The truth is the M&M Company fills bags by weight instead of number. They aim for a percentage for each of the colors, but as we have seen (and tasted) not every bag has the exact percentage that the company is aiming for.

• What do you think the percentage for each color is supposed to be?
  • Can you answer this question just from looking at your own bag?...Probably not.
• The BIG QUESTION is how can data for many students be organized to find the percentage that the company is aiming for?

• The instructor will split you up into groups of 5 or 6.
• The instructor will then give each group several pre-labelled cards. With these cards and the cards you have already filled out, create a grid that looks like the following example.
  • Each member of the group should place their data cards in a row beneath the appropriate columns underneath the heading.
  • Of course, the names will probably be a little bit different.
  • Make sure to put the colors in the same order as the example (just so we can be consistent in our discussion).

• First, let's calculate the total number of M&Ms each person had in their bag. I know you can probably do this in your head, but I'd like you to show me how you'd calculate the number by referring to the cards that need to be added up (You can refer to a particular card by giving it a LETTER-NUMBER designation. For example C3PO's name card is A6).
  • On the front of the card write down the total you had.
  • On the back of the card write a formula that represents how you calculated that total. Start your formula with an equal sign (=). The back of your cards should look something like this.
    
• Your grid will look like the following example, but keep in mind there are secret formulas hiding behind those totals.

• With the remaining pre-labelled cards the instructor gives you, add two more rows, one labelled average and another labelled percent.

• Like you did earlier with the total, as a group calculate the average for each color. On the back write the formula you used to calculate that average. Try to think of a shortcut formula. The back of your card should look something like this.
• Percent is a little harder. We want to calulate, based on team averages, the percent of each color to the average total. For example, The team averaged 6.8 red M&Ms per bag and 43.8 total. The percent of red of the total is 6.8/43.8 = 15.5%. What should the formula on the back of the card look like? Calculate the percent of total for each color, for your team, and write the formula on the back of each card. The back of the card for red should look like this.

That's it! Now we have data sumarized in such a way that we can start to answer our questions.

Your also ready to tackle one of the most important tools the computer has to offer. Do you know what tool I'm talking about?