Assignment

Individuals of all ages use probability to make decisions in everyday activities. For instance, when deciding whether to cross a street with traffic, people estimate the odds of making it safely across. Consider the prevalence of probability in your daily life. How does knowing the likelihood of something occurring affect how you make daily decisions? Usually, you choose an option because you believe that it will have a more pleasing outcome than the other choice(s). If you knew your likelihood of succeeding or failing, you would have an even easier time making a decision. Each decision you make is influenced by probability. Using what you know about probability might help you make decisions of low importance, such as purchasing goods, but it can also play a role in making critically important decisions. For example, scientists often use probability testing to evaluate the safety of drugs for human use and to help determine the likely outcome of other high-stakes decisions.

For this Discussion, you will have the opportunity to practice your understanding by describing probability "in real life." You will select one age group (elementary school students, high school students, or colleague/significant other) and explain how you would teach probability to that group.

To prepare: Think about examples of how individuals of various ages use probability to make decisions, and decide which age group you will write about in your discussion response.

Post

1. An explanation of how you would initially teach the concept of probability tooneof the age groups, listed below, in a way they would understand. In other words, describe how you would initially present and explain the concept in order to create background knowledge and a basic understanding of probability. Be sure to Include the age group you chose in theSubjectof your post.

1. Elementary school students
2. High school students
3. Colleague/significant other

2. An example of a demonstration you could use to illustrate the concept of probability to the age group you chose.

3. An example of how this age group might use probability to make decisions in everyday life.

Think outside the box by avoiding common examples such as coin tosses, decks of cards, and dice. Take care not to confuse the concepts of probability and relative frequency when writing your post.

Be sure to fully explain your rationale for each of your suggestions, and support your ideas with evidence from the text and Learning Resources.