Halloween is finally upon us! In honor of our last post before Halloween (tune in again on Monday for some timely tips on sugar and snack intake and study habits), here's a little activity that serves two purposes: it's a math and computer skills exercise for the kids, and a way for parents to see just how much candy came in from trick-or-treating. I actually do this every year.
Supplies needed:
1) Lots of candy! If you've eaten some of it already, you can just use the empty wrappers, too.
2) A surface to separate candy out to sort and count it (even the floor works for this)
3) A computer with a spreadsheet program loaded up. If you have the MS Office Suite, Excel will do the trick; you can download the OpenOffice.org Suite for free and use OpenOffice Calc; or you can just go online and create a new Google Docs spreadsheet (from the link, click "Create New" and pick "Spreadsheet"). Alternatively, this will work on graph paper with a pencil and crayons for coloring in charts!
Step 1: Picking categories and sorting. Sort all the candy into categories. You can pick your categories: sort of color of wrapper, by type of candy (candy bar, fruit drop, etc.), by specific candy brand, or by company making the candy (M&M/Mars, etc.). Count up how many are in each category.
Step 2: Typing up your results. Create a spreadsheet. In the first column (A), list your categories. In the second column (B), list how many you have of each.
Step 3: Making a chart. Make a bar chart or pie chart comparing how many you have of each. Use the "chart wizard" to do this in MS Excel, or by going to the Insert menu and selecting "Chart" in either OpenOffice Calc or Google Docs, and following the on-screen directions. The chart will show you what type of candy, of your categories, was most popular to hand out.
Step 4: Calculating your total stash. After you've finished your chart, you can also figure out the total number of pieces of candy using the spreadsheet's auto-sum feature. In any of the programs I've listed, you can pick a cell (box on the spreadsheet) off to the right somewhere and type in "=SUM(B1:B100)" (without the quotes). Hit enter, and you'll see the total number of pieces of candy. This command adds up all the numbers in column B, from rows 1 to 100 (so unless you've got more than 100 categories, this should more than cover it!). Type "Total Candy" in the box to the right of this number so you'll know what it is later.
Step 5: Figuring out an average. You can also figure out the average number of pieces of candy per category. In the cell under your total number, type in "=AVERAGE(B1:B100)" (without quotes). Hit enter to see the average. You can label this as the average by typing "Average" in the cell to the right of this formula.
Step 6: Figuring out the mode. The mode is the most likely number to find in a group of numbers - the one that occurs most often. If all your numbers of pieces of candy listed are different, you'll get an error message for this formula, but if one number is more common than others, the spreadsheet software can find it. Under your average, type "=MODE(B1:B100)" (without the quotes). Hit enter to see the mode. If you have 5 pieces of bubble gum AND 5 Babe Ruth bars, but all the other categories have different numbers, your mode will be 5. If there are two possible modes, the software will pick one. If no number is more common than the others, there's no mode and you'll get an error message. Label this as the "Mode" in the cell to the right.
Step 7: Making adjustments. Feel like eating a piece of candy? Subtract it from the correct category and see your total and average (and maybe your mode) change! This is the real beauty of spreadsheets - that the formulas can keep updating as you update the information in the spreadsheet.
If your child is struggling in math - or any other subject - we're here to help at A Quantum Leap Tutoring. We're here for all your tutoring needs, any subject, any time of year, all over the state of Florida. Please give us a call so we can figure out the best plan to help your child with his or her own needs - while keeping your child's strengths in mind, too.
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