Probability Activities Tree Diagrams, Sequences, Summation Notation, Dice Rolling, Rock-Paper- Scissors, and The “Monty Hall” Problem

Tree Diagrams Umi is getting ready for a night on the town and is trying to decide what to wear. She has 3 shirts: one blue, one purple, and one red. She also could wear jeans or a skirt, and she could wear sandals or high heels. How many different outfits could Umi make?

Sequences Find the 8 th term of the sequence 1, 2, 4, 8, … If a 1 = 5 and an = a n–1 + 3, find a 4. Find S 4 (the sum of the first four numbers) for the sequence above.

Summation Notation The sigma sign indicates for you to find the SUM of certain numbers. The number at the bottom is the first number you plug in. The number at the top is the last number you plug in. Add all of your results together.

The Monty Hall Problem

The Monty Hall Problem This problem was originally posed in a letter by Steve Selvin to the American Statistician in A well-known statement of the problem was published in Marilyn vos Savant's "Ask Marilyn" column in Parade magazine in 1990:American StatisticianMarilyn vos SavantParade Suppose you're on a game show, and you're given the choice of three doors: Behind one door is a car; behind the others, goats. You pick a door, say No. 1, and the host, who knows what's behind the doors, opens another door, say No. 3, which has a goat. He then says to you, "Do you want to pick door No. 2?" Is it to your advantage to switch your choice?