Options for a Date

An interactive animation in which Ben’s wardrobe shows why the number of possible outfits multiplies when a choice is made in steps.

Category: Animation
Format: Interactive, 11 steps
Language: English
Author: Olga Malyuk

Opening screen of the animation: Ben in a plain white T-shirt next to a note reading “Tonight, 7:00 pm”, with the text “Ben has a date tonight. And it all starts with choosing an outfit.” — Move through the 11 steps with Continue and Back. Some steps ask you to choose or answer before continuing. There is no sound.

§1About the animation

Ben has a date tonight, 4 T-shirts and 3 pairs of shorts. After picking an outfit, you keep the T-shirt and try each pair of shorts, then watch a tree grow until every branch is a different outfit: 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 4 × 3 = 12. Adding 2 pairs of shoes gives 4 × 3 × 2 = 24, and a final question adds hats. The idea it introduces is the multiplication principle: when you choose in several steps, multiply the number of options at each step. The wardrobe makes that visible, because whichever T-shirt Ben picks, he still has the same 3 shorts and the same 2 pairs of shoes to choose from.