What Are The Chances?

Here is an interesting question that I found in a New York Times article. It only took a 13 yera old boy seconds to answer this question correctly:

In a barn, 100 chicks sit peacefully in a circle. Suddenly, each chick randomly pecks the chick immediately to its left or right. What is the expected number of unpecked chicks?

Comment your responses below and follow the link in the article to find out what the correct answer is!

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/learning/math-problem.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FMathematics

This is a great math problem that can be applied into a class of grade 7-9 students. It ties into the curriculum expectation of both fraction and probability of an event occurring. I would definitely use this as a riddle that students would be given the chance to respond to for approximately one week, to earn bonus marks on upcoming assessments. It is a challenging question, but I think students would be able to come up with a response if they apply the concepts they have learned or are learning at the time. 

How many chicks do you expect to be unpecked? Show your work! :)

Cheers!