M&M’s

 

All middle school students love M&M’s! All middle school students love engaging lessons. Why not combine them to make a lesson your students will never forget?

Ask your students the big, important question at the beginning so they know what they’re focusing on: How many M&M’s will fit in a gallon jug? Have the students discuss the question for a few minutes with their classmates, then have each student guess how many will fit in the jug. Depending on your classroom, you could have them right their guesses on a piece of paper or on the whiteboard.

Students will get into pairs and each group will fill a graduated cylinder with 50mL of water, then add 10 M&M’s into the graduated cylinder. After a quick calculation, they will find out how many mL are “equivalent” to 10 M&M’s. Students will need to convert mL to gallons, then mathematically find out how many M&M’s will fit into a gallon jug.

Have each group add their M&M’s into the empty jug. The students can count and continue to add them into the jug making sure to keep track how many are in there. Once the jug is full, the class will find their answer. As a class, compare this number to their guesses to see who was the closest.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.3.D
Use ratio reasoning to convert measurement units; manipulate and transform units appropriately when multiplying or dividing quantities.