Probability simulations – what do I write?

You could also use dice. Have you ever played RISK? What is the probability that each person wins when the dice are rolled? In Risk, one person rolls two dice and the other rolls three dice. That might be tool complicated a situation for you to want to take on, so invent your own situation. Then you can 1) compute the theoretical probabilities involved and 2) conduct experiments (which others could duplicate) to find the experimental probabilities involved.

I hope this helps!

Dice examples are very good for simulations. Easy to code and easy to understand and recreate in real life.

I like to use the random int features for die1 and die2 and then look at the sum of the two dice. this is a good simulation to just show the probability of rolling different values.

the more interesting simulations are based on the game of craps. use the simulation to find out the probability of making the point if the first roll is not a seven or eleven. find the probability of crapping out on the first roll verses crapping out before making the point.

another good set up is to use the random number generator to flip weighted coins. have multiple coins, say a nickel, a dime and a quarter. flip the quarter first. if heads, flip the nickel, if tails flip the dime. each coin has different probabilities of coming up heads, preferably not using any fair coins and now you can ask for the students to find the probability of a head on the second flip. this is a good exercise in simulations and the law of total probability.

for the very ambitious simulation, try teaching the students about permutation or randomization tests instead of using the Student t or z tests.