Combinations

A Combination is the joining of two or more things.  In class, we practiced making combinations  with outfits and ice cream.

Outfit Combinations:

When you get dressed in the morning, you practice using combinations.  You chose one each of a top and a bottom.  You open your closet and look at all your tops.  There are t-shirts and collared shirts and the shirts are different colors.  You choose one top and put it on.  Then, you look at the bottoms.  There are pants and shorts (and skirts if you're a girl!).  You choose a bottom and put it on.  You have just made a combination!

Ice Cream Combinations:

When you go to the ice cream shop and order some ice cream, you practice combinations.  First, you have to decide what you want your ice cream served in.  It can be served in a bowl or a cone.  Then, you have to choose the flavor of ice cream that you want.  Then, you have to choose any toppings you want on top of your ice cream.  You go up to the counter and look over the choices.  You decide that you want your ice cream in a cone, you want it to be chocolate ice cream, and you want sprinkles on top of it.  You have just made a combination!

Sometimes it is useful to know how many combinations are possible, and you can use multiplication to do it.

Let's go back to the Outfits Combinations from above.  Let's say you have these choices:

Tops                              Bottoms

Green T-Shirt                 Tan Pants
White T-Shirt                 Tan Shorts
Green Collared Shirt       Tan Skirt
White Collared Shirt

In this case there are 4 choices for a top and 3 choices for a bottom.  So, you can multiply 4 X 3 = 12 to find the total number of combinations.  There are 12 total combinations.  Let's look at why that works:

You can match the Green T-Shirt with the Tan Pants, the Tan Shorts, and the Tan Skirt.  That makes 3 combinations.  You can match the White T-Shirt with the Tan Pants, the Tan Shorts, and the Tan skirt.  That makes 3 combinations.  You can match the Green Collared Shirt with the Tan Pants, the Tan Shorts, and the Tan Skirt.  That makes 3 combinations.  You can match the White Collared Shirt with the Tan Pants, the Tan Shorts, and the Tan Skirt.  That makes 3 combinations.  So, you made 3 combinations and you did it 4 times.  3 X 4 = 12.

Here's a short video about Combinations:

In the video, she has 3 hats and 3 shirts.  If you multiply 3 X 3 = 9 you get 9 total combinations.  This is how many combinations they came up with in the video.