In this hands on activity, students will explore statistics using M&M's. The students will discover the weight of each fun-size pack of M&M's, weigh and record 10 packs of M&M's, and find the mean. They will then subtract the mean from each individual pack's weight, and find the standard deviation. The students will further explore statistics using M&M's by finding the mode, median, and quartiles for their data. To extend this activity, the students could be asked challenging questions such as, "Are you getting your moneys worth?" or "Are there any outliers in your collection of data?" This hands-on-activity will allow students to make discoveries on their own, and apply their knowledge of statistics using a real life application such as the weight of M&M's.
Allowing students to have tangible items such as M&M's, and apply their knowledge of a topic on real-life applications, is an important part of the learning process. Many students are visual learners, so offering them an activity in which they are not just looking at data on a worksheet, but are rather discovering data on their own, is a different way to engage and excite students.