Theory in Practice

This activity requires students to flip a coin 100 times and calculate the cumulative probability for each trial of ten. Students should begin to develop the concept of theoretical versus experimental probability as the cumulative number of flips increases. Recognizing independent events, graphing scatter plots, and calculating percentages are skills students will practice during this activity. Teachers may use this activity as an introductory lesson for a unit on probability, in a statistics course, or as an easy lesson to leave with a substitute. This activity should take 1 to 1.5 days.