Maura McKenzie

1/31/14
Survive the Village
Write-Up
Purpose:
The purpose of this lab was to explore exponential decay as well as theoretical,
statistical, and experimental yield.
Hypothesis:
We predicted that because the wedge on our paper plate looked about one sixth of
the plate, and we were trying to find the amount that stayed alive not died, the equation
5x
y 100( )
for this experiment would be
6 .
Materials:
For this experiment we needed:
-A Dixie cup full of m&ms
-A plate with wedge indicated
-Protractor
Procedure:
1) Measure angle of indicated wedge
2) Count m&ms in Dixie cup
3) Toss/empty m&ms on plate
4) Remove m&ms touching the wedge
5) Count remaining m&ms
6) Repeat until there arent any m&ms left
7) Record data
8) Find fractions, percentages, the average percentage, and the average fraction
Data Collection and Calculations:
ADay
ADay
Weeks Number of
Percentage Weeks Number of
Percentage
Villagers
Villagers
ADaybefore
ADaybefore
(m&ms)
(m&ms)
Remaining
Remaining
0
92
_
_
6
6
35.3%

1
78
84.4%
7
3
50%
2

45

57.7%

33.3%

32

71.1%

100%

26

81.3%

10

100%

17

65.4%

11

Average Percentage:
84.4+57.7+71.1+81.3+65.4+35.3+50+33.3+100+100=687.5/10=67.85
Average Fraction:
=

Maura McKenzie
1/31/14
Survive the Village
Data Analysis and Conclusions:

Theoretical graph

Statistical graph

Experimental graph

We decided that the statistical graph was the best fit for our results because it
passed through most of our points. Our prediction started close but wasnt close at all the
further the graph went on. We decided that the majority of the time statistical graphs
would be best because it looks at a broader spectrum.
In my See-Think-Wonder I wondered how much less the rate of decay would be,
and its about 60% smaller than the original survive the village experiment.
Discussion:
I did expect the rate of decay to be about that much smaller, but I did not expect
the y-intercept that the stat plot gave us to be as high as 161. When we did the experiment
we didnt want it to last very long so our rate of decay was probably a lot smaller than it
should have been, but we enjoyed not having to put as much data into a table.