For more information contact:
THE E-JOURNAL OF STUDENT RESEARCH has been made possible through grants provided by the United States Department of Education, South Central Bell Telephone, American Petroleum Institute, Intertel Foundation, Springhouse Publishing Corporation, Graham Resources, Inc., Chevron Oil Company, Central Louisiana Electric Company, Louisiana State Department of Education, and National Science Foundation. Mandeville Middle School and the National Student Research Center thank these organizations for their generous support of education.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Heads or Tails? That Is The Question
2. The Probability of Getting a Head When Flipping a Coin
3. Pulling Poker Chips
TITLE: Heads or Tails? That is the Question
STUDENT RESEARCHER: Lisa Sharp
SCHOOL: Mandeville Middle School
Mandeville, Louisiana
GRADE: 6
TEACHER: E. Marino, M.Ed.
I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:
I wanted to do a research project on probability. Probability is
the likelihood of an event occurring. I wondered, if you flipped
a coin, would it most probably land on heads or tails. My
hypothesis stated that the coin would land on heads more than
tails.
II. METHODOLOGY:
I wrote my statement of purpose, developed my hypothesis, and
reviewed my literature. I wrote a list of materials and recorded
my data. I flipped a coin 50 times. Each time I recorded weather
it landed on heads or tails. I then repeated this process 2 more
times. I analyzed my data, wrote my summary and conclusion, and
applied it to the real world.
III. ANALYSIS OF DATA:
On trial one, the coin landed on heads 21 times and tails 29
times. On trial 2, the coin landed on heads 25 times and tails 25
times. On trial 3, the coin landed on heads 24 times and tails 26
times. There were a total of 70 heads and 80 tails in all three
trials. Probability theory predict that since the head and the
tail have a 50/50 chance of occurring, that there should have been
75 heads and 75 tails.
IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
Since the coin landed on heads fewer times than on tails, I can
reject my hypothesis which stated that the coin would land on
heads more than tails. It was close and if I replicated this
research lots more the number of times the coin landed on heads
and tails would be almost equal.
V. APPLICATION:
I now know that, if I flip a coin, the probability of getting a
heads is just as good as getting a tails.
TITLE: The Probability of Getting a Head When Flipping a Coin
STUDENT RESEARCHER: Katherine Smith
SCHOOL: Mandeville Middle School
Mandeville Louisiana
GRADE: 6
TEACHER: E. Marino, M.Ed.
I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE:
I wanted to do a math research project on the probability of a
coin landing on heads or tails. Probability thory predicts that
the chance of getting a head or a tail is 50/50 when you flip a
coin. My hypothesis states that a coin flipped 50 times will not
land on heads 25 times and tails 25 times.
II. METHODOLOGY:
First I wrote my statement of purpose, reviewed my literature, and
developed my hypothesis. Then I got a quarter and flipped it
fifty times recording whether it landed on heads or tails. I
repeated this two more times. Then I analyzed the data, wrote a
summary and conclusion, and applied my findings to the real world.
III. ANALYSIS OF DATA:
In trial 1, the coin landed on heads 21 times and tails 29 times.
In trial 2, the coin landed on heads 20 times and tails 30 times.
In trial 3, the coin landed on heads 19 times and tails 31 times.
There was a total of 60 heads and 90 tails. On average, the coin
landed on heads 20 times and on tails 30 times when I flipped it
50 times.
IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
Since heads came up an average of 20 times and tails an average of
30 times, I accept my hypothesis which stated that a quarter
flipped 50 times will not land on heads 25 times and tails 25
times. I need to repeat this research several more time because
my findings do not support the accepted theory which states that
the probability of getting a head or a tail when flipping a coin
is 50/50.
V. APPLICATION:
According to my research, I now know that when I'm flipping a coin
I should call tails because tails appeared more often than heads.
I might change my mind after I have repeated this experiment many
more times.
TITLE: Pulling Poker Chips
STUDENT RESEARCHERS: Patrick Ott & Scott Gardner
SCHOOL: Mandeville Middle School
Mandeville, Louisiana
GRADE: 6
TEACHER: E. Marino, M.Ed.
I. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS:
We wanted to find out if the theory of probability is true because
we're curious. Our hypothesis stated that when we reach into a
bag containing 10 red, 10 white, and 10 blue poker chips and draw
out one chip and then replace it and then draw again for 30 times,
each color will be pulled out ten times, give or take two.
II. METHODOLOGY:
First, we wrote my statement of purpose, reviewed the literature,
and developed a hypothesis. Next, we placed ten red, ten blue,
and ten white poker chips in an opaque bag. We pulled out one
poker chip and recorded it's color. We replaced the chip and
continued to pull out another chip for a total of 30 time. We
repeated the entire procedure three times. Next, we wrote our
analysis of data, accepted or rejected our hypothesis, and applied
what we learned to the world around us.
III. ANALYSIS OF DATA:
In the first trial, the red chip was pulled 10 times. In the
second trial, it was pulled 8 times. In the third trial, it was
pulled 11 times for an average of 9.66 times. The white was
pulled 10 times in trial one, 12 times in trial two, and 11 times
in trial three, for an average of 11 times. The blue chip was
pulled ten times in trial one, 10 times in trial two, and 8 times
in trial three for an average of 9 pulls.
IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
In our experiment, the red poker chip was pull from the bag an
average of 9.66 times. The white chip was pulled an average of 11
times. The blue poker chips were pulled from the bag an average
of 9 times. Therefore, we accept our hypothesis which stated that
the red, white, and blue poker chips would be pulled from the bag
the same amount of times give or take two.
V. APPLICATION:
We can apply this information to casino gambling games because
they are games of chance.
© 1994 John I. Swang, Ph.D.