This activity provides a fun and exciting method through which children can explore and internalize graphing skills. The lesson takes approximately sixty minutes and is most effectively used in connection with Valentine's Day. The teacher brings to class a glass or plastic decanter full of a 12 oz. 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. Next, the students record their color counts on the student recording sheet.
Students finally graph their results on the final results graph.
Have the children figure out number sentences about the graph. Post their ideas on a chart near the graph. 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.