TASTE THE RAINBOW

Skittles are a popular fruit candy with the slogan “Taste the Rainbow”. This catchphrase suggests
that each skittle provides a unique fruit experience with every bite. Today, we are going to test
the company’s claim and provide either evidence and reasoning, or rebuttal their claim using
mathematical and scientific processes.

Materials
1. A small cup for each pair
2. Skittles
3. One Activity Sheet
4. A laptop
5. Cardstock Paper

Before we begin, Let’s define a few terms. Use your own knowledge or research the definition of
the following words:
Probability:
the extent to which something is probable; the likelihood of something happening or being the
case.

Bias:
prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a
way considered to be unfair.

Blind Study:
A study that is done where the patient or subject does not know what is going on or what
they are receiving

Independent Event:
An independent event is something that occurs that has no outside interference or
dependance

Dependent Event:
An event where the action is dependable or influenced by an outside force.

Now, we are going to PREDICT what will occur when we perform this experiment. Think back
to prior experiences with Skittles. Predict if you think you will be able to differentiate the flavors
of skittles through taste. Explain why you decided to make this prediction.
I do not think I will be able to predict the taste of the skittles because I usually do not eat skittles
one at a time but rather eat them all at once.

Procedures
1) With ONE partner, decide who will be the taster and recorder. Don’t worry, you both will
be able to taste and record!
2) Each pair will have a cup with 10 skittles. Each cup will have 2 of each of the original
flavors: Strawberry, Orange, Lemon, Grape, and Lime.
3) The taster will begin by Closing their eyes and Plugging their nose. Why are we doing
this?
To make sure that the taster cannot tell what the color is without tasting the skittle.

4) As the taster eats one Skittle, they will guess what flavor it is. The recorder will either
mark that they are “correct” or “incorrect” in the proper table.
5) Once all 10 are eaten and recorded, the roles will flip and step 2-4 will be repeated.

Pre-Questions:
1) If Skittles have unique flavors, out of 10 skittles, how many skittle flavors should
one be able to guess correctly?
They should not be able to guess because the skittles are randomized and can be out of order, so
there is no minimum number of skittles that are guessed correctly.
 2) If Skittles have no unique flavors, what is the probability that the taster will guess
the flavor correctly, assuming that they are tasting the FIRST skittle.
There is no chance they will get it right because the only thing to determine the color of the
skittle is taste. If there is no unique taste, then the guesser will have no idea.

Data Table – Record Below when you are recording the taster.
Number of Correct Number of Incorrect
8 2

Questions for the Recorder

1) What do you notice about the data in the above table after you record all 10 skittles? Is it
what you expected?
No, it is not what I expected because I thought guessing the skittles would be very difficult.

2) Record the number of Correct on the board.

There are 8 correct on the board.

Questions for the Taster

1) As you were tasting the Skittles, were there flavors you COULD differentiate?
Yes there were colors I could differentiate because of sourness content

2) Was the taste what you were expecting?

Some of them I was expecting while others I had no idea tasted the way they did.
Post-Questions:
1) Observe the class’s responses on the board. Why are we looking at everyones’ results
versus just your results?
Looking at everyone’s results can show the average number guessed correctly as well as how
many people did good or bad.
2) Why was it important to have an equal number of flavors in the cup when you first
started tasting? How could that bring in bias?
It was important because there would be an equal amount so the taster could use process of
elimination. It also ensured there was to many of the same color for each taster.

3) Why was it important to perform a blind study here?

So the taster could not know the skittle before it was put into the mouth.

4) Look back at your prediction. Based on the data you and your class collected, were you
correct? Provide the evidence and reasoning that either supports your evaluation of the
prediction.
I was partially correct. My partner and I got good marks on guessing the skittles while other
classmates did not do well at all.

5) What are some other factors of the Skittle that might help differentiate the types? Think
about what we did today to focus on the taste.
The sourness of each flavored skittle was different. The yellow was most sour while the purple
was not sour at all.

6) Based on what you have done today, think about the importance of questioning claims.
Why must we question simple phrases like “Taste the Rainbow”? What if we didn’t
question things?
If we didn’t question things, we would have the wrong information and is important to do your
own research to make sure whatever you are supporting is best for you.
 Card Stock Summary
You will be presenting your findings in a brief Summary on Card Stock paper. One Card Stock
Summary per pair. On this paper, you should include:
1) A title that reflects the experiment
2) A small summary of your results. What did you learn about company claims?
3) Include a Claim,Evidence,Reasoning, and maybe a Rebuttal from this experiment. You
can approach the claim of the company or the claim you are making from the results of
the experiment.
4) A table or visual (for example: a graph) showing data from the experiment.