Marcos worked a multi-step exercise that had him record the product of rolling a pair of die 30 times. He then made a chart of the sample space of the possible products. He used the chart, and his experiment results, to answer questions about theoretical and experimental probability. He then did a "Test Prep" with 5 multiple choice questions, in which he did a wonderful job!

Marcus Grant helped us with Excel today! What a relief! He showed Marcos and I how to better enter our data into the cells of the spreadsheet in a way that allowed us to see how the data would display in different graphs. This enabled us to choose the best chart for each set. We really liked the donut graphs, but they did not display the numbers the way we wanted them to. Since most of our questions involved only 2 answers, we used simpler bar or column graphs. Marcos had the opportunity to practice cutting, pasting, and enlarging the graphs. We then displayed them on construction paper, and hung them on the cafeteria windows! Good job, Marcos!

Marcos and I attempted to make more graphs from his data collection. Marcus Grant may help us next time with the entries on the Excel spreadsheet. Otherwise, I think we may move to doing the circle graphs by hand!

Marcos and I continued learning how to use Microsoft Word's chart and graph feature. We learned how to insert a circle graph into a document. We entered the information from one of our questions into an Excel Spreadsheet, and the program created a graph. Marcos typed a short introduction and the question on word document. We had a bit of debate about how large to make the font, and how to place one of the pictures. It was quite amusing to see both of us with our particular opinions about the document!

Today, we tallied the results from the survey, and also double-checked to see that everyone completed it.
We talked about the best way to display the data. Marcos wanted to simply write the results on a piece of paper. I encouraged him that we should find a better way to display the data. Microsoft Word has that ability to make charts and graphs. We started to work on inputting the data into Excel and then onto graphs. This project will be a great way to improve Marcos' computer skill and knowledge.

We continued to work on our data intake project. We prepared the questions and made them available for everyone to get the form and answer them. My goal is to give Marcos first-hand experience in coming up with surveys, making predictions about the results, displaying the results, and assessing the accuracy of his predictions.

We are going to do a statistics project where we ask the students, teachers, and staff 5 random questions. Marcos came up with the questions in class this morning. He typed them and made a questionnaire form, then we made copies of them. We compiled a list of all of the students and teachers. We placed the questionnaires at the front desk for people to pick up, and then made an envelope for them to put their completed forms on Marcos' office door.
Once we receive all of the data, we will determine the best way to represent it (histogram, line graph, pie graph, scatter plot, etc.). This should be the first of several projects we do in statistics.

Today, I taught the lesson from the board and had Kate take notes. We talked about decimal numbers with a place value up to ten thousandth. We practiced reading decimals and writing them with "short words" (a combination of decimals and numbers). She identified the place of various underlined digits, and wrote their value. I showed her how 9 tenths compares to 9 hundredths, so that she could see that a large denominator does not necessarily mean a larger number. She did exercises 11-18 on p.15 in class.

We continued our exploration of odds and probability today. We worked through 20 problems in the book that asked Marcos questions about theoretical probability, odds of finding certain 3 digit numbers between 0 and 1000, odds and probability of landing in certain shaded regions of a figure, and odds and probability of having different point spreads in a football game from looking at scores on a stem and leaf plot.

We continued section 2-6 in the Algebra book on Probability. Today's questions required a lot of thought, and therefore took a lot of time. Marcos had to find the size of the sample space of all positive 3 digit numbers. From there, he had to find the probability of finding different subsets of that sample space. Through trial, error, and a lot of counting, he was able to complete #33-39 on p. 97. He joked that the exercises hurt his head. I think they were adequately challenging for him.