New iPhone App encourages Classroom Activity for Stats/Math

The Aakkozzll app is a substitute for throwing dice. Players can see the probability distribution on each throw (unlike dice which have a similar pattern, but you just can't see it).

The app is great for high-school to college level stats and data-management classes, and simple enough to serve as a primer for elementary-aged students. It gives them a physical / visual way to appreciate the normal curve. Can be used in a classroom activity of Craps or even monopoly, using the Aakkozzll instead of dice. Games like Craps will take on a whole new meaning when students can actually see the chances of getting a 7.

Will give students an intuition for the binomial distribution, frequency graphs, and the normal curve. As the balls fall down, they randomly go left or right (its about 50/50) depending on how they land. Its like having a series of 50/50 coin tosses which determines the final position of the balls. Only the red ball actually determines your "roll" (it blinks red).

The original inspiration came from the Galton board, a physical device that was built 150 years ago to demonstrate the central tendency. We've recreated the physics of that device into an easy to use iPhone app so that it's insights can be shared with the world. History of the Bean Machine: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bean_machine)

Why the funny name? The Aakkozzll (pronounced "acausal") demonstrates a paradox that although the result of any one individual cannot be predicted, the general pattern can be. This extends to the real world. The fact that a person falls into poverty is not entirely predictable, but the fact that a society will have a certain distribution of rich and poor (regardless of their particular paths towards riches and poverty) is quite constant, especially when you have a large population.

Educators, we encourage you to share this with your peers!