A class of students gathered data concerning which canteen foods were most often thrown in garbage. As a result of these efforts, certain items were removed from the regular menu.

Question

1. What do you think did the students do to gather the needed data?

2. How did they know which foods were most often thrown in the garbage?

3. If you were to do the same, how will you do it?

Answer 1

1. What do the students do to gather the data?

They looked in the garbage bins after lunch. They checked what food was left uneaten and thrown away. They counted or wrote down how much of each food was wasted.

2. How did they know which foods were thrown away the most?

They counted the leftover pieces or plates of each food. The food that had the highest number (most pieces thrown away) was the one wasted the most.

3. If I did the same, how would I do it?

1. After lunch, I would look in the trash cans.
2. I would count how many pieces of each food (like rice, sandwich, fruit,) were thrown away.
3. I would write the numbers in a simple list or table.
4. The food with the biggest number is the one thrown away most often.
5. Then I would tell the canteen to stop serving that food.