The Penny Lab

Students will design an investigation to collect and analyze data, determine results, write a justification and make a presentation using U.S. pennies.

Paired student teams will determine the mass of 50 U.S. pennies. Students will also collect other data from each penny such as minted year and observable appearance. Students will be expected to organize/represent their data into tables, histograms and other informational structures appropriate for reporting all data for each penny. Students will be expected to consider the data, determine trends, and research information in order to make a claim that explains trends in data from minted U.S. pennies.

Hopefully, student data reports will support the knowledge that the metallic composition of the penny has changed over the years. Different compositions can have significantly different masses. A sufficiently random selection of hundreds of pennies across the class should allow the students to discover trends in the data to suggest the years in which the composition changed.
Resource ID#: 127980 Type: Lesson Plan
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General Information

Subject(s): Mathematics, Science
Grade Level(s): 6
Intended Audience: Educators educators
Suggested Technology: Document Camera, Graphing Calculators, Computers for Students, Internet Connection, Interactive Whiteboard, Basic Calculators, Microsoft Office
Instructional Time: 3 Hour(s)
Keywords: mass, penny, measurement, data, histogram, mean, median, mode, range
Instructional Component Type(s): Lesson Plan
Resource Collection: FCR-STEMLearn Physical Sciences

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