TITLE: VALENTINE CANDY COUNT
AUTHOR: Judy Dale; Bosque Farms Elementary, Bosque Farms, N.M.
GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT: Appropriate for grades l - 4.
OVERVIEW: Developing, reading, and interpreting graphs is a vital skill in
today's society. It is a skill required in a variety of areas, specifically
in science and math.
PURPOSE: This activity provides a fun and exciting method through which
children can explore and internalize graphing skills. Specifically, the
students will discover what color Valentine Candy is found more often
than any other in a standard bag of "Valentine Conversation Hearts." The
lesson takes approximately sixty minutes and is most effectively used in
connection with Valentine's Day.
OBJECTIVE(s): Through this activity the students will:
1. observe, predict, sort, and classify
2. develop graphing skills such as counting and equations
3. gather and record data
4. interpret data
5. apply and generalize data
RESOURCES/MATERIALS:
-12 oz. bag of small "Valentine Conversation Hearts"
-clear glass or plastic decanter (large enough to hold all of the
hearts)
-styrofoam cups (1 cup for every 4-6 students)
-pencils
-crayons (l crayon for each color of Valentine Candy)
-prediction graph
-final result graph
-Valentine name tags (with student's names written on them)
-sorting/classifying sheets
-student recording sheet (1 for each group of 4-6 students)
-glue stick for attaching the initial predictions to the prediction
graph
ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:
1. The teacher brings to class a glass or plastic decanter full of a
12 oz. bag of small "Valentine Conversation Hearts."
2. Students predict which color candy they think will be found
most frequently by placing their name Valentines on the
appropriate color valentine on the prediction graph. (total
class)
3. Students then sort and classify a cup-full of Valentine Heart
Candy according to color on their sorting/classifying sheets.
(small groups)
4. Next, the students record their color counts on the student
recording sheet. (one member of the group records the counts
while the rest of the group counts)
5. Students finally graph their results on the final results graph.
(graph one color at a time - one student from each group graphs
one color - all students will have a turn to graph a color)
Discussion:
a. How many (color) Valentine Hearts did we find?
How many .....?
b. What color did we find more of than any other?
c. Did the prediction that you made turn out to be true?
d. What if we bought a new bag of candy - would we find the
same number of each color of candy? Why? Why not?
TYING IT ALL TOGETHER:
1. Distribute the "candy hearts" for eating!
2. Have the children figure out number sentences about the graph. Post
their ideas on a chart near the graph.
3. Challenge the children to think of questions to ask "you" about
the graph they have just created. Many will find it is much more
difficult to "ask" a question than it is to answer one!
4. Display the prediction graph and the final graph for the school
to see...it will draw a lot of interest from adults as well as other
students.
5. Encourage all students to share the results of this activity with
their parents/guardians.
6. An extension activity for another lesson might be to have the students
work in teams to recreate a graph pertaining to weather, favorite
colors, types of pets, etc. the possibilities are endless!
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John Kurilecjmk@ofcn.org