Simply stated, we are calculating the number of boxes of cereal one needs to purchase to receive a complete set of six colored pens. Each student rolls a six-sided die to simulate buying one box of cereal. Each face of the die corresponds to a colored pen. The web site will compile local, regional and world-wide averages to provide an experimental result. This can be compared to the theoretical result which is calculated using statistical formulas.
Probability can be a difficult concept for students to understand.
Your students will learn, via experimentation, that each student must buy a different number of boxes to get a set of six pens. Some will get the set in only six tries, but others will have to buy 30 or more boxes. Through the connectivity of the Internet, your students' results will be combined with the results of students from far-away locations to create a genuinely international solution. This is not one of those projects where you have to wait weeks for the compiled results. See the running average of all submissions immediately.