MarRissa Nelson

Statistics 1040
Reflective Writing (ePortfolio)
12/03/14
In our statistics class we were required to determine if in a 2.17 oz. bag of skittles the
amount of candies of each color is exactly the same in every bag or if there are certain colors that are
usually more in quantity or usually less. First 21 students in a class were asked to buy and count the
number of skittles in their particular bag and record the results. Then the overall record could be
observed for findings. In doing this there was many applicable life lessons to be learned about problem
solving.
Creating a hypothesis was one of the first things to be done in our class experiment. In my own
career field of nursing having a hypothesis is key to the care and help of your patients. You must know
signs and symptoms of common illnesses. By knowing these sign you are able to hypothesize about what
the problem may be. An example of this may be a patient that is sweating but yet has chills. You may
hypothesize that the patient may have a fever. Then you have to test your hypothesis by checking the
patients temperature and record the findings. This is exactly what we did with our bags of skittles. We
came up with a hypothesis, tested out claim, and then observed/recorded our findings.
In life you not only have to observe findings but you have to determine a conclusion based on
finding. We were able to conclude that in the skittles experiment there was more red candies in most
bags than any other color. In my case when I have found that my patient has a fever I must do the
proper procedure in order to help the patients fever lower. If that doesnt work then you have to
hypothesize again at what you think may solve the problem and start over again.
Although one may think that learning statistics on bags of skittles may not have any relativity to
life, it indeed does. We are able to work on problem solving skills such as creating and testing a

hypothesis, observe findings, and solving problems based on finding. Weather one realizes statistics
problems such as the one described above are given in order to learn essential life lessons.