Permutations And Combinations permutations activity2

Activity - Ice Cream Cone Permutations

Estimated Time

40 min

Materials/ Resources needed

• Paper ice cream scoops (3 to 6 flavors cut from construction paper)
• Paper triangles to represent cones onto which to place the paper scoops
• Colored pencils, crayons, or markers
• Blank Paper
• Pencils

Prerequisites/Instructions, if any

• Today everyone will get a 3-scoop ice cream cone. (flavors- Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry)
• The big decision is this: in what order do you want your scoops arranged on your cone?
• Use the paper ice cream to discover all of the possible orders your three scoops can be arranged.
• Organize the paper ice cream cones so that patterns can be easily detected.
• Record all of the possible permutations (order in which they can be arranged) in an organized fashion using a tree diagram, organized list, table, picture, etc.

Process (How to do the activity)

• Set the stage for the ice cream shop - you may want to put a sign on the outside of your door to let everyone know they are going into the Ice Cream Shop. If you wish, you can even decorate your room and/or wear apparel appropriate for an ice cream shop worker.
• Have students work in groups or individually to use the paper scoops and cones to find all of the orders in which three scoops can be arranged.
• Have students record their results as a tree diagram, orga¬nized list, chart, etc., on the blank paper. It's important that the students see a connection between the manipulatives and the diagrams they create.

Activity Keywords

To link back to the concept page Permutations_And_Combinations