Researching M & M’s

 

STEP ONE:  Determine Your Hypothesis

 

BEFORE OPENING your Bag of M&Ms, Answer The Following Questions In Microsoft Word:

 

1.      What colors do you expect to see in the bag?

 

2.      Do bags of equal weight have the exact same number of candies?

 

3.      Does each bag have an equal number of each color? (Example: 5 red, 5blue, 5 brown, 5 yellow, 5 orange and 5 green)

 

4.      Does EVERY bag of M&Ms have the same ratio of colors? (EXAMPLE: Could there be 5 red, 3 green, 2 brown, 4 yellow and 1 orange in every bag?)

 

Save your document as “Hypothesis” in your technology folder in your locker.

 

 

 


STEP TWO:

Market Research and Table Formatting

 

1.      Open a Blank Excel Worksheet

2.      In Cell A1 type “Candy is Dandy!” in BOLD, ALL CAPS, 16 pt Font

3.      In Cells A3 – F3, Type the Following Headings in Bold/ ALL CAPS:

a.           COLORS, Bag1, Bag 2, Bag 3, Bag 4, Average

4.      Right click on Cells B3 – E3 (Bag1 – Bag 4). 

a.     Select Insert Comment

b.     Type the weight of each bag (grams) In the Comment Space

c.    You should now notice a red marking in the top right corner of each cell.  Now, when you scroll over the cell, the comment containing the weight of the bag should appear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


5.      In Cell A4 – A9 type the colors of M&M’s in the following order:

a.     Orange, Yellow, Blue, Green, Brown, Red

 

6.      Now, let’s SORT ALPHABETICALLY:

a.     Highlight cells A4 – A9.

 

b.     Click Data from the standard tool Bar

 

c.    Choose Sort

 

d.    Choose Sort By COLORS and select Ascending

 

e.     Select Ok.

 

 

 

 

 


7.      In Cell A10, type TOTAL in all Caps, Bold letters

a.           Center Cell A10

 

 

8.      Now let’s Make your Table more attractive!

 

a.           Highlight your entire table

(Cells A1 – F10)

b.           Select Format, Then AutoFormat

c.          Scroll through the formatting 

             options and select one of your choice.

d.          Press Ok.

 

 

 

9.      ENTER YOUR DATA:

a.     Open your Bags of M&Ms one bag at a time

b.     After opening each bag, record how many M&Ms of each color you find in the bag in the appropriate row.  (Ex.  Information for Bag 1 should appear in cells B4 – B9 under the heading “Bag 1”)

***PLEASE NOTE****  If your numbers appear as $ or Dates, you need to change your formatting:

1.      HIghlight Cells B4 – F10

2.      Select FORMAT, CELLS, NUMBER, and select GENERAL

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Your Table Should Now Appear Like This:

(PLEASE NOTE: it may appear slightly different depending on the AutoFormat scheme you chose)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


STEP THREE: Apply Formulas

 

AutoSum

1.      Place your Cursor in Cell B10

2.      Press the AutoSum Icon on the standard Toolbar

a.     It should Highlight Cells B4 – B9

b.     Press Enter

3.      While the cursor is still on Cell B10, press Ctrl and C at the same time (or Press Edit, Copy)

a.     The cell will appear to have a blinking box arround it

4.      Highlight Cells C10 – E10

5.      Press Ctrl and v at the same time (or press edit, Paste)

a.     Cells C10 – E10 should all contain the totals for their columns

 

Average

 

1.      Place your Cursor in Cell F4.

2.      Type the Formula:   =average(B4:E4)

3.      Press ENTER

4.      Highlight Cells F4:F10.

5.      Click on Edit, Fill, then Down.

6.      Cells F4:F10 should now have the average formula applied to them, as well

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


STEP FOUR:  Creating Graphs

 

1.      Highlight Cells A3:E9

2.      Click on the Chart Wizard icon from the standard toolbar

3.      Select Pie from the Standard Types list

4.      Select the top left Option from the Chart Subtypes Window

5.      Press Next

 

Chart Wizard: Step 2 of 4 – Chart Source Data

6.      Ensure that columns is selected

7.      Click Next

Chart Wizard: Step 3 of 4 – Chart Options

8.      Change the Title to: Candy is Dandy!

9.      Click the Legend tab

 

 

10. Change the placement to Bottom

 

 

11. Click on the Data Labels Tab

 

 

12. Change the Data Labels to SHOW PERCENT

 

13. Press NEXT

 

Chart Wizard: Step 4 of 4 – Chart Location

14.   Under Place Chart, Select As a New Sheet

 

 

 

 


15. Select FINISH

 

STEP FIVE: Formatting

Change the color on each section of the pie chart to match its REAL color

1.      Double click on a secion of the pie chart. 

2.      Format Data Series window should appear containing Color Options.

3.      Select the appropriate color (ex. Red should be in RED)

4.      Continue until all sections of the pie graph are colored appropriately

Rename the Tabs

1.      Right-Click the tab titled “Sheet 1”

2.      Select Rename

3.      Type Candy Data

4.      Right-Click the Tab titled “Chart 1”

5.      Select Rename

6.      Type Pie Graph

 

SAVE THE DOCUMENT AS “CANDY” IN YOUR TECHNOLOGY FOLDER IN YOUR LOCKER

STEP SIX: Re-Evaluate

 

·        Return to Your Word Document, “Hypothesis”

 

·        Type the Heading:  RESULTS

 

·        Answer the following questions:

 

 

  1. Were there the same or different numbers of TOTAL M&Ms in each bag?

 

 

  1. Did each bag have the same number of each color?

 

 

  1. If not, did some colors appear more often than others?  If so, Which ones?

 

 

  1. Does looking at the Pie Graph allow you to notice any additional trends in the color distribution?

 

 

RE-SAVE this document at HYPOTHESIS.

 

Review the CHECKLIST.

 

Raise your hand to show Mrs. Kissel your work.