Find the needle on a lined paper. Pupils run a simulation of dropping a needle on a lined paper. The probability of the needle crossing at least one line is pi/2. After each trial, the interactive displays the approximation of pi based on the experimental probability of the needle's placement.

Concepts

experimental probability, probability, probability experiments, probability word problems, theoretical probability, pi

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Additional Tags

math

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Instructional Ideas

• Lead a discussion on whether the theoretical and the experimental probabilities will ever be the same

Classroom Considerations

• The class should understand basic probability
• Individuals should know the value of pi

• This resource is only available on an unencrypted HTTP website.It should be fine for general use, but don’t use it to share any personally identifiable information

Pros

• The handout provides guidance on how to run the simulation
• Provides suggestions to the teacher of how to use the applet

Cons

• None

Common Core

7.SP.C.5 7.SP.C.6 7.SP.C.7.a HSN-Q.A.1 HSN-Q.A.2 HSN-Q.A.3 HSS-IC.A.1 HSS-IC.A.2 HSS-CP.A.1 HSS-CP.A.2 HSS-CP.A.3 HSS-CP.A.4 HSS-CP.A.5 HSS-CP.B.6 HSS-MD.A.1 HSS-MD.A.2 HSS-MD.A.4