October 2014Name: ______

Colorful Candies Student Sheet

Data Collection Procedure in brief:

  1. Pick up Cup A and pour the candies onto the paper plate positioned underneath the lamp.
  2. Simultaneously, start the stopwatch and begin removing all of the red candies, placing them back into the cup (refrain from looking at the candies in the cup at this time).
  3. After you believe you have removed all the red candies, stop the stopwatch.
  4. Pour the removed candies onto the table.
  5. Use the flashlight to check the color of the candies (or wait for overhead lights to come on).
  6. Record the time, no. of red removed, total removed, and total red in the tables below for each station (be sure to record data in the table matching the station).
  7. Repeat steps 1-7with a different group member sorting each of the other Cups B, C, and D.
  8. Calculate Selection Accuracy and Completion Accuracy.
  9. Move to the next station and repeat all steps.

Explanation of variables:

  • Time: The amount of time (in seconds) it takes for the sorter to finish the trial.
  • No. of red removed: The number of actual red candies that were removed from plate and put into the collection cup.
  • Total removed: The total number of candies removed from the plate and put into the collection cup. This includes the No. of red removed and all other candies.
  • Total red: The total number of actual red candies that were present in the experiment. This number is the No. of red removed, plus any other red candies that were left behind on the plate.
  • Selection Accuracy (%): This is calculated as
  • Completion Accuracy (%): This is calculated as
  • Time per red candy: The time spent during the trial finding and accurately removing each red candy during the trial. This is calculated as

Pre-Data Collection Questions:

  1. What is the research question? What are we testing?
  1. What are the independent and dependent variables? (List each)
  1. Which is the control group,and what are the treatment groups?
  1. What is meant by “selection accuracy?” (Hint: See the formula on page 1).
  1. What trend do you expect to seefor selection accuracy? Compare the control and treatments.
  1. What is meant by “completion accuracy?” (Hint: See the formula on page 1).
  1. What trend do you expect to see for completion accuracy? Compare the control and treatments.
  1. What does “time per red candy” show, as compared to just “time?”
  1. What trend do you expect to see for each variable? Compare the control and treatments.
  1. Why do four different people perform the selection task at each station? (Hint: Think about what might happen if the same person performed the selection task four times in a row).

Data Collection

STATION (Circle one): WHITE RED GREEN BLUE
Cup / No. of red removed / Total candies removed / Total red candies / Time (s) / Selection Accuracy (%) / Completion Accuracy (%) / Time per red candy
A
B
C
D
STATION (Circle one): WHITE RED GREEN BLUE
Cup / No. of red removed / Total candies removed / Total red candies / Time (s) / Selection Accuracy (%) / Completion Accuracy (%) / Time per red candy
A
B
C
D
STATION (Circle one): WHITE RED GREEN BLUE
Cup / No. of red removed / Total candies removed / Total red candies / Time (s) / Selection Accuracy (%) / Completion Accuracy (%) / Time per red candy
A
B
C
D
STATION (Circle one): WHITE RED GREEN BLUE
Cup / No. of red removed / Total candies removed / Total red candies / Time (s) / Selection Accuracy (%) / Completion Accuracy (%) / Time per red candy
A
B
C
D

Data Analysis

Directions: Use the equations below to calculate the variables for each station:

Station / Avg. Selection Accuracy (%) / Avg. Completion Accuracy (%) / Avg. Time per Trial (s) / Avg. Time per Red Candy Removed (s)
White
Red
Green
Blue

Data Visualization

Directions: Use the Data Analysis Table above to complete the graphs and answer the questions on pages 5–8.

For each graph, you must

  • Create a descriptive title
  • Put the independent variable on the X-axis (see Question 2)
  • Put the dependent variable(s) on the Y-axis (see Question 2)
  • Label your axes and include units
  • Create a legend, if necessary

Use and attach additional graph paper if needed.

  1. Driving Question: How do colored lights affect the average selection accuracyand average completion accuracy of separating red candies from other candies? (Hint: Use a double bar graph).

  1. Describe how your results were different (or the same)from what you predicted (see Question 5 and 7).
  1. Describe any unexpected patterns that appeared in your data. Why do you think that happened?
  1. Using evidence from your graph, answer the driving question: How do colored lights affect the selection accuracyand completion accuracy of separating red candies from other candies?
  1. Driving Question: Do colored lights affect the average time spent in separating red candies from other candies?(Show both average time per trial and average time per red candy).
  1. Describe how your results were different (or the same) from what you predicted (see Question9).
  1. Describe any unexpected patterns that appeared in your data. Why do you think that happened?
  1. Using evidence from your graph, answer the driving question: Do colored lights affect the time spent in separating red candies from other candies?
  1. Driving Question: Did cup order affect the results? (Choose either completion accuracy, selection accuracy, or time.)
  1. Describe how your results were different (or the same) from what you predicted (see Question 10).
  1. Describe any unexpected patterns that appeared in your data. Why do you think that happened?
  1. Using evidence from your graph, answer the driving question: Did cup order affect the results?

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