Carnival project helps math students learn probability

As first semester comes to an end, and finals are right around the corner, Mr. Fosco, AMDM teacher, has assigned students a carnival project for their final. Students are allowed to work with one person or two.

“The whole point of the carnival game was to make playable games and to take into account probabilities. Our job was to win more that our customers. Our customers must feel that it is possible to win, but the advantages has to be in our favor,” said senior Tony Cruz.

This final isn’t just about having fun and enjoying playing others games or their own. It’s also taking in time to be creative enough to build a successful game and really think about the probabilities that people coming to play your game will win or lose and being able to show work and provide well enough information about the game.

“I provided three different levels prizes, small prize being jolly ranchers, medium prize was a snickers and the grand prize was a fidget spinner. My game was pretty much cup pong from the iMessage games, but in my game you had to make it into some specific bottles. I had nine bottles in total. Five of the bottles were winning bottles. All five were different level prizes. Out of 85 people that played, only 7 people were able to come out on top. So in all, I believe my game was successful,” said senior Jorge Medina.

The carnival game final for AMDM (Advanced Mathematical Decision Making) helped some students get a better understanding of how probability is being taken into account in a carnival game.

“I felt that the carnival games showed us many things. It made us think whether you were gonna win or not. It showed us probability and how it would affect us in the long run,” said senior Manuel Alanis.