The students at Southern Junior High School are divided into four homerooms. Benjamin just moved into the school district and will be randomly assigned to one homeroom.

Which methods can be used to simulate this situation? Select three options..
Flip a coin 4 times, once for each homeroom, with heads up representing being assigned to the homeroom represented by that flip.
Draw a marble from a bag containing 5 white marbles, 5 black marbles, 5 red marbles, and 5 green marbles, with each color representing a different homeroom.
Use a random number generator with 1, 2, and 12 representing the first homeroom, 7, 9, and 10 representing the second homeroom, 3, 8, and 11 representing the third homeroom, and 4, 5, and 6 representing the fourth homeroom.
Roll a number cube with 1 representing the first homeroom, 2 representing the second homeroom, 3 representing the third homeroom, and any other outcome representing the fourth homeroom.
Spin a spinner with 8 congruent sections with 2 sections assigned to each homeroom.

1 answer

To simulate the random assignment of Benjamin to one of the four homerooms, the following methods can be used:

  1. Draw a marble from a bag containing 5 white marbles, 5 black marbles, 5 red marbles, and 5 green marbles, with each color representing a different homeroom. (This method provides an equal chance of being assigned to each homeroom.)

  2. Roll a number cube with 1 representing the first homeroom, 2 representing the second homeroom, 3 representing the third homeroom, and any other outcome representing the fourth homeroom. (This allows for 3 outcomes that guarantee a homeroom assignment plus 3 additional possibilities representing the fourth homeroom.)

  3. Spin a spinner with 8 congruent sections with 2 sections assigned to each homeroom. (This method ensures equal representation for each homeroom, as each has the same probability of being spun.)

The other options (flip a coin 4 times and the random number generator) do not correctly represent an unbiased assignment to four homerooms.