Update on Math Sampling Project

A while ago I mentioned that we were doing some serious data collection in our classroom. The children my math group have been "sampling" - a technique that is used in statistics to gather information about a lot of people or things without testing each one. You can refresh your memory by clicking HERE.

In our cereal investigation, we found that ON AVERAGE, a family would have to purchase 13 boxes of cereal to get all six toys offered. Lots of discussion happened about whether or not this was a good idea, what toys would be most interesting to collect, etc. It is very challenging for 1st and 2nd graders to explain their reasoning, but it is an important skill to practice.

As it happened, we weren't the only ones to wonder about this. Another blogger sent me some interesting information about cereal box toys, and I plan on sharing this with my math students this morning. Our data was similar, but not exactly, like the much larger sample. I will pose this as a "I wonder why" question today. 

Our data collection sheets

Maddy's letter to "Mrs. Oats"