Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan #5

Pie Graphs

Duration: 2 to 3 days

Objectives: Students will:

understand the basics of a spreadsheet
become familiar with spreadsheet terms
highlight cells in a spreadsheet
make a pie chart
change colors of the pieces of the pie
use skills to estimate, predict, sort, and then graph the various colored candies
interpret information from their graphs

Materials:

individual packages of Skittles candies for students
-paper plates or napkins
-paper
-pencils
-crayons

Microsoft Excel or ClarisWorks Spreadsheet Program
Make a Pie Graph worksheet

Key Vocabulary

cells, spreadsheet, highlight, chart, graph, data, tally, percent

Procedure:

1. Before opening their candy, students will examine the candy packages and determine the colors/flavors of candies inside.

2. Each student will make an estimate of the number of candies they think are in their package and write it down.

3. Students will predict which color/flavor will have the most candies.

4. Teacher will survey students asking if they think there are the same number of candies in each package.

5. After opening their packages, students will sort their candies by color/flavor.

6. Students will graph the number of each color/flavor found in their package including a title and appropriate labels.

7. Students will write four things they can determine by looking at their graph in question form.

8. Students will open the spreadsheet program and enter the data collected.

9. Once the data is entered, students should highlight the cells with information in them and make a pie chart. The chart should include the name of each flavor and the percent. Discuss with the students how the computer changed their tally numbers into percents.

10. Students can change the color of each piece of pie.

11. Students should add an appropriate title and clip art and print their work.

Assessment:

1. Students will share what they learned from their graphs by asking the questions they have written about their graphs.

2. Through discussion, help students think of other information they can get from their graphs that may have been missed. (Which color/flavor had the most candies? The least? How many more of one flavor were there than another? What was the total number of candies? and so on.)

3. Students may enjoy eating their candy when finished.

Allow students to complete the Online Pie Graph Quiz and/or this Question & Answer Activity.

Home Learning:

Have students choose any candy they would like to create their own charts with. At home they may make a hand drawn tally chart and pie graph. At school they can input their data into a spreadsheet and create the graph, compare and contrast the hand drawn graphs with the computer generated graphs.

Extension Activity:

Have students research the national color distribution of Skittles or another candy and make two pie graphs for comparative purposes.