Don't Eat the Data!

With a little math in mind, all three Montessori classes had a tasting party to decide which kinds of apples were their favorites.

Mrs. Iyer went to the Farmer's Market to buy four different kinds of apples.

After labeling them, we cut them into bite-size pieces to sample.

Yum! While developing an expanded palate, we also learned some new adjectives: juicy, tart, crunchy, sweet, and delicious!

Which one is your favorite? Check the graph!

Favorites? M I = Cameo, M I = Gold Rush, M III = Gold Rush

Have you ever wondered if every package of M & M's or Skittles contains the same number of colored candies? The Lunchers learned more about data collection and graphing when they investigated this question recently.

They used their estimating skills to make an "educated guess" about the amount of M & M's or Skittles in their packages of candy.

Then, they counted the total amount. It was important to be accurate--and not to eat the data!

Next, they sorted the candy by color before counting and recording each amount.

When the data had been collected, the Lunchers were ready to create bar graphs to share their data. Bar graphs and picto-graphs make information visible.

All our graphs were different!  Graphs made it easy to see how many of each color were in the packages!The Lunchers found that it was quite useful to create a graph when they had to compare their data with classmates. Now they are looking for other ways to use their graphing skills!