This is one of two M&Ms activities that I use in my math classes. In activities that use M&M's, students will collect data, create
scatterplots, determine algebraic models that represent their functions, and have fun eating the M&Ms.
M&Ms were first made and sold in 1941 by The Mars candy company, owned by Forrest Mars' father. He was in Spain during the Spanish Civil Wat and he noticed that the soldiers
were given pieces of chocolate coated in a hard candy shell to keep them from melting. When he returned to The States, he connected with Bruce Murrie whose father owned
Hershey Candies.
They combined their initials and called them M&Ms. They became so popular that other companies began making them. That gave them the idea to imprint the name
on the candy.
They were given to soldiers during the war, and they've also been to space, in 1981.
The slogan, "It melts in your mouth, not in your hands" was trademarked in 1954.
The objectives of this lesson are for students to explore the patterns of exponential
models in tables and graphs, and to apply what they have learned to
make predictions in a real situation.
After
determining this algebraic model by hand, students collect exponential decay data
using M&M's and use the graphing calculator to determine a model for this data.
Items Needed:
one 1.69 ounce package of M&Ms per student (about 55 M&Ms)
one 16-ounce plastic Dixie Cup for each group
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Click here for M&M graph paper
Click here for instructions for the TI-83 Plus Calculator