unit one: hits or myths? · 2019-06-24 · 19 unit one: hits or myths? focus curriculum area health...

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UNIT ONE: HITS OR MYTHS?

Focus curriculum area Health and WellbeingSupporting curriculum area Mathematics – numeracy

Students define the term ‘gambling’ and investigate why people gamble. This includes an exploration of the myths, the beliefs, and the mathematical truths about winning and losing. Students also identify help-seeking strategies to use if they are being adversely affected by gambling.

UNDERSTANDING GOAL 1 Students will understand what we mean by the term ‘gambling’.

What do we mean when we say ‘gambling’?

UNDERSTANDING GOAL 2 Students will develop a critical awareness of the beliefs that people have about winning and losing and how these beliefs affect people’s decisions about gambling.

What do people believe about gambling and why do people gamble?

UNDERSTANDING GOAL 3 Students will understand the mathematical truths underpinning the odds of winning and losing and understand how knowing these facts about gambling can support wellbeing.

What are the mathematical odds of winning and losing when you gamble and why is it important to know these odds?

UNDERSTANDING GOAL 4 Students will understand how to seek help if they feel they are being adversely affected by gambling.

What can I do to seek help if I think I am being harmed by gambling?

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 37

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 52

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INTRODUCTORY PERFORMANCE

UNDERSTANDING GOAL 1 Students will understand what we mean by the term ‘gambling’.

What do we mean when we say ‘gambling’? Activity Creating concept maps

Write the word ‘gambling’ on the board. Ask students to divide into groups of four and to list on a sheet of paper, within two minutes, as many things as they can think of involving gambling.

Discuss results: What sorts of things do we associate with gambling?

Ask each group to write the word ‘gambling’ at the centre of a piece of paper and to create a concept map of words and ideas associated with the term gambling. Ask each group to display and discuss their concept map.

Create a larger version of the concept map on the board. Ask students to contribute and justify ideas and associations. Students can approach the board, draw a link, and explain the connection.

Having completed the concept map, discuss it with students.

Assessment as learning

Discussion

• What interesting things have you learned by looking at this concept map? • What sorts of activities do we consider to be gambling?

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Activity Creating a group sculpture of gambling

Ask students, within groups, to spend fifteen minutes designing, rehearsing and creating a group sculpture based on the theme of gambling.

Have each group present their group sculpture. Discussion

• What do you think this sculpture is showing us? • What is it telling us about gambling? • What sort of gambling is taking place? • How does it make you feel? Why? • What does it make you think? Why? • Could you explain your sculpture? Why did you decide to create it? • Could the sculpture be better expressed? If so, how could we re-craft each sculpture to make its meaning even clearer?

A group sculpture is a task where students work with their bodies to create a still image of a scene, e.g. three friends are happily facing each other while the fourth person is turned away and looking worried. He/she may have a hand directed as if playing a poker machine. Four people are sitting around a table showing a card game in process. One player has his/her head in his/her hands. The scenes each tell a story.

Tell students to think carefully about how they position their bodies, including the subtleties of facial expression. Inform students that they can be as inventive as they wish. There are no right or wrong answers.

UNDERSTANDING GOAL 1

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GUIDED INQUIRY PERFORMANCE

Activity Defining gambling

Ask students:

If we had under twenty words to create a ‘dictionary style’ definition of the word ‘gambling’ what could we write?

Ask each group to create and display their definition of gambling. Compare definitions. Using consensus, have students agree upon the best definition.

Discussion

• How do these definitions compare? • What do you think about the dictionary definition shown below? • Is the dictionary definition telling us something that we have overlooked in our class definition?

Definition (Macquarie Dictionary extract)

• to play at any game of chance for stakes; to stake or risk money, or anything of value on the outcome of something involving chance; • to act on favourable hopes or assessment; • to lose or squander by betting; • to risk or venture; • any matter or thing involving risk or venture.


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Assessment of learning

Assess students’ ability to:

• craft an effective poem clearly showing a range of meanings associated with the term gambling

• write a clear and effective summary of new understandings about gambling and its definition.


Encourage students to reflect upon new understandings in their Reflective Journal.

What have you learned about gambling that you didn’t already know?

Constructing a poem

Have students construct a poem, of a defined length, with either the opening line, or each separate line, beginning with the words: Gambling is…

Assessment for learning

Use all opening activities as a means of identifying what students know and don’t know about gambling. Look for instances of personal disclosure that may need to be acted on – see page 12. Look for themes that students really engage with. Keep and display all concept maps and digital photos of group sculptures for students to build on throughout the unit.


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Activity Creating a list of the top eight forms of gambling

Inform students that there are many forms of gambling.

Ask students: What do you think are the eight most popular forms of gambling in Tasmania?

Explain to the students that ‘popular’ refers in this instance to the average adult expenditure* for each form of gambling (not which form is the most ‘liked’ or the most often played). So, the question is, which eight forms of gambling attract the most expenditure per adult in Tasmania?

Through discussion, create a list on the board.

Introduce students to the researched list of the eight most popular forms of gambling within Tasmania (see Researched data on page 94). N.B. Do not present this list in the order of 1-8. Tell students that at a later time they will be asked to put this list into what they believe is the correct order of 1-8.

Compare the two lists in general.

• What gambling forms are listed? • What is similar in the lists? • What is different in the lists?

Divide students into groups and have each group discuss what they know about each form of gambling. Explore results in a class discussion.

*Expenditure is the net amount lost, or the amount wagered [bet] less the amount won.Productivity Commission 1999, AusInfo, Canberra. Australia’s Gambling Industries, Report No. 10 on page 7.

Assessment for learning

Identify strengths and weaknesses in student understanding of the listed forms of gambling. Where necessary, question student comments, seek alternate responses, and, if necessary, provide further details on each form of gambling. This may require previous research.


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Sorting from 1-8

Ask students to take this list and prioritise what they believe is the most popular (1) to the least popular (8) forms of gambling in Tasmania.

Divide students into groups of eight. If there is an imbalance then some students can be assistants. Alternatively students could hold one card in the left hand and one in the right. Have each of the eight forms of gambling written on a card. Give eight cards to each student group of eight. Ask each student to take a card and to negotiate, and line up, in the order of what they believe is the least to the most popular form of gambling in Tasmania.

List each group’s order on the board. Compare results within groups. Ask students to justify their choices. Introduce and compare results to those of the researched data.


Ask students to write their responses to the following questions in their Reflective Journal:

What have you learned about gambling that you didn’t already know?

Are you aware of even more forms of gambling? Explain.



• understand that gambling comes in a variety of forms and that these vary in popularity

• question and justify choices and opinions about a range of gambling forms.


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Use the experience of watching the video to raise important issues about gambling. A range of responses is given in the video. These lay an important foundation for future learning. Praise insightful comments and questioning from students. Note misconceptions. Refer back to these misconceptions in later sections of this unit.

UNDERSTANDING GOAL 2 Students will develop a critical awareness of the beliefs that people have about winning and losing and how these beliefs affect people’s decisions about gambling.

What do people believe about gambling and why do people gamble?

Activity Think-Ink-Pair-Share activity. Why do people gamble? Video: Talking about Gambling

Think-Ink-Pair-Share activity

Write this question on the board: Why do people gamble? Ask students to do a Think-Ink-Pair-Share activity exploring this question. Discuss student responses. These can be listed on a large sheet of butcher’s paper that can be displayed within the room, e.g:

• social • fun • try to make quick money.

Inform students that, as with all lists, this list can be expanded. It could be done by watching the video: Talking about Gambling. Video: Talking about Gambling

Have students read the and answer the questions on the following work sheet to familiarise themselves with what they should look for in the video. Emphasise that the video is made locally and is relevant to Tasmania. It was recorded at Agfest.

Encourage students to answer questions, within groups, at the completion of the video. Have student groups report back their responses. Discuss responses.

WORK SHEET

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UNIT ONE

Video: Talking about Gambling

• What did you learn from watching the video?

• Having watched the video, what other reasons can we list for why people gamble?

• Why do some people gamble? (Add these to the list.)

• Why do some people choose not to gamble?

• Why do you think people sometimes win and sometimes lose at gambling?


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In the last question emphasise that students should only respond if they feel comfortable. The question does not directly refer to gambling and is more focused on the pressures that surround people and how these pressures can encourage people to engage in tasks that can become troublesome. The main focus is on foregrounding these pressures and drawing a connection between feelings, pressures and behaviour. Carefully recognise rules of disclosure during this discussion. Where appropriate, stop responses or direct discussion into the third person, being careful to talk generally and not use names.

Activity Exploring the reasons for gambling. Discussion

Ask students to divide into groups and to answer the following questions by creating their own lists.

• What reasons do you think people have for commencing gambling? • What reasons do you think account for occasional or fun gambling to move into regular and compulsive or addictive gambling?

Discuss responses. Supply students with the list Reasons for Gambling, (see page 96).

• What similarities are there between the lists? • What differences are there between the lists? • Are there any reasons on this list that surprise you? Why? • How do these ideas relate to your experience? What sorts of pressures can force us to do something and continue it?


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Activity Exploring the reasons why young people gamble. Discussion

Ask students the question: The list of ‘Reasons for Gambling’ refers to gamblers in general. Young people may gamble for particular reasons. What might these be? Discuss responses. Ensure that you cover concepts such as risk-taking and peer pressure. Refer students to Young people and gambling. Information sheet on page 97.


Ask students to reflect upon their learning about why people gamble. Have students answer the following questions in their Reflective Journals, or by discussing in pairs or small groups.

• What reasons do people have for gambling? • Are there any reasons that surprise you? Justify your response. • What have you learned about why people gamble?


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A simple equation for probability:

Probability of a particular event = number of successful outcomes number of possible outcomes

Students could use spinners or dice to create fair and unfair games. See the following for ideas about fair games and ‘house edge’:

1. Joshua, A. ‘Enrichment Mathematics for Secondary School Students’, Longman Australia, 1996 pages 153-154.

2. Maths 300 website (you will need a login and password. Many schools are members – ask your Maths Department).www.curriculum.edu.au/maths300/links.php3activities Select links to the following games: Game Show; Make a Moke; Problem Dice; Same or Different; Win at the Fair, Greedy Pigs; and Cat and Mouse.

Activity Informing students about the misconception“beating the odds”

Inform students that people gamble for a variety of reasons. Sometimes gambling is fun and a social activity in which people enjoy the social atmosphere, e.g. a fun game of cards at home.

However, sometimes people feel they can ‘beat the odds’ and make easy money. Inform students that this is not possible for commercial forms of gambling. Poker machines, betting on the horses and other commercial gambling have a ‘house edge’ – a built-in advantage to the owners. The belief that people can make money is a misconception or a myth that can lead to gambling problems.

“It’s important that people don’t think that they can win, because you can’t win in gambling. You can win for a little while but you can’t win in the long run.” – Michael Piggot, spokesman for Tabcorp, one of Australia’s largest betting agencies, on the National Nine News, September 2005.

To see the odds of winning in particular gambling forms, see www.problemgambling.vic.gov.au/firststep/resources/like_your_chances.htm


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Tell students that now they will be looking at some common beliefs about gambling and how these beliefs can affect how people behave.

Exploring beliefs about gambling

Gambling, like many things in life, has its realities and also its myths. We need to understand whether the beliefs held by people who gamble are true or false.

It may be useful here to discuss whether students are aware of the television show called ‘Mythbusters’. This show is a useful way to introduce students to myths. You may like to show an episode of this television show – taped or on DVD.Activity What are myths?

Ask students: What is a myth?

Tell students a series of myths. Ask students to line up on either side of the room according to whether they think the statement is true or false: one side of the room representing false and the other side representing true.

The following beliefs are all false.

• If you blow out all the candles on your birthday cake with the first puff you will get your wish.• If you say good-bye to a friend on a bridge, you will never see each other again.• If your cheeks suddenly feel on fire, someone is talking about you.• It’s bad luck to pick up a coin if it’s tails side up. Good luck comes if it’s heads up.• Cut flowers and potted plants suck the oxygen from sickrooms.• Chewing gum takes seven years to pass through the human digestive system.• A coin dropped off a tall building will kill someone.• Lightning can’t strike in the same place twice.• Water rotates in an opposite direction in the Southern Hemisphere.• The Great Wall of China can be seen from the moon.• Eating carrots will improve your eyesight.

The following beliefs are true:

• Fish is brain food.• You shouldn’t talk on the phone during an electric storm.

Inform students of the correct answer after each line-up.

Distribute the work sheet overleaf and ask students to discuss the questions in groups.


WORK SHEET

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UNIT ONE

What are myths?

Discuss within groups:

• Why do people believe these statements?

• How do you feel when you know you are right?

• How do you feel when you know you are wrong?

• Where have you seen people acting on beliefs that are wrong?

• How might false beliefs affect people?

• Is it useful to question our beliefs? Explain.

• Is it useful to question the beliefs of others? Explain.

• What should we do if we are not sure whether our beliefs are right or wrong? Explain.

• How may thinking critically about beliefs assist people? Give examples.

• How do you think these questions may relate to our studying of gambling?


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Activity Creating a chart. Beliefs and wellbeing


Ask students to divide into groups of three and to create a chart detailing a process in which a belief can affect wellbeing. The chart should include:

• belief • how it affects wellbeing • strategies to question belief • positive outcomes.

Have each group display their charts.

Discussion

What strategies can people use to improve wellbeing?


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Recognise to what extent students believe in myths and place emphasis on addressing these misunderstandings in later work.

Activity Think-Ink-Pair-Share. Myths and gambling

Tell students that now we will be looking at myths about gambling – the sorts of things that people believe about gambling that may not necessarily be true and may influence choices about gambling. Tell students that in order to understand the world of gambling we need to have a good understanding of the beliefs people have about winning and losing.

Ask students to conduct a Think-Ink-Pair-Share activity:

• People believe they can win at gambling if they...? • People believe they lose at gambling because...?

Discuss responses. Tell students that they will be exploring the many beliefs that people have for why they win or lose. Some of these beliefs may make sense. Others may be false beliefs or myths.

Write the following phrase on the board:

• Why do people win sometimes?

Invite students to write as many answers as possible on the board. Discuss responses.

Ask the following questions: • Does having a lucky charm really make you win? • By writing the dates of birthdays on a lottery ticket do you have a better chance of winning? • Does breaking a mirror bring bad luck? • If you write the numbers 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 on a lottery ticket of forty numbers do you have a better or worse chance of winning than writing 2,3,17,20,29 and 36?

Discuss beliefs. Say that you will give the answers later.


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Activity Surveying student opinions about odds and winning. Discussion

Show students how to create percentages, e.g. if you ask thirty students in the class and five people agree this can be converted into a percentage by writing 5/30 times 100/1 = 16.6% of students.

Ask students to indicate whether they agree with the following statements. Record the results of the number of students who agree and as a class calculate percentages.

• I think I will win a prize in Tattslotto – over $10,000 – one day.• One day I’m going to strike it lucky at gambling.• To win at gambling you have to think positively.• I’m more likely to win at lotto/gambling if I use my lucky numbers.• You can win at gaming machines if you adopt the right system.

Discuss the results.

Tell students that the above questions were once asked in a survey of young Tasmanians.

Have students divide into groups and compare their results to those of the survey – see Survey of young Tasmanians 1998 on page 98.

Discussion

• What is similar to the class results?• What is different to the class results?• Are you concerned with any of the findings? Explain.• Do you think each statement is true or a misconception/myth?

Have each group report back their findings. Discuss. Inform students that the statements are misconceptions and are often believed by people with gambling problems.

Return to the question on the previous page.

If you write the numbers 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 on a lottery ticket of forty numbers do you have a better or worse chance of winning than writing 2,3,17,20,29 and 36?

• Who feels that you have a better chance writing 1-6 on a lottery ticket? Why?• Who feels that you have a worse chance of winning? Why?

Discuss.


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Explain to students that in order to grasp whether we have a better or worse chance of winning we can call on the study of maths.

Explain that in the lotto game mentioned above there are 3,838,380 ways of choosing six numbers. The probability of choosing any particular set of six numbers is = 6/40 x 5/39 x 4/38 x 3/37 x 2/36 x 1/35 = 720/2,763,633,600 = 1/3,838,380. You are as much likely to win by choosing 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 as you are by choosing any other sequence.

Inform students that writing birth dates on a Tattslotto form, compared to writing any other numbers, has no effect on the result. It may make people feel lucky. It does not affect their luck though. Lucky charms have no effect. Breaking glass has no effect on luck. This is a suspicion. If it is true then people who work with glass would be expected to be the unluckiest people in the world.

• How do you feel about the mathematical truth?• What does this tell us about people and their beliefs when gambling?• Do people carry superstitions into gambling? Why? Do you agree with this?

Discuss in pairs or in small groups, the following questions:

• What do you think about the beliefs people have about gambling?• Is it worrying? How can such beliefs cause problems?

These beliefs show us that some people think that they can have some control over gambling when in reality no such control exists.

Some students may be interested in reading sections of Innumeracy by JA Paulos – see Reference List, page 18 – as it explains the everyday application of theories such as the probability theory.

See also www.powerhousemuseum.com/gambling – an interactive site to assist students in understanding odds and risks associated with gambling; and ‘Calculating Probabilities’ on pages 10-11 and ‘Lotto Probability’ pages 24-25 in ‘What are the Odds?’ www.powerhousemuseum.com/previous/gambling.asp


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See also ‘Poker Machines’ pages 12-16 in ‘What are the Odds?’ www.powerhousemuseum.com/previous/gambling.asp

UNDERSTANDING GOAL 3 Students will understand the mathematical truths underpinning the odds of winning and losing and understand how knowing these facts about gambling can support wellbeing.

What are the mathematical odds of winning and losing when you gamble and why is it important to know these odds?

Activity Creating a line-up. Mathematical odds

Explain to students that on a poker machine with five reels and thirty-five possible stops on each reel there are 52,521,875 possible stop combinations. Each of the five reels has thirty-five possible places to stop and so there are 35 x 35 x 35 x 35 x 35 = 355 different combinations of ways the machine could stop.

It is often the case that the jackpot symbol is only assigned to one stop on the reel. All the winning stops need to be lined up for a jackpot. Using maths, there is only a one in 52 million chance of hitting the jackpot in any one play – 1 in 52,521,875.

Alternatively provide students with the above facts and ask students to calculate probability.

The odds of being killed by lightning are one in 1,603,250.

You have more chance of being hit by lightning than winning the jackpot. As a matter of fact you probably have more chance of being injured by a donkey!

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Creating a line-up

As a fun activity to experientially reinforce the learning on page 37, divide students into groups of five and assign each member of the group with a card listing an event. Have students negotiate and line-up according to the event that has the greatest chance of happening.

Explain that the mathematical probability is based on the calculations of these things actually happening. Similar calculations are used by the insurance industry to work out the chance of a house being broken into, or the chance of a person being injured. This determines the amount of premium that a person pays.

What is the chance of:

Injury from fireworks?Injury from shaving?Injury from mowing the lawn?Fatally slipping in your bath or shower?Being struck by lightning?Dating a supermodel?Winning Oz Lotto?A meteor landing on your house?Getting arthritis?Suffering from asthma or allergy diseases?Getting the flu this year?

Inform students of the real odds. (See The real mathematical odds on page 95.)


Activity

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Inform students that calculations vary from survey to survey. Naturally some countries have different results to others, e.g. there are surely some countries in which the chance of being attacked by a shark are very low.

Without taking away from the impact of how odds are very stacked against gamblers you may like to encourage students to question the above list:

• What can be questioned about some of these statistics on page 95? (Assessment as learning.)

Emphasise at the same time that the chance of winning lotto is generally extremely low across all countries. While a good return may be won, the mathematical odds are always stacked in the favour of the commercial enterprise – it gets a great return, and guaranteed winning, from all the thousands of people who contribute and don’t win.



Discuss

• What surprised you about the mathematical odds?• Were the real odds different to what you imagined?• What does this tell us about our expectations?• What does this tell us about our fears?• What can this activity tell us about people’s expectations when gambling?

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• understand a range of influential beliefs that people have about gambling

• understand how those beliefs (myths) can affect people negatively

• understand how those beliefs (truths) can affect people positively

• communicate ideas clearly and effectively.

Activity Creating a table. Myths and truths


Have students divide into groups and construct a list of 10 false beliefs that people have about gambling.

Encourage students to report back these results and through consensus construct a single list of the 10 most influential false beliefs about gambling.

Give each student a sheet of paper and ask each student to create a table with two headings:

• False beliefs (myths) about gambling. • The truth about this statement.

Have students write 10 false beliefs on the left side of the sheet of paper. On the corresponding right side they should write a statement about the reality of that statement.

Use this example with the students:

Myth. Lucky charms make you win.

Truth. Lucky charms have no effect on whether you win or lose. There is no way that an external object can make you lucky. You may as well say that an object can make you unlucky. To believe that an object can affect your results is to place belief in something that has no effect on what you are doing, e.g. the results in a lotto game are based on ping pong balls that come out of a barrel. How can this be affected by a charm that you carry around?

Another example is: Myth. To win at gambling you have to think positively.

Reality. Thinking positively does not influence the chance of winning at gambling. The results are based on what is happening in a machine. How can your thinking affect this result? There is no connection. If you believe this myth you will get into big trouble.

Activity Reading the Long Odds comic. Constructing a comic

Read the comic strip Long Odds.


WORK SHEET

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UNIT ONE

Long Odds comic

• What appears to be the reason why Zocky gets hooked on the pokies?

• What effects does this addiction have on his lifestyle?

• What are some of Zocky’s attitudes and beliefs around gambling?

• How do his beliefs differ from those of his friends?

• What effect is the gaming having on the relationships within this group of young people?

• How is Cindy’s background relevant within this story?

• What does Cindy do about Zocky’s problem?

• What does Cindy discover in the process of helping Zocky?

• What do you think the story means when it says ‘First Step’ towards the end?


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• understand a range of gambling scenarios that young people can be involved in

• understand a range of beliefs that young people have about gambling

• understand how those beliefs (myths) can affect young people negatively

• understand how those beliefs (truths) can affect young people positively

• communicate ideas clearly and effectively to a young audience.

Assessment task. Constructing a comic

Construct a comic for an audience of young people, telling the story of how young people can be affected by their beliefs and/or lack of understanding about gambling. Detail the correct and incorrect beliefs. Detail how such beliefs affect young people: positively and negatively.

Students should not be assessed on their graphic skills. Assessment should be based on the quality of ideas and how they reflect the Understanding Goal.


WORK SHEET

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UNIT ONE

Constructing a comic


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Activity Tossing a coin. Exploring the gambler’s fallacy

Divide students into pairs and have each pair toss a coin thirty times. One student should choose heads while the other chooses tails. Have the pair document each result and answer the questions on the following work sheet.

Discuss the findings with the class.

• How important are feelings in making people want to gamble?

• What do we need to know about feelings to stop us getting into trouble with gambling?


WORK SHEET

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UNIT ONE

Tossing a coin activity

Toss a coin thirty times. Record the results.

HEADS

TAILS

• What side came up more often?

• Were there any runs?

• How did you feel in a bad run?

• How did you feel in a good run?

• Was there a pattern?

• Could you predict the end result?

• Could you predict the very next throw?


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Gaming machines in Tasmania are required by law to provide a player-return percentage of at least 85%. Most return 90%. This means on average over time, a player will lose 10% of the money he or she gambles (gambling counsellors report however that the actual experience of some players is that over time they lose all their money as they continue to play with their dwindling cash).

Gaming venues are businesses and want to make money. They know that more people will lose than win and that is how they get their return. If more people won than lost at gambling then gambling venues would go out of business. In fact these organisations use mathematics to guarantee that they win more than they lose. The mathematical odds are stacked against the gambler.

Chance is what the short-term is all about: events are random. But certainty is what the long-term is all about: you can rely on the probability or odds.

Gamblers are working in the short-term – but they often ‘feel’ the more they gamble, the more likely a winning pattern is about to happen for them.

The individual gambler, working in the random chance short-term, will experience a wide variation in winnings which can be exciting. The casino experiences very little variation; it has a long-term business. This mathematical advantage it has is called ‘the house edge’.

The gambler’s fallacy

Introduce students to the gambler’s fallacy.

If you flip a coin and it comes up heads several times in a row people often think that next time it is more likely to come up tails.

Discussion: Do you think this is true? The gambler’s fallacy is all about getting short-term luck mixed up with long-term probability. Some people find it hard to believe that each new play is really independent and not tied to a past event. They think that if this gaming machine hasn’t paid off in a while it must be ‘due’ – because of the law of averages.

Just because a machine is not paying out does not mean that it is shortly due for a pay out. Machines and coins have no memory.

Machines don’t care about us. They just continue giving a result regardless of whether we are happy, sad or whether we feel that they can be controlled.

Discussion: What is the danger in believing something about winning that isn’t true?


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KEY MESSAGE FOR STUDENTS

The Chuck-a-luck game on the following page may be fun, but gambling is different when you are playing with real money, where losing can have serious financial and personal consequences.

Maths is useful in telling us the odds of winning and making us alert to the dangers of losing, however…

• Even though you may be really good at maths, this does not mean that you will win at gambling. It only means you understand better how gambling works.

• Being clever with maths does not necessarily protect a person from gambling problems. People may know that the odds are against them, and still gamble too much. See Reasons for Gambling on page 96.


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Activity Playing Chuck-a-luck. Understanding the house edge

Introduce students to the game of Chuck-a-luck.

Chuck-a-luck involves rolling three dice at once. A bet is placed on any number from 1 to 6.

Get into groups of seven and assign one person to be the dealer. This person is responsible for starting bets and receiving and giving tokens.

The six other people are betters who each choose one of the six numbers on the dice and then stay with that number throughout every throw.

Each person receives ten tokens. The dealer receives twenty.

Each better gives a token to the dealer for every roll.

The dealer rolls the three dice.

If the better’s number comes up on one dice they get one token back. If it comes up on two dice they get two tokens. If it comes up on three dice they get three tokens. If none of the better’s numbers comes up, the dealer keeps the token.

Discussion: What do you think are the odds of winning?

Play the game for 15 minutes and have students write the results for each game.

At the end of 15 minutes invite students to answer the questions on the following work sheet and enter the results in their Reflective Journals.

Discussion: Ask students to share their answers to these Reflective Journal questions.

Tell students that it is in the interests of the people running gambling games for players to believe that they have a good chance of winning. If players really knew the odds, and how they were stacked against them, they might decide not to play.

Most people who play Chuck-a-luck think that they have a really good chance of winning. The return looks good. The truth is a different matter! Only one thing is certain – the person running the game will make more money out of it than the gambler.

Most people think that there is a one in six chance for three dice. That’s three out of six – 50%.

What a great chance! Let’s play! This is incorrect and a misapplication of maths.

See Resources on page 99, Chuck-a-luck Wagers a Buck: A Case Study in Probabilistic Reasoning and the Gambler’s Ruin.

Students can feel a sense of enthusiasm and involvement as they play this game. These are some of the feelings that appeal to people as they gamble.

Be aware that if students find this activity fun, their interest in experimenting with gambling may be aroused.

Teachers should discuss this with students, and remind them of the risks. The debrief activity at the end of the game will assist.

Please see KEY MESSAGE FOR STUDENTSon previous page.


WORK SHEET

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UNIT ONE

Exploring Chuck-a-luck

• Who at the end of 15 minutes had won the most tokens?

• Does this surprise you?

• How did you feel?

• How did your feelings affect your experience of this game?

• Was your experience different to what you imagined at the beginning of the game?

• What does this game tell us about gambling?

• Can you relate this game to the real world of gambling?

• Is it important to be aware of our feelings when we gamble?

• If a person feels excited about playing a game like this, does that mean they will win? Explain.

Don’t forget that there are real risks when gambling, and losing can lead to stress, loss of money, relationship problems and other serious consequences.


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See The Gambling Continuum on page 101 for examples of harms



• understand how mathematics can give a clear insight into the odds of winning and losing at gambling

• understand the myths and misconceptions people have about gambling, including the myth that maths/knowing the odds can make you win

• understand the reality of the gambling industry: how odds are stacked in favour of the commercial organisation

• understand that the house edge exists

• understand and articulate how people’s behaviour and ultimate wellbeing can be affected by understandings and misconceptions about gambling.

This activity may prompt students to mention gambling-related harms from personal experience, for example anxiety about money in the family; relationship problems. See page 12.

Activity De-brief. Discussing the risks and harms of gambling

Ask students:

What are the risks of getting excited about gambling?

What are the possible consequences of getting carried away with gambling?

Ask students to list some of the harms under the following categories that can occur as a result of getting carried away with gambling.

Financial Personal Social Legal

Discuss


Have students answer the questions on the following work sheet and enter the results in their Reflective Journals.


WORK SHEET

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UNIT ONE

Reflective Journals

• Why is it important for people to use mathematics and know the odds when they gamble? Give a clear example.

• If a person feels they are good at maths does this mean that they will win at gambling? Explain.

• How can an understanding of the realities of gambling help the wellbeing of a person? Explain.

• How can a person’s wellbeing be affected by following myths/misconceptions about gambling?


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Tell students that they should only talk about personal issues if they feel comfortable. Stress to the students that it is important to respect each person’s contribution. Be conscious of issues regarding disclosure – see page 12. Monitor contributions carefully and if required follow up disclosures with appropriate school procedures. Where appropriate either stop comments or direct them to a third person: ‘Let’s imagine if a person did have this problem.’

UNDERSTANDING GOAL 4 Students will understand how to seek help if they feel they are being adversely affected by gambling.

What can I do to seek help if I think I am being harmed by gambling?

Activity Think-Ink-Pair-Share. Seeking help when affected by gambling

Ask students to divide into pairs and conduct the following Think-Ink-Pair-Share activity.

• Why do people find it difficult to ask for help? • Can you think of an occasion where you asked for help? • How did it feel to begin with? • Was it worthwhile in the end? • What things can people do in order to get help started?

Ask students to report back their findings.

Refer students back to the Long Odds comic (see page 40).

Discuss:

• What did Cindy do in order to get help for Zocky’s gambling problem? • In what way was Cindy being affected by his gambling? • Was Zocky the only person affected by his gambling in this story?

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Explain to students that they can seek help if they believe that they, or another person, is affected by gambling.

Give students information on organisations that they can contact if they are aware of a gambling problem. See Tasmanian gambling information and support service organisations on page 100.

Creating a brochure. Assessment as learning

Have students create a small brochure, for a general audience, detailing how a person can seek help if he/she feels that they are affected by gambling. What can he or she do? Where can he or she go? Brochures should be basically designed and assessed mainly according to ideas rather than design elements.



• understand a range of strategies and support services that can be utilised to seek help

• clearly and effectively convey help-seeking strategies to a general audience.


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• clearly construct and effectively communicate two distinctive stories

• understand that there is a range of gambling forms

• understand distinctive factors that contribute towards a misinformed and unsafe approach to gambling

• understand distinctive factors that contribute towards an informed and safe approach to gambling

• demonstrate a range of help-seeking strategies that can be drawn upon to support problem gambling.

Activity Creating two stories

Have students in pairs construct two stories clearly showing the difference in attitudes and experience of:

• a person with an informed, safe approach to gambling • a person with a misinformed, unsafe approach to gambling.

Students must cover:

• the thoughts of each person and the actions taken • how that form of gambling impacts on the person • other factors that have an impact upon the person, e.g. peer pressure • how the person affected by gambling can seek help.

Students should:

• refer to handouts in the Resources (see pages 94 to 108), their Reflective Journals and collated materials, e.g. concept maps • work collaboratively and read stories to the class upon completion • demonstrate a clear understanding of the learning goals.

Students may wish to negotiate the form in which they present their task. Other possibilities include a scripted performance, a video of an advert, or a comic strip.

UNDERSTANDING GOAL 4CULMINATING PERFORMANCE

unit one: hits or myths? · 2019-06-24 · 19 unit one: hits or myths? focus curriculum area health...

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