M&M's and Stats {project}

Every year I rotate what major projects I am going to do in my classroom. Partly because I get boared teaching the same thing every year and want to spice it up, partly because I have a lot of siblings and don't want them all to have expectations, and also partly because in the five years I've taught at Legacy, I've had the privelage of teaching everything from 5th graders to 10th graders. One year I taught math all day long 5th - 8th grade. So naturally, my projects have to be adjusted for the appropriate age-level.

Well, this year, I am doing a project I did my 2nd year teaching and have tweaked it a little to fit my liking this year. It's a great project to demonstrate during data and statistical analysis. I just assigned this project at the beginning of chapter 9 and explain that it's not due until the end of chapter 9, which means I expect wonderful, accurate graphs and work. My students don't disappoint either :) You can download the project at the end of the post.

Project Description:
Investigate through data collecting the color distribution of M&M's or Skittles candy. then evaluate claims made from respective companies of color distribution based on analyzing through various charts and graphs.

Project Timeline: 1 chapter (3 weeks) - I have this due the day before the test and have one project workday incorperated into my lesson plans half way through to check progress and guide and graphing mistakes/errors/confusion.

Pictures: close ups of the various elements on the poster.

pie chart of color breakdown by percentages

Pictograph

Bar Graph

Download the Project PDF for $1 here:

I hope you have a great time doing this project as well as I did!