Chapter 6: What Do You Expect? Helpful Links:

What are the chances? What are the chances of getting a 2 when you roll a number cube? Are you more likely to roll a 2 or a 6? How can you decide? The weather forecaster says the chance of rain tomorrow is 40%. What does this mean? Should you wear a raincoat? When you toss a coin, what are the chances of getting tails? Suppose you toss seven tails in a row. Are you more likely to get heads or tails on the next toss?

Station 1: Flipping a Coin What kinds of things could happen to affect the data you gather at this station? How should you toss a coin to be sure you have a fair trial? Suppose you always start with tails facing up when tossing a coin. Do you think this introduces bias? Systematic bias is the introduction of bias through nonrandom ways of generating the data, such as always starting with tails facing up when tossing a coin. Collecting data in a random way can help to better predict what to expect when a coin is tossed. In this case, random means that the coin’s behavior is not affected in a predictable way by how it is tossed. That means there is no systematic bias in the data.

Station 1: Flipping a Coin After you have completed the 30 tosses, record your total number of heads and tails on the sheet below.

Station 1: Flipping a Coin

Station 2: Flipping a Cup

After you have completed the 50 tosses, record your total number of ends and sides on the sheet below.

Station 2: Flipping a Cup

Station 3: Flipping 2 Coins

Station 4: A Fair Coin?