My Probability & Statistics students have been studying probability.  I wanted to plan a lesson that would help them review what we’ve learned this chapter but that would also let them be creative.  I asked them to work in groups of 3 to design a probability game of their choice.  The only parameters I gave them was that it must include at least 3 probability events (for example you couldn’t just roll a die once and have the game be over) and they need to have clearly written instructions for how to play the game.  I provided students with dice, spinners, or pawns if they wanted to use them in their games.

At first many students were frustrated to have such open ended instructions.  When students asked for help I would ask them some questions about games they enjoy playing to get them thinking about different possibilities.  Students had two class periods to create their game.  On the third day they set up their game and instructions and students walked around playing all of the games.


I was amazed at what my students came up with for this lesson!  Some students reimagined classic board games while others created their own game all on their own.  Mathland was similar to Candyland. 

We had a game modeled after Guess Who? but the pictures were all students in our class.

As students were playing the games they were commenting on how some games were very complex while others were much simpler but still a lot of fun to play.

 
Groups were required to turn in a write up of their game which included instructions for how to play the game as well as calculating the probability for winning the game.  Students were also required to write an individual reflection on this project.  Here are some of their comments:


“Projects that require creativity and give me the freedom to create something of my choice are very interesting for me. This project allowed me to see probability in the real world while also allowing me to be creative and have fun.”  

“I have not done a group project in math before and I enjoyed this project because it allowed me the opportunity to listen to other people’s opinions and take into consideration different ways of assembling things.  This was a fun hands on approach to practicing probability.”


“After completing this project, I am able to understand the concept or probability more clearly with the different methods of determining it.”


“This project provided a great opportunity for us to apply the information we learned about probability towards building a game.  I really enjoyed all aspects of this project.  I never really thought we would have the opportunity to be this creative in math class.  It was fun to create a probability based game, and it was very interesting to be tasked with finding the details of the math behind winning the game.”  


We had a few minutes after students played the games to discuss their take aways from this assignment.  Many students said they enjoyed seeing how math can be creative (one of my goals of this project!) and liked thinking about probability in a different way.  The class made the connection between what we are learning in an abstract way and how probability is applied in many situations.  They also said they never realized how probability is used in designing games.  Some students also said that after playing a game once and not doing well, they began to think about the probability behind each move and played it again taking this into consideration and did much better.  I loved that!  I hope through this project my students will see the connection of math, and more specifically probability, in their every day lives and that they continue to see that math is open ended and creative.