Robert Valeria

TE 886: Computer Simulation

I am going to use NCTM Illuminations Adjustable Spinner found at
http://illuminations.nctm.org/adjustablespinner/. I will use this simulator to help my students
better understand theoretical and experimental probability and the relationship between them.
Before teaching the lesson that uses this simulator I will make a guiding worksheet to
help my students work and learn from it. The day of the lesson we will meet in the computer lab.
I will have a computer hooked up to an ActivBoard to show the simulator on the board. I will
begin the investigation with the students. I will tell my students to visit the site and explain some
of the key components. I will have them change the given spinner so it has 4 equal sectors, as I
do this on the board. I will show my students how you can alter the spinner so the sectors are not
equal but tell them they should not do this now but will do it later in their investigation. I will
then have them answer on their worksheet what the theoretical probability of each colored
section is, writing it both as a fraction and as a probability. We will review this while I point out
where the theoretical percent is shown on the simulator.
I will then explain to my students the process of changing the number of spins to 10
and to spin the spinner. As I complete this on the board, they will do it at their computers. I will
explain that we can select skip to end to see the immediate results. I will tell them to record
their results on their worksheet, including their experimental probability percents. We will then
select the circle graph button instead of the percent sign button near the bottom of the screen. We
will discuss as a class what this second circle graph gives us, which is a pictorial representation
of the current experimental probability results. My students will have to answer questions on
how their experimental probability results compare with their theoretical probability results.

I will then tell my students to investigate by following the worksheet. They will have to
reset the spinner and spin it 100 times. They will then record their results on their worksheet and
answer a couple questions about what changed. The same process will be repeated for 1,000
spins and then 10,000 spins (directions will be given that they can only input at most 1,000 spins
so to get 10,000 spins they will have to input 1,000 and spin the spinner 10 times at this amount).
They will then have to give some conclusions on what is happening with the experimental
probabilities as the number of spins increases. The main idea, of course, is that the more trials are
completed, the more that the experimental probability approaches the theoretical probability.
When most students have reached this conclusion, I will have them briefly stop working on the
simulation so we can discuss what we are noticing. I will make sure the students emphasize the
key ideas while also checking their understanding.
The worksheet will then tell the students to try to continue spinning 1,000 spins until they
get the probabilities to exactly match at 25.0% for each of them. Finally, they will reset the
spinner and select a different number of sectors while also changing the size of the sectors so that
they are all not equal. The students will then have to report results as they spin 10, 100, and
1,000 times.
For students who finish early, I also found a simulator that I will put on the worksheet as
an extension activity or be used at another time. This second simulator is Interactivates
Experimental Probability tool found at
http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/ExpProbability/. The question posed for this
investigation involves what are the probabilities that we get certain sums when two 6-sided
number cubes are rolled. It will be pointed out that this question is difficult to solve theoretically
at first. The students will have to identify the sum they think has the best chance of being rolled.

To gain better insight into the theoretical probabilities, we can use experimental investigation to
see what happens. The students will then use the simulator to find the probabilities for different
sums.