Coming back from two weeks of winter break is not always easy for first graders, so to get back into the swing of math, we started our first day back with a fun, engaging (and tasty!) math lab. Using a big box of fruit loops, the students pondered the question: Which color is most represented in this box? After making a few guesses, we discusses the idea of a sample size and how we could use a sample from the box to explore the color distribution and to answer our question. (Of course the other big question the students had was, "When we are finished sorting and counting, can we eat some?" Luckily, I had brought an extra box for just that purpose)
After discussing the experimental method, students worked individually with a cup sized portion of cereal to sort. After sorting by color, each student recorded his or her information in a data table and then counted up his or her total number of cereal pieces.
The next step in this lab will be for the students to graph the information from their data table. During the graphing process they will no doubt begin to notice what color they found the most of in each of their samples. We will then create a large class graph in which we put all of our individual data together and can finally answer the question: Which color is most represented in the box?
This will be our third experience with graphing this year. The first graders are getting more and more confident with creating and filling in graphs as well as using the graphs to analyze data and answer questions.
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