Expected Value: Day 2


Today is an opportunity to go into greater depth with modeling and the concept of expected value. Spreadsheets such as Excel might be well-used (but are not necessary) for today's activities.

The students should be divided into groups to work on the following problems (encourage them to devise models first and try to find trends that might lead to more analytical solutions):

  1. If you toss a coin 10 times:

  2. If you toss a coin 100 times:

  3. If you roll a die 10 times and add up the numbers from each roll:

  4. If you roll a die 100 times and add up the numbers from each roll:

From these activities there should be a bridge built from probability to expected value. Once a definition for expected value has been discovered through experimentation and class discussion, go on to the final problem:


If you like, you may return to the introduction page.

Go on to the lesson plan for Day 3