Victoria J. Payne (@02013960)
Integrated Methods: Math and Science
November 17, 2010
Lesson Plan: Skittle Graphing Grade Level: 4th Grade Topic: Data Analysis and Statistics Title of Lesson: Skittle Graphing Standard: 
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4.DASP.1. Collect and organize data using observations, measurements, surveys, or experiments, and identify appropriate ways to display the data. 4.DASP.3. Compare two data sets represented in two bar graphs, pie graphs, and histograms. Objectives: 
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Students will be able to construct a bar graph based on estimations and actual counts of skittles in a bag. Students will be able to make estimations about how many of each color skittles there are. Students will be able to compare estimations with actual amounts. Assessment: Students will be assessed on the accuracy of their constructed graph, as well as the organization of their data. Develop Student Understanding of the Importance of the Objective: Statistics are all around us, and people use this type of information to make decisions that impact all of us. Students will be able to see the relevance of this lesson with the hands‐on approach to data collection and graphing. Connecting to Prior Knowledge: Students should be able to estimate and collect data and then graph that data on a bar chart. WARM‐UP (10 minutes) Place large plastic jar filled with 25 skittle packets in the middle of the classroom and ask the students to guess how many bags of skittles are in the jar. They will need to defend how they came up with their estimation. School money will be given for correct responses. INTRODUCTION (5 minutes) “Well, you all know that I am not a big fan of candy, but today we are going to use candy to practice some more graphing. Thankfully, everyone in this class is a master grapher, so this task will not be a challenge at all, but we want to make sure that everyone has a firm grasp of graphing.” GUIDED PRACTICE (15 minutes) “For this assignment, you will work by yourselves to estimate how many of each color skittles you have in your pouch. You will then graph these estimates. Afterwards, you will actually count the skittles and create a bar graph of the actual amount of each color in your bag. Your data should be displayed in both the bar graph and on a T‐chart.” INDEPENDENT PRACTICE (15 minutes) Students will graph their estimates and actual counts of their bag of skittles on two separate graphs. Their data will be displayed in a T‐chart. Students will also compare and contrast both graphs on a separate sheet of paper. CLOSURE (10 minutes) The following questions will be asked to the whole class: What color was found most often in your bag of Skittles? Was that the case for others? If so, can we make some generalizations or assumptions about the most frequently occurring colors?