#MathArtChallenge Day 35: Probabilistic Plants

The Challenge: Today from @ayliean on twitter.

Made up a set of rules and rolled some dice to decide how this plant would grow. I never did get that five of a kind, as expected, but I was still hopeful! 🌱🍀🌿 pic.twitter.com/J0XrqGdO7i

— Ayliean (@Ayliean) November 17, 2019

Materials Needed: Paper, pencil, something to randomize (die, coin, whatever)
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: probability, randomness, expected value

I rolled a 6 sided die to determine how many branchings and an 8 sided die (octahedron) to determine the kind of plants on each branch. It was a little loosey-goosey, and my plant is a bit more fantastical than hers, but it was fun! #mathartchallenge

Depending on how you use this activity, you may engage with different mathematical standards. I’ve listed possible connected math content above. Here are a few suggestions for how you might integrate the 8 mathematical practices. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments!

1.) Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. What is the expected length of each plant…arm? (Branch, they’re called branches, I remember now)

8.) Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. Under what circumstances is the plant going to continue forever? What conditions make for small plants? What conditions make for huge ones?