M&M Circle Graphs

by Diane Kinney, Brookings Harbor High School, Brookings, Oregon

Teacher's Notes: Materials: One small bag of M&Ms per student, one set of colored pencils to match M&M colors per four students, one worksheet per student Encourage your students to make their circle look like a circle, as much as possible. Check to see that they are spacing the M&Ms evenly.

Name: __________________ Date: __________________

1. Sort your M&M's and arrange them in a circle around the grey dot provided below. The M&Ms need to be evenly spaced. All the reds should be together, all the yellows together and so on. Carefully remove each M&M and draw a small circle, the size and color of each M&M. Draw "pie shaped" dividing lines, from the center of the circle to each of the color divisions. On the outside of the circle, next to each color, write the fraction that represents the ratio of that color to the total number of M&M's. Change each of the fractions to a decimal. Round to the nearest hundredth. Change each of the decimals to a percent. Inside the circle, label each "piece of the pie" with its percentage. When all the percentages are added together, what should the sum be? ____________________ Try to find another person in the classroom that has the same percentage of red M&M's. If you can't find anyone with a matching red percentage, try a different color.
   • What is your percentage of reds? ___________
     
     What is your number of reds? ____________
     
     What is his or her number of reds? ____________
     
     What is your ratio of reds to total? ___________
     
     What is his or her ratio of reds to total? ___________
     
     
   • Are your ratios the same? __________
     
     
   • Repeat 9 and 10 for another color.
     
     Color: ________________ Percent _________________
     
     Your number _____________ His or her number ______________
     
     
   • Your ratio ________________ His or her ratio_______________
     
     
2. If your number of a specific color is not the same as another person's, how can your percentages be the same?

 

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