Learning Objective: I can collect the probability of sweetheart candies; colors or sayings by making collecting data and determine the frequency.
With Valentines Day fast approaching, students can take advantage and do math with candies. In this activity students can use regular 1 oz boxes to determine the frequency of each colored heart, or of each saying. Students can connect math with candy, of course all students enjoy candies! When students are making connections with what is relevant to them, than they are able to retain information better. Students can start out by predicting the number of candies in each box. After students predict they can have a small classroom discussion by sharing their predictions. Students can also share which color or saying in the box is their favorite. When students are are finished having their discussion they can individually count and graph data. To extend this activity students will use their data that they found with their class and determine the average in terms of color or saying. Students can also write down fractions to describe their candy color or saying as a fraction of the total.
To extend this activity Sweetheart candies can be bought in different languages. For example the picture above says “cutie pie”, but instead candies can be purchased to have Spanish sayings instead. Students can become familiar with a different language and incorporate what other countries do to celebrate this holiday.
CCSS.Math.Content.7.SP.C.6
Approximate the probability of a chance event by collecting data on the chance process that produces it and observing its long-run relative frequency, and predict the approximate relative frequency given the probability. For example, when rolling a number cube 600 times, predict that a 3 or 6 would be rolled roughly 200 times, but probably not exactly 200 times.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP1 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP4 Model with mathematics.
This is a great idea, as it is both age appropriate and fun for that holiday. I think it can be expanded in the sense that you can use it for other appropriate holidays as well, and even alter the lesson based on where you are at with your students in the unit. Having the candies in Spanish is also a great idea to integrate another content area into the lesson, and I feel like it could be expanded even further by getting more candies in other languages as well.