not guaranteed and estimates of the probability for an event using short-term results will not usually match the actual probability exactly (MP6).
Launch
Tell students that the probability of a coin landing heads up after a flip is
\(\frac{1}{2}\)
.
Give students 5 minutes of quiet work time followed by a whole-class discussion.
Student Facing
For each situation, do you think the result is surprising or not? Is it possible? Be prepared to explain your reasoning.
You flip the coin once, and it lands heads up.
You flip the coin twice, and it lands heads up both times.
You flip the coin 100 times, and it lands heads up all 100 times.
If you flip the coin 100 times, how many times would you expect the coin to land heads up? Explain your reasoning.
If you flip the coin 100 times, what are some other results that would not be surprising?
You’ve flipped the coin 3 times, and it has come up heads once. The cumulative fraction of heads is currently
\(\frac{1}{3}\)
. If you flip the coin one more time, will it land heads up to make the cumulative fraction
\(\frac{2}{4}\)
?
Student Response
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Activity Synthesis
The purpose of the discussion is for students to recognize that the actual results from repeating an experiment should be close to the expected probability, but may not match exactly.
For the first problem, ask students to indicate whether or not they think each result seems surprising. For the second and third questions, select several students to provide answers and display for all to see, then create a range of values that might not be surprising based on student responses. Ask the class if they agree with this range or to provide a reason the range is too large. It is not important for the class to get exact values, but a general agreement should arise that
some
range of values makes sense so that there does not need to be exactly 50 heads from the 100 flips.
An interesting problem in statistics is trying to define when things get "surprising." Flipping a fair coin 100 times and getting 55 heads should not be surprising, but getting either 5 or 95 heads probably is. (Although there is not a definite answer for this, a deeper study of statistics using additional concepts in high school or college can provide more information to help choose a good range of values.)
Explain that a probability represents the expected likelihood of an event occurring for a single trial of an experiment. Regardless of what has come before, each coin flip should still be equally likely to lands heads up as tails up.
As another example: A basketball player who tends to make 75% of his free throw shots will probably make about
\(\frac{3}{4}\)
of the free throws he attempts, but there is no guarantee he will make any individual shot even if he has missed a few in a row.
Conversing, Reading: MLR2 Collect and Display.
As students share whether each result is surprising or not, write down the words and phrases students use to explain their reasoning. Listen for students who state that the actual results from repeating an experiment should be close to the expected probability. As students review the language collected in the visual display, encourage students to revise and improve how ideas are communicated. For example, a phrase such as: “If you flip a coin 100 times, it is impossible for the coin to land heads up all 100 times” can be improved with the phrase “If you flip a coin 100 times, it is very unlikely for the coin to land heads up all 100 times, but it is possible.” This routine will provide feedback to students in a way that supports sense-making while simultaneously increasing meta-awareness of language.
Design Principle(s): Support sense-making; Maximize meta-awareness


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