Why Aren’t There More Red M&M’s® in My Bag?

(adapted from Texas Instruments)

Technology 1

Procedure

• During this activity we will use a small bag of plain M&M’s® to:– Make predictions– Gather data– Convert data– Sketch a circle graph– Display results in a circle graph – Compare results

Consider the following:• How many M&M’s® are in each bag?• How many colors are in each bag?• How many of each color?

Record your predictions on the Student Activity Sheet

ColorPredictio

nActual

Ratio to Total

Decimal PercentClass Total

M&M Co Percenta

ge

Brown              

Green              

Yellow              

Red              

Orange              

Blue              

Let’s see how close you were!• Open your bag of M&M’s®

• NO you can’t eat them yet! • Count and record the number of each color

• Sum this column to find the total number of M&M’s® in your bag

ColorPredictio

nActual

Ratio to Total

Decimal PercentClass Total

M&M Co Percenta

ge

Brown              

Green              

Yellow              

Red              

Orange              

Blue              

Convert your values• Record the number of each color as a

– Ratio– Decimal– Percent

Of the total number of M&M’s® in your bag

ColorPredictio

nActual

Ratio to Total

Decimal PercentClass Total

M&M Co Percenta

ge

Brown              

Green              

Yellow              

Red              

Orange              

Blue              

Sketching a Circle Graph

• Sketch a circle graph of your data on the worksheet.

• The COLOR List has been sent to your calculator. Paste this in your list by:

– Go to – Place your cursor in the title

bar and scroll past L6

– From here press

– Scroll down to COLOR List

– Press enter twice (yes please) to paste colors in list

Making a circle graph on the TI-73

Making a circle graph on the TI-73

• Enter your corresponding values in L6.

Making a circle graph on the TI-73

• Set up your graph by going to the Stat Plot

Making a circle graph on the TI-73

• Press Enter (yes please) to access the first plot.

Making a circle graph on the TI-73• Turn the plot on by highlighting and

pressing enter.

• Select the circle graph by arrowing down and then to the right to access the 2nd row of graph options

Making a circle graph on the TI-73• Select the COLOR List as your Categorical

List – Move your cursor to this row

– Press – Scroll down to COLOR List– Press enter twice

(yes please) to paste

Making a circle graph on the TI-73

• Select List 6 as your Number Data by– Press – Scroll down to L6– Press enter twice (yes please) to paste

Making a circle graph on the TI-73

• Select the Percent option

Making a circle graph on the TI-73

• Go to your screen to make sure Plot 2 and Plot 3 are turned off and that there are no equations present.

• Clear any equations by scrolling down to the equation(s) and pressing clear.

• Turn off Plot 2 and/or Plot 3 by highlighting and pressing enter.

Making a circle graph on the TI-73

• Press to see your graph!

• Press and use your arrow keys to see the corresponding color and count.

Making a circle graph on the TI-73

• Does your hand drawn graph match the calculator’s?

Comparing the results

• Let’s compare your results with the class's results.

• We will now go into TI-Navigator and we will aggregate the class data.

• You have been sent the class data in List 5

• Go back and change your circle graph to display the class’s data.

Comparing the results• Graph these results and using the key, enter the

class totals on the worksheet.

• Compare these percentages with your percentages. – How are they alike?– How are they different?

ColorPredictio

nActual

Ratio to Total

Decimal PercentClass Total

M&M Co Percenta

ge

Brown              

Green              

Yellow              

Red              

Orange              

Blue              

Comparing the results

• Now let’s compare your results and the class's results with what Mars, Inc. actually produces.

Actual Production

Comparing the results• We now have three sets of percentages

in front of us:– Your percentages on your worksheet– The class’s percentages on your calculator– The actual percentages:

Actual Production

Comparing the results

• Which results are closer to the actual percentages?– Yours– Class’s

• Why?

Actual Production

Comparing the results

• What can you conclude regarding the relationship between a sample and a population as the sample size increases?

• Complete the worksheet and turn it in.

• You may now eat your M&M’s®

• ENJOY!

The End!