Please help not sure how to explain to my son. How should I set this up.

Sam has the same chores each week, but he wants to add variety. Suppose Sam has to empty trash, water the plants, fill the bird feeder, and sort the recycling. How many different ways can Sam complete his chores.

If there are 4 different varables, then there are 4 different combinations for each choice. for example, if u chose "empty trash" first, then there are 4 combinations of how the rest of the chores can be done after "empty trash." If you chose "water the plants" first, again there are 4 combinations of how the rest can be done after this. So essentially, the easiest calculation to figure this out is 4^4 (four to the fourth power) but i don't know if your son has learned this yet.