#1495. Lifesaving Fractions

Mathematics, level: Elementary
Posted Thu Jan 6 11:35:32 PST 2000 by Jennifer Miller (jbjm144@aol.com).
Janney Elem, Washington, DC
Materials Required: A pack of lifesavers for each pair of children
Activity Time: 30 minutes
Concepts Taught: determining parts and whole, graphing

This is a class of 24 second graders. I paired them up and gave each pair a pack of lifesavers. (Fruit flavored, different colors!!) Each pair has graph paper and pencils.

The students open the pack of lifesavers and graph the different colors. ( graphing should be covered before this lesson) Then the groups determine what fraction each color represents. Have the children share their work and then graph the class results. It is interesting to see the colors most often in a pack of lifesavers!
You can extend the lesson and have the children eat some of the lifesavers and rework the results.
Have fun!