Coming Up Next Week...

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. You already KNOW I did. My birthday was so nice, I had to celebrate twice. It was a lot of fun, but I sure was tired by Saturday night! But all good things must come to an end, so it's time to look ahead to the NEXT good thing coming up: another week in my class!

Have you ever been in a restaurant and had so many choices available to you that it made it hard for YOU to choose? Have you ever awakened in the morning and had difficulty deciding what to wear, because of all the options available to you? (Thanks, Mom!) Believe it or not, there is a way to examine this dilemma mathematically: you can do it by the use of tree diagrams.

If you remember our discussion of sample space from last week, you know that the sample space is the list or the number of all possible outcomes. Well, using a tree diagram will also allow you to examine and list all the possible outcomes from all the choices you have available. It allows you to see the outcomes, to count them, to be aware of all the options you have in any given situation. We will study tree diagrams this week, leading us up to one of the next key terms you must know in the study of Data Analysis and Probability: the Fundamental Counting Principle. I'd tell you what that is, too, but why spoil all the fun? Come to class this week and find out for yourself!

See you all in the Red Hallway, Knights! 801, SECOND TO NONE!