Portage High School Students Explore the Variation of Color in Packages of Candy

PHS-MandMs-Experement-Collage-04-09-15How does the M&M Mars company determine the amount of each candy color in each package of M&Ms? Is it random or by formula? Mr. Kappes’ PLTW Introduction to Engineering and Design classes at Portage High School are studying Statistics and learning about “central tendencies”, “variations” and “distribution”. To make the topic practical and fun, students conducted a statistical analysis on individual bags of M&Ms to answer that question. After inventorying the quantity and colors of M&Ms in each package, students created an Xcel spreadsheet and entered the class data. The data was broken down to calculate “Mean”, “Median”, “Mode” and “Standard Deviation”.

Students then produced a “Histogram” to visualize the frequency of the color distribution. In the end, the data collection and ensuing analysis provided for great discussion and learning of Statistics. Interestingly enough, orange is the most popular M&M color. Of the 6 different colors in each package, orange made up 25% of all colors. And to answer the initial question: The classes concluded while each bag of M&M’s is unique and appeared random, on a whole, M&M’s has a formula for their product.