Statistics of Mars*

Wilhelm L. Lilly               Kenwood Academy
1629 East Hyde Park Blvd.      5015 S. Blackstone Ave.
Chicago IL 60615               Chicago IL 60615
                               (312) 535-1409

Objective(s):

    To use a realistic situation as a means of collecting data.
    To group, display, and interpret information by sorting and arranging data 
      to construct frequency graphs.
    To display and interpret measures of central tendencies.

Materials needed:

    3 oz. paper cups
    Bags of SKITTLES and/or M&M's (*candies of Mars, Inc.)
    Worksheet: Color Sorting Table
    Graph sheets: Pictograph, Bar Chart, Pie Chart
    Worksheet: Mean, Mode, Median

Strategy:

    Put students into cooperative groups and give each group a bag of 
    SKITTLES and/or M&M's, five 3oz. paper cups, and a Color Sorting
    Table worksheet. 
    Sort and count the SKITTLES by color and fill in the worksheet.
    Have each group construct a different type of graph (e.g., pictograph,
    bar, pie, etc.).
    A Reporter from each group will explain their graph, ease of construction
    and information displayed.  Also, have the reporter fill in their group
    data on a master Color Sorting Table provided on chalkboard.
    Have each group select one color to find the mean, mode, and median for
    the numbers on the master Table.
    Compare the results with the proportions reported by Mars for the five 
    colors: Red - 20%; Purple - 30%; Green - 20%; Yellow - 20%; Orange - 10%.
    Predict the proportion of each color for an unopened bag.
    Have each group do an oral presentation of their results.

References:

    Norwood, Karen, and Yvonne Coston, "Graphs of SKITTLES", 
    Arithmetic Teacher 40 (April 1993):454 - 456.        
    
    SKITTLES bite size candies and M&M's chocolate candies are registered
    trademarks of Mars, Incorporated.