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Title
M&M Mysteries

Problem Scenario
The question/prblem I am trying to answer is to see if being patient effects a students grade average **Broad Question** How does being patient effect a students grade average?

Specific Question
How does denial of immediate gratification impact a students overall G.P.A ?

Hypothesis
Those students who wait patiently until I return have a higher G.P.A than those who ate the M&M's before I returned.

Graph of Hypothesis


**Variables**

Independent Variable:
M&M's given

Dependent Variable:
Number of M&M's Eaten

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:
What I say to them

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation
denial of immediate gratification- self-denial G.P.A- grade point average

General Plan
I will first be working on my wiki page, explaining my variables and filling out whatever can be done. Then I will be conducting this experiment at school, in a quiet room. I will be measuring how many M&M's the students eat before I return. I may run into some problems, for example the students getting impatient and coming out of the room. To resolve this issue I will have to do the test over with those students. The concerns I have for this project are, allergies. To resolve this concern I will be asking the students if they are allergic to any substances. At the end of this project, i will be completing my wiki page and making finale changes to my wiki page.

Potential Problems And Solutions
The Problems and solutions I have are, Students coming out of the room before I return. To resolve this issue, I will have to re-do the test with those students. Another Potential Problem I have is the Students unable to define their G.P.A. To resolve this Issue, I will be logged onto MMS and give the students a calculator to figure out their G.P.A. And the last potential problem I may run into while conducting this experiment is none of the students eating the M&M';s while i'm gone. to resolve this issue, I will have to

Safety Or Environmental Concerns
The safety concerns I have for my project are, Allergies to the contents of the M&M's, Students may choke on the M&M's and Students may be unable to have sugar.

Experimental Design
(add the correct headings from the experimental design page before beginning)

Resources and Budget Table

 * Items || Number Needed || Where I will get this || Cost ||
 * Digital Camera || 1 || Home || $0 ||
 * Computer || 1 || School || $0 ||
 * Plate || 1 || Home || $0 ||
 * Pencil || 1 || Home || $0 ||
 * M&M's || 42oz bag || Walmart || $8.98 ||

Detailed Procedure
**Diagram**
 * 1) Find a quiet room with no distractions, to work in
 * 2) Hide a hidden camera so you can see the student
 * 3) set 10 M&M's on a paper towel
 * 4) Pace the paper towel on a table in the quiet room
 * 5) set the student in the room, and in a chair (Make observations along the way)
 * 6) Tell them "There are ten M&M's in front of you. You have two choices, you can either eat them now you can wait until I get back and I will give you ten more so you have twenty"
 * 7) Leave the room for 10 minutes
 * 8) Come back and count the number of M&M's they've eaten (if not give them ten more)
 * 9) Ask them for their G.P.A
 * 10) Watch the video
 * 11) Collect data in a lab journal
 * 12) Make graphs of the data
 * 13) Complete wiki page
 * 14) Go To The Science Fair!!!

**Photo List**

Observations
1. People use different techniques to distract themselves~ a. Looking around the room b. smelling the M&M's c. fiddling with the table d. singing e. waving/talking to the camera f. sorting M&M's by color g. whistling h. throwing Lima beans i. playing with their hair j. knocking on the table k.watching out the table l.making patterns/designs with the M&M's m. counting the M&M's  n. get up and walk around o. making noises p. trying to talk with others testing q. clapping r. playing a beat on their legs s. talking to themselves t. puts hands in pockets 2. The 7th graders tested, were the only ones who ate the M&M's

**Time Line** Wednesday Feb. 13- Start the project, make observations and collect data Thursday Feb. 14- Continue the project, make observations and collect data Friday Feb. 14- Continue the project, make observations and collect data (Do the same, for each day you continue to work on the project)

Data Table
__ How does Denial Of immediate Gratification effect a students overall G.P.A? __
 * Number Of M&M's given || Number of eaten M&M's || G.P.A ||

All Raw Data

 * Number Of M&M's Given || Number Of M&M's Eaten || G.P.A ||
 * 10 || 0 || 95 ||
 * 10 || 0 || 83.664 ||
 * 10 || 0 || 90.666 ||
 * 10 || 0 || 90 ||
 * 10 || 0 || 80.39 ||
 * 10 || 10 || 39.2 ||
 * 10 || 0 || 76.66 ||
 * 10 || 0 || 78.775 ||
 * 10 || 10 || 82.45 ||
 * 10 || 10 || 48.54 ||
 * 10 || 0 || 75.51 ||
 * 10 || 0 || 71.50 ||

Results
**Graphs** **Conclusion** In the end, my hypothesis was proven correct! The students who waited patiently until I returned had a higher G.P.A than those who ate the M&M's before I returned. The students who had a lower GPA than 69, had eaten the M&M's before I returned.

Discussion
In the end, I was able to answer my science fair question. Which was, How does denial of immediate gratification effect a students overall GPA. The point of this project was for the benefit of teachers, parents, and even students. This would help them to prepare themselves for the students and/or children who are impatient, and these children will have, well not so good grades. When I was conducting this experiment I noticed that only one of the 8th graders tested ate the M&M's and most of the 7th graders tested ate the M&M's. The relationship between the independent and the dependent variable was very weak. I think the experiment would have gone better if the students were younger.

**Benefit to Community and/or Science** Students, teachers and parents are all benefited from this experiment. From this test they can tell whether their child's or student grades will be high or low.

= Background Research = Being patient means to have complete control in your actions, without feeling anxious. Students grades are also affected by lack of

sleep. Some people with the lack of sleep become anxious for the day they are at school, effecting them to fail or to do bad on a test.

With the lack of sleep they get, they become impatient with others and that stresses them out throughout the day. While we're on the

topic of attitudes, your attitude also affects your grades. When your mad at something, I'm sure that's all that is on your mind, so

you're not fully aware of what you're doing. We use GPA's to detect our combined grades in school, we will also use these averages

on your resume when you apply for a job. You will use patience when you're waiting for something to arrive, and especially when

you're applying for a job. It's always a good thing to show patience when you're working with customers and when you have a good

resume for being patience with them. To find your GPA you simply add up all your grades and divide it by the number of credits you

have. But in this case, I am using the number of classes you take since we as 7th-8th graders don't use credits. We all know, that unhealthy food is more tempted by healthy food, but why? This is because fatty foods have a lot of sugar and

salt which makes it addicting. And also, if you are used to eating unhealthy foods, healthy foods will taste bland. Almost all of us

agree that we're all tempted by chocolate, which is what the M&M's I used contains. Another food that is addictive is fried foods. Its

addictive for many reasons but the main reason is that it taste good! People are more likely to eat food that they believes tastes

good than something that doesn't. There are also additives that food manufacturing companies add to their food products to make it

more addicting to the customer/consumer because it makes us crave it more.

Abstract
This experiment was very fun to conduct! It was fun because everyone wanted to be tested once they saw the M&M's, also because I got to tell a lot of people about my project after I was done and they were so excited, along with my science teacher! Everyday I tested at least two students. I would set up a camera in a hidden area in the back room. I would tell the student, " there are ten M&M's in front of you, you have two choices, you can either eat them now or you can wait until I get back and I"ll give you ten more so you'll have twenty" Most of the students I tested decided to wait until I got back. But the best part of the experiment was watching the videos. The things the students did to distract themselves was varied. But at the same time, they were hilarious. I had kids finding Lima Beans on the floor, and throwing them in the closet. I also had students making patterns with the M&M's along with sorting the M&M's by color. Students were smelling the M&M's, and some found the camera and started talking to it.