| My daughter's had asthma for four years now, and it's | | | | you have their attention, you can open up the |
| a little nastier than I would like at times. Recently she | | | | discussion in all sorts of ways: |
| was prescribed new medication, since her asthma | | | | - Chance of being struck by lightning in a given year: 1 |
| wasn't being controlled by the conventional pairing of | | | | in 6.2 million |
| steroid inhaler and emergency puffer. Since the new | | | | - Chance of a large asteroid hitting Earth: 1 every |
| meds came with pages and pages of cautions, I | | | | 10,000 centuries |
| decided to sit myself down and read every word. | | | | - Chance of developing Type 2 diabetes as a child if |
| It was all going rather well until I hit the "paradoxical | | | | you're overweight and get little or no exercise: 1 in 3 |
| effect." | | | | - Chance of picking six correct lottery numbers from 1 |
| That's the name for a quirky though rare possibility that | | | | - 50: 1 in 15,890,700 |
| this new medicine will actually do the opposite of what | | | | - Chance of developing cancer over your lifetime: 1 in 7 |
| it's supposed to do and cause one heck of an asthma | | | | - Chance of being in a shopping-mall terrorist attack if |
| attack. | | | | terrorists target one mall per week for a year: 1 in a |
| But as it turned out, the odds were on her side. | | | | million |
| Odds are funny that way. All sorts of things that seem | | | | - Chance of finding a pearl inside an oyster: 1 in 12,000 |
| scary actually have a very slim chance of occurring. | | | | Don't forget that kids may need help imagining very |
| Other threats that seem remote may be just round | | | | large numbers. One tip is to ask them to think of a unit |
| the corner. | | | | as a second. For example, it would take about one |
| Has your child ever raised the possibility of an asteroid | | | | year to count out loud to 15,890,700, allowing two |
| collision with Earth or a terrorist attack? Next time he | | | | seconds per number, (Which only goes to show that |
| or she does, seize the opportunity to talk about how | | | | only a fool waits for the lottery.) |
| odds work. Probability is the likelihood of something | | | | If you want a more detailed explanation of how |
| occurring. Odds are the likelihood of something | | | | probability works, head on over to tge kids' zone on at |
| occurring rather than not occurring. Both are key | | | | the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). |
| mathematical concepts. | | | | They have great math games for kids of all ages and |
| A great way to get your kids hooked on probability is | | | | even their own version of Are You Smarter Than a |
| to share some eye-opening numbers with them. Once | | | | 5th Grader? (called Dare to Compare). Have fun! |