Thanksgiving STEM challenge / Math project

Item description

Thanksgiving STEM challenge / Math project / Fractions / Percentages / Graphing

Are you looking for a fun Thanksgiving STEM activity?

We all enjoy a big Thanksgiving feast and it’s not the same without the side dishes!

The
challenge is to find out what the most popular side dish is, and to use
this information to do calculations, create graphs and provide feedback
on the data collected.

This STEM project is suitable for
students learning about fractions, percentages, ratios and graphs (Grade
5 and up). It is an introduction to data collection and statistics.

Data collection (Survey)

Data collection is the process of gathering and measuring information to answer specific research questions.

Statistics

Statistics
is a branch of mathematics that deals with this data that has been
collected. This numerical data is then organized to analyze at a later
stage.

Some students don’t see how useful fractions,
percentages and ratios can be. This STEM challenge makes doing these
calculations fun, engaging and lets them put their new skills to
practical use

Tasks include

The first task will be to make a prediction on the most popular dish by using math and logic.

Students will then be required to do a survey by asking 10 individuals their favorite side dish and calculate the totals.

With this information students will be able to graph their findings on various different graphs (pie chart, bar graph etc.)

Once
the students have collected the required data they can then use this
information to work out the fractions, percentages and ratios.

The last task will be to write a summary and conclusion based on their findings.

What is STEM?

STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (as subjects of study).

STEM helps students learn while doing fun practical activities.

Practicing these subjects from a young age will help develop a love for STEM subjects while building a foundation of knowledge.

STEM subjects teach students how to think critically and solve problems.