STATCOM P-12 Outreach: Demonstrating Statistics
Cheng Zheng, Purdue Department of Statistics Ph.D. Graduate student, demonstrates Lotto to some participants
at the Indiana State Fair.
On July 18, 2005, the STATCOM P-12 Outreach team presented classroom activities to adolescents participating in Purdue University’s Camp Calcium. Campers learned about the Secretary Problem, how to compute the chances of winning a certain lottery game, as well as ideas about sampling and estimation.
On Aug. 17, 2005 the STATCOM P-12 Outreach team provided activities for all ages in the College of Science tent at the State Fair in Indianapolis. In the morning, fair-goers had the opportunity to participate in a version of "Let’s Make a Deal" where they learned about the Monty Hall Problem. In the afternoon, they tried to beat the odds by playing and learning about the chances of winning a lottery game.
The STATCOM P-12 Outreach Program is an effort to increase interest and achievement in statistics at all pre-college levels in Indiana. The program is run by Statistics in the Community (STATCOM), a volunteer community outreach organization directed and staffed by graduate students in the Department of Statistics. If you would like more information about the services that STATCOM P-12 Outreach provides, please visit their web site.
Summer 2005
