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Finite Math Class
After studying permutations and combinations, Ms. Samuels’ Finite Mathematics students worked on an activity to compute the probability of winning several different Kentucky Lottery games. As part of this activity, Ms. Samuels asked them to write a letter to a compulsive lottery player describing the probability of winning the lottery. They were to include the results of their calculations from this activity as supporting evidence to make their case about the futility of relying on the lottery to get rich quickly. Read what students wrote about this project in their entries below:
| Ashley | Dear Compulsive Lottery Player, |
| Suppose I were to tell you that if you gave me just one dollar, I would give you thousands of dollars if you picked the right penny out of a group of pennies. Sounds like a good deal, huh? What would you say if I told you that the number of pennies you had to choose from stretched (in a line) for 15 miles down the highway? Sounds a bit more risky, doesn’t it? Well, as one of the elite Finite Nine, I would like to inform you that that is the risk you are taking every time you walk into a gas station and buy a Cashball ticket. (If you think that’s bad, you should hear how far the line of pennies stretches for the Powerball!) Your odds of winning are one in 1,268,520, which basically means that you’re throwing your dollar away every time. It’s great if you want to play just for the fun of it every once in a while, but if you’re betting your life savings on it, you might want to reconsider. Perhaps instead of investing in the Lottery, you could donate to a local charity of some sort?
I’m not saying you have to listen to me, but I just thought I’d try to inform you in hopes that it will help with your compulsion! Sincerely, |
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| Christina | Dear Compulsive, |
| I can empathize with your situation. Habits are uneasy to break, especially when they become an integral part of life. It would seem easy to just pop into the gas station and buy a single Lottery ticket. Who knows? Perhaps you’ll win one of these times. Though it isn’t impossible, Compulsive, you have a 0.0000788% chance of winning in a single game of Cashball. Though I understand you try to rationalize that buying more tickets would resolve the problem, it in fact does not. Spending $10 in the same gas station would only increase your chances of winning. There are 1,268,520 combinations of numbers possible. In one drawing, if none of the millions of people pick the exact number, the game begins all over again with the exact same chances. It is next to impossible to win. Please take this into consideration. Perhaps finding a new hobby, such as writing out all of the combinations and/or permutations of winning numbers possible would be of more use (and more economical). It’s better to waste your time in efforts in which you hold the destiny of the outcome.
Yours Truly, |
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