An M&M Peanut Lab

I was teaching science in a junior high school and wanted to do an experiment with a package of candy. I wanted to use M & M peanuts in a size similar to those sold in most convenience stores. I wanted students to practice collecting data and in my computer classes they would put that data into a spreadsheet and then make a pie chart or bar chart out of the data.

I would first tell the class that at the end of the week we will do an experiment with M & M candy and I showed them a sample of the size package that I wanted them to bring to class. I said that I would group them into 3 or 4 students per group and that once the experiment was completed they could eat the candy, but right now I want to know if anyone in the class is allergic to peanuts. I normally would have been told if any student was allergic, but just to be safe I would ask. I would also ask the teachers in the rooms near mine to ask their classes if anyone was allergic to peanuts. If there was someone that was allergic I could check with that student and their parents about the degree of their allergic reaction and could take appropriate safeguards. Even though this has never been required it is still good to check. I also went to guidance and asked if we had anyone at the school that was allergic to peanuts and checked with the school nurse. If there was a potential problem I then should have known.

I prepared for the Friday lesson by creating a worksheet about the lesson. Students would have to read the package and write down some nutritional information on their worksheet and they would also have to pour the candy into Styrofoam bowls which I had in the classroom and count the number of candies in their package and the number for each color. I would have to have some extra packages of candy, some Styrofoam bowls, some plastic throwaway sterile gloves and possibly some napkins.

The worksheet had these items:

M&M Peanut Lab

Instructions: Your group are going to get 1 package of M&M Peanuts or regular
(Not a large or super small package) Note: Some super small packages do not have all
the information on each package. You are going to look at the package and record some
information and you will be opening the package and recording some information. After
you completely record the information you may eat the M&M Peanuts. Note: Use a few
tissues or napkins or a small paper bowl to hold the peanuts in place on your desk
while you gather the data about them.

The worksheet would ask them to collect the following data.
=============================================================
You Package is M & M Peanuts with a NET WT of ______ oz or ______ grams.

Information from the Back of the Package (If Available)
=============================================================
The Total Fat Per Serving is _____ grams
The Saturated Fat per serving is _____ grams
The amount of Cholesterol is _____ mg
The amount of Sodium is _____ mg
The amount of Fiber is ____ grams
The amount of Sugars is ____ grams
The amount of protein is ____ grams

The amount of Thiamin is ____%
The amount of Riboflavin is ____%
The amount of Niacin is ____ %
The amount of Vitamin A and Vitamin is less than ____%
The Total Carbohydrates is _____ grams.

...Data Collected From The Contents of the Bag.....
=======================================
How many peanuts in total were there? _____
=======================================
How many Yellow? ____
How many Orange? ____
How many Red? ____ How many Blue? ____
How many Brown? ____
How many of other color/s ? _____

Do all the packages contain the same number? ____
Do all the packages have the same number of each color?___
=========================================================

Typically I would pass out two Styrofoam bowls to each group and one set of sterile plastic gloves to one member of the group. I placed the sterile gloves on a clean napkin as they were passed out. I instructed only one person to use the gloves to pick up and count the m & m peanut candies and move them as they counted from one Styrofoam bowl to the other. I explaind they may want to select them by color as they moved them so they get the color count at the same time. I would have preprinted some pie graphs with 15 to 30 segments, but a lot of charts with 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 segments because I knew it was more likely that the package should contain around 21 or 22 candies. (Note: If you use different kinds of candy, you will collect similar, but different data and need different worksheets in most cases.)

Once they collected the data and filled out their worksheet, I told them they could eat the candy as one member of the group came up to my desk and gets the appropriate pie chart. They would then have to color the segments of the chart in a way that represents the numbers of candies they had and their colors. Since the package is the "whole" then the colors are segments of this whole, a pie chart can be used to make the chart. You could also have students make a bar graph of the data.

I did this experiment with 5 classes through the day and everyone had a great time. The next day my homeroom class asked if they could do the same experiment in homeroom. I told them yes, but they had to do everything the science classes did which meant they would have to fill out the worksheets and make the pie chart. They had a great time. Word even spread around the science department and soon other teachers were doing the same lab.

You do need to be careful, that no child or adult in the area is allergic to candy or peanuts. (You may also want to check about diabetic children.) You also need to be aware that most schools do not want children "eating" in class and you have to be concerned about the handling and safety of contamination. This is why you have Styrofoam bowls and sterile plastic gloves. Even if you know that students often share their food and candy outside your classroom, you want to make every effort to do this correctly. You may also want to talk to your administrators about this type of lab. If they walk into your room while you are doing this lab and they were not made aware of it you could have problems. I have had the principal walk into the room while I was doing this lab and I had only told the assistant principal about the lab, but the principal fortunately thought it was great!

I told the class we would do other "edible" labs in the future and we would.