Iohannes Posted October 25, 2016 Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 I am in IB Math SL 12, and I have been given around 3 weeks to come up with an IA topic. Although that I have talked to the teachers once or twice, she had simply told me that I must beware of my topic of interest– probability and cards, as it can become quite challenging easily. I'm wondering if this topic of mine will work out: - Mathematics behind card trick(s) OR Mathematics behind card games (eg. poker...) (for the card tricks, I'm wondering if I can compare the probability of choosing the audience's card in 2 separate but similar card tricks throughout each of their procedural "steps", thus I may be able to include statistics in it) (attached below is my proposal that didn't receive much feedback from my teacher) *A complete first draft is to be handed in within a week or so. Any feedback would be appreciated. MathIA.docx Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB Math Helper Posted October 25, 2016 Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 I like that in your document you've specified which card tricks you'll be investigating. Having quickly viewed the Two Red Queens card trick on youtube, clearly there is some cyclical pattern going on. The concern I have is whether you can express this cyclical pattern with formal math. That's the challenge (in addition to making sure the math presented is "commensurate" with the curriculum as is stated in Criterion E). The other concern is the personal engagement aspect. You'll get some Personal Engagement from the get go with the choice of topic (card tricks) but how can you extend beyond that to show outstanding personal engagement. These are some things to think about. 2 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iohannes Posted October 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 Thanks for your quick feedback, I was not expecting one so soon. Regarding the personal engagement, performing magic is one of my top hobbies, and I have utilised various self-working/mathematical card tricks through many of my casual "performances". As far as I know, the personal engagement is incorporated in the actual mathematical exploration (as in the wording itself). Is there something else I am not aware of which I must do in my IA? As well, I have spent great amounts of time researching for appropriate math concepts/formulas in self-working card tricks, but still have not found much. Are there any specific units in the Math SL curriculum that is related to cyclical patterns? I know that probability & combinatorics is a possible area, but I have no idea how to present these math through card tricks (perhaps by comparing 2 similar self-working card tricks, and graphing the correlation in probability with statistics?) Again, I really appreciate your help. Please feel free to give any feedback that may or may not be helpful (the first draft is a major contributor to our predicted mark, and it is due next Tuesday unfortunately) Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBTopper Posted October 26, 2016 Report Share Posted October 26, 2016 20 hours ago, IB Math Helper said: I like that in your document you've specified which card tricks you'll be investigating. Having quickly viewed the Two Red Queens card trick on youtube, clearly there is some cyclical pattern going on. The concern I have is whether you can express this cyclical pattern with formal math. That's the challenge (in addition to making sure the math presented is "commensurate" with the curriculum as is stated in Criterion E). The other concern is the personal engagement aspect. You'll get some Personal Engagement from the get go with the choice of topic (card tricks) but how can you extend beyond that to show outstanding personal engagement. These are some things to think about. Hi, I agree to what IB Math Helper said. For the math part, I recommend you have a look at one of the HL books and explore counting principles, which is just part of the HL course. This would make your 'Use of Mathematics, Criterion E' strong and enable you to use formal math. For example, you could calculate the odds of you possibly failing or being successful at a trick due to the choices made by the other person. You can also explore conditional probability and logic, which is part of the SSL syllabus, but I think is relevant to your exploration and may help you direct your project and make it more focused. I hope this helps And best for luck for your predicated grades! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iohannes Posted October 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 11 hours ago, IBTopper said: Hi, I agree to what IB Math Helper said. For the math part, I recommend you have a look at one of the HL books and explore counting principles, which is just part of the HL course. This would make your 'Use of Mathematics, Criterion E' strong and enable you to use formal math. For example, you could calculate the odds of you possibly failing or being successful at a trick due to the choices made by the other person. You can also explore conditional probability and logic, which is part of the SSL syllabus, but I think is relevant to your exploration and may help you direct your project and make it more focused. I hope this helps And best for luck for your predicated grades! @IBTopper Thanks for your reply as well, I really appreciate it. Regarding the counting principles, my teacher did go over and teach us this topic/concept before the Probability/Combinatorics unit. I'm just wondering if there's any differences in the counting principle I learned and the one in the HL course as you mentioned? (I've asked my friends about it, but they apparently have only touched very little on it) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Also, is statistics a possible area of math to include in my IA? the relation(s) between the resulting probabilities from 2 or more card tricks may be worth exploring, but I don't know if it's appropriate or necessary. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB Math Helper Posted October 28, 2016 Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 Not sure how statistics would apply per se on this topic. If you're aren't able to find out how to formally describe the cyclical motion, I would suggest modifying your topic or picking a new one altogether. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBTopper Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 Hi, Yes I agree to what IB Math helper has to say. Statistics would be helpful if you first have a data to model and probability would be helpful if you wanted to play with outcomes. However, according to me, basic probability might not be enough for SL. You have to be particularly careful for the Use of mathematics criteria as it carries 6 marks out of 20, and you can't get a 7 without doing well in this criteria Counting principles should be the same if you were with HL students at the time of instruction, and I think it could help in providing a starting point for your IA All the best for it I know you can do it! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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