Week Four (part two)

Mathematics - Excel and M&Ms
I've decided to split this week's blog post into two - so this is part two!

In this second activity we're using computers to represent data in graph form. We use physical objects (the MnMs) to collect and collate data, we use the MnM website for useful information and images, bringing it all together in Microsoft Excel like the image to the left.

So, very simply, here is a point-by-point explanation of the activity we did today:
1. Take a packet of MnMs, and tally the number of different coloured MnMs found in that packet. Greg gave us a handy hand-out that can be done with pen and paper.
2. Take this information you have collated and place it in Microsoft Excel in the manner displayed at the top left-hand corner of the image - that is, with two coloums, one being 'colours', the other 'numbers'.
3. Highlight this information and use the insert tab to create a graph. I chose a 3D pyramid graph.
4. A nice little touch you can add to the graph is changing the colour of each coloum to the colour of MnM they represent. You can also add a visual cue for the students - a number at the top of each coloum, like I have done.
5. Then get onto the MnM website, use the 'print screen' button to choose and add a nice little image to the information you have graphed. As you can see, I've added an image of the red and yellow MnM characters.

This seems to be an excellent activity introducing (or extending) students' knowledge of Excel, also incorporating mathematics with computers, and trawling websites for useful information and images.