Teach Me Somethin' Tuesday

This week we begin learning about what I consider to be the "underdog" of math curriculum: probability. Talk about a concept that's often pushed aside, watered down, and forgotten about! It always seems to be the last on the list of math items to teach, it's rarely assessed in standardized tests, and goes little beyond the "colored marbles in a bag" realm. But I'm here to tell you that even though I'm teaching about it in the last part of the year, probability holds the top spot in my math heart!

As a student, I loved probability because it didn't seem as cut and dry as the other math concepts. Numbers and operations, geometry, measurement, they appealed to the kids who were satisfied with applying a formula to arrive at the right answers the first time. Don't get me wrong, I appreciated getting a correct answer just as much as the next kiddo, but there was something so intriguing about probability. I totally dug the idea that while I could predict the most likely outcome, there was a small chance that it (whatever "it" was) would go the other way. For me, probability was the "wild child" or "rogue" of the math world--it appealed to my brain. (Disclaimer: With progressive movements in the educational field, however, I do feel that all mathematical concepts can be just as intriguing with the right instructional approach). 

I still feel the same way about probability as an adult and I don't think I'm the only one. Our culture is crazy about probability. It comes up more frequently in conversation than the other math concepts I teach about. I mean, look at all the hysteria over the Mega-Millions lottery...We couldn't go five minutes without hearing that we were more likely to be struck by lightning than win the lotto. But people still bought tickets, didn't they?

So I thought I'd search the Khan Academy website to polish up on my probability knowledge. Of course, I got hooked on their entire probability section. I've attached the first video from the probability series. It's super easy but the videos start to get reeeeeallly tricky after the first few.