Todays input was on the math behind gaming. Myself and another classmate decided to look into the game rock paper scissors and surprisingly found out quite a lot.

First of all we looked a little into the history of the game and discovered that it was created in China, as far back as the time of Christ. The game then stayed in china for many years after that and then made its way into japan around the 1700s, which it then just kept travelling worldwide. In chinese it is called a Ken game.

The rules behind it are simple.

• Scissors beats paper
• Paper beats rock
• Rock beats scissors
• 2 players

The game only has 4 possible outcomes.

• A tie
• Rock beats scissors
• Paper beats rock
• Scissors beats paper

We thought about the math behind it. When actually playing the game it is statistically said that most people go for scissors first. Though realistically it is clear that the game relies on luck or perhaps pyschology.

Although the results show us that there is a very simple math behind it.

The probability of getting a certain outcome is ¼, 0.25, 25%.

It also highlights the use of chance within math and would be a very fun way for children to see this. It also shows that something so simple like a game of rock paper scissors has math within it and shows how crucial math is within our education system and the importance of a teacher with great confidence in teaching it.