Nikki Petzer
Teachers are always looking for fun ways to teach their classes. Regardless of the subject, making an hour and a half long class exciting and interactive while simultaneously keeping it informative and relevant is a huge challenge. Most classes follow a repetitive pattern in which they take notes and then take either a quiz or a test on the content.
Some teachers have overcome this mindless pattern so that students can actually enjoy the class they are taking while still learning the subject. Joe Broscious, a mathematics teacher, is one of these innovators.
For two years in a row, Broscious and his Algebra Functions class have put on a Probability Carnival. Since probability is the unit that his Algebra Functions class is focused on in the first quarter, it is an appropriately themed event.
“I like to make my classes active and hands-on and let my students use their creativity,” Broscious said, “[The Probability Carnival] incorporates content taught in class.”
In order to help his students apply math to real life, Broscious gave his students a variety of game ideas to choose from that were related to probability. Then, different groups each chose one games to create for the carnival. Some ideas suggested by Broscious included a game in which the target was to knock over a stack of six cans with a bouncy ball and a ring toss game.
The one thing that these activities have in common is probability. In games like ring toss, there is a certain probability that the ring will land on the bottle with any given throw.
Through games like this, students learn to calculate probability. In addition, students can see the way in which probability is present in all sorts of everyday events.
