M&M Graphing Lab
The M&M Graphing Lab has been around for years. It is a classic math and science combination. The kids love it too! Many graphing sheets found online are for fun packs of M&M’s. I prefer to use the regular sized bags of M&M’s. In this scenario, I let my students work in groups with one bag of M&M’s between them. Working in a cooperative setting encourages discussion about the topic and helps struggling learners to receive assistance from stronger students.
*We have an updated M&M Graphing Lab available that includes updated sorting sheets, calculating percentages, and a creating a pie graph. The M&M Graphing Lab Sheets Pack gives you more flexibility with opportunities for differentiation and challenges older students. To check it out, visit here.
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M&M Sort & Count for Younger Learners
The M&M Sort & Count Sheet is the perfect activity for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarten students. First I did a color awareness check. I simply pointed to each colored circle and asked the girls what color it was. It is an easy test check that reveals what colors your child knows and doesn’t. In the end, it helps to know what you need to work on.
Each girl was given a scoop of M&M’s from a big bag of sharable M&M’s. They both immediately started to sort their M&M’s by color. Success!
Funny how every child is different. Don’t expect one to do the same as the other. Oftentimes, it is the opposite. Look at my toddler’s page and then my preschooler’s sheet. One sorts all the colors at once, while the other focuses on one color at a time. 🙂
M&M Graphing Lab for older kids
The M&M Graphing Lab is a tried and true science and math focused activity that reaps high marks with students. This hands-on lab is an effective way to practice graphing using tasty manipulatives. Who says learning has to be boring!
Make Predictions First
Before opening up their bag of M&M’s, the boys were asked to fill in their predictions. On the 1st page of the lab sheet, the student is asked to predict which color he or she thinks will be the most and least prevalent in the bag. My youngest boy predicted that the colors would all have the same amount. He found out real quick that his prediction was incorrect. Remind your child that there is no right or wrong answer. This is only a prediction… an educated guess really. The updated version of this lab sheet has students write hypotheses as opposed to predictions.
Sort and Count M&M's
Next, the boys began to dig into their M&M bags. There is one thing that I would do differently. I would not staple the sorting sheet to the rest of the packet. The boys requested paper plates after they realized I had attached the sorting sheet. No, not me. Okay, yes, I did. Teacher/Moms aren’t perfect. Period.
The boys sorted and counted their M&M’s. I advised them to make tally marks inside their circles so that they would have an accurate count. Making tally marks for my 6 year old is a relatively new concept, so this was great practice for him.
M&M Bar Graph
It wasn’t long after sorting and counting their M&M’s that the boys were ready to plot their bar graphs. They were instructed to color their bar graphs according to the color of the M&M’s it represented. The red M&M’s bar was colored red and so forth.
M&M Graphing Lab Conclusions
Now it was time for stating their conclusions. The boys shared their findings with their brothers and I asked them to give brief descriptions about what they discovered. They compared how many M&M’s each of them had and which color was greatest in each of their bags.
Honestly, at this point, the boys really just wanted to eat their M&M’s. Happy learning!
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More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Psalm 19:10
