Happy birthday to you — and to you! A festive video on probability examines the likelihood of two people in a group sharing a birthday, based on the size of the group. 

Concepts

riddles, game theory, probability, statistics, nonlinear systems

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Additional Tags

math

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Instructional Ideas

• Replicate the problem in the classroom to see if the statistics hold true; start with pairs that confer about their birthdays and complete the necessary calculations, then expand group size until pupils calculate the entire class, grade level, and school
• Have class members watch the video on their personal tablets, or show it during a warm-up before a lesson on probability

Classroom Considerations

• Requires access to the Internet
• Video may move quickly for some learners, so you may want to pause to elaborate on the details

Pros

• Entertaining and engaging for even the most reluctant mathematicians
• Provides a short assessment and discussion questions

Cons

• None