We found big mixed bags of candy at really good prices ... we think. Students are asked to decide which would be the best deal and the worst deal on candy. They can also create their own mixed bags. This activity has unit pricing, philosophy of candy collecting, and Excel if you would like to use technology.
Consider starting out the activity three act style: Show kids the pictures, ask them what questions they have. Settle on "Which bag is the best deal?" Have them make a prediction. Provide them with the activity sheet that has the costs and quantities. Have them work, maybe five minutes of independent think time, so they can generate their own ideas, then five or ten minutes in small groups. Students can find the best deals either using unit rate cost, number of candies for a dollar, or by scaling up to equivalent dollar amounts (ratio table). We do not ask students to rank the deals in order from best to least, instead students are to find the best and worst deal. This should encourage students to use strategies other than finding unit rates to determine the best deal.
Encourage students to solve this problem in more than one way and give them an opportunity to share their strategies as a class, thus engaging kids in CCSS.Math.Practice.MP3 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. Candy bag invention, short and sweet, and fun!
For Adventurer members we have an Excel chart, a Word doc, solutions, and an activity PowerPoint.
Additional extension: Does it matter if we round off the costs of the candy bags?
