A crucial probability concept is independent vs. dependent events. A game played on the Jimmy Fallon show is a brilliant example of this concept. You can watch a sample here. My good friends James Bush and Paul Buckley first connected this Late Night fun with a statistics class.
James and Paul designed a version of this game with Easter Eggs and light-weight confetti inside. But I decided that I needed to go all the way. So I prepared real eggs (8 hard-boiled, 4 raw) and we trotted outside to play.
This messiness and fun seems worth it to me. The longer I teach, the more I am committed to giving my students mnemonic devices that really stick. After this lesson, when I want to remind my students about calculating dependent probabilities, one mention of an egg should do the trick. That seems well worth the effort. Besides, a little laughter is good for the soul!
