Experiment: M&M’S geometry

axis: (in mathematics) The line to the side or bottom of a graph. It is labeled to explain the graph’s meaning and the units of measurement.

clay: Fine-grained particles of soil that stick together and can be molded when wet. When fired under intense heat, clay can become hard and brittle. That’s why it’s used to fashion pottery and bricks.

data: Facts and/or statistics collected together for analysis but not necessarily organized in a way that gives them meaning. For digital information (the type stored by computers), those data typically are numbers stored in a binary code, portrayed as strings of zeros and ones.

diameter: The length of a straight line that runs through the center of a circle or spherical object, starting at the edge on one side and ending at the edge on the far side.

dimension: Descriptive features of something that can be measured, such as length, width or time.

geometry: The mathematical study of shapes, especially points, lines, planes, curves and surfaces. Geometry can also refer to the defined shape of something (such as it had a very spherical geometry).

glass: A hard, brittle substance made from silica, a mineral found in sand. Glass usually is transparent and fairly inert (chemically nonreactive). Aquatic organisms called diatoms build their shells of it.

horizontal: A line or plane that runs left to right, much as the horizon appears to do when gazing into the distance.

internet: An electronic communications network. It allows computers anywhere in the world to link into other networks to find information, download files and share data (including pictures).

manufacturing: The making of things, usually on a large scale.

model: A simulation of a real-world event (usually using a computer) that has been developed to predict one or more likely outcomes. Or an individual that is meant to display how something would work in or look on others.

online: (n.) On the internet. (adj.) A term for what can be found or accessed on the internet.

plastic: Any of a series of materials that are easily deformable; or synthetic materials that have been made from polymers (long strings of some building-block molecule) that tend to be lightweight, inexpensive and resistant to degradation. (adj.) A material that is able to adapt by changing shape or possibly even changing its function.

radius: (plural: radii) A straight line from the center to the circumference of a circle or sphere. (in physiology) The smaller of two bones in the forearm (the other is the ulna) running between the wrist and the elbow.

spherical: Adjective for something that is round (as a sphere).

statistics: The practice or science of collecting and analyzing numerical data in large quantities and interpreting their meaning. Much of this work involves reducing errors that might be attributable to random variation. A professional who works in this field is called a statistician.

three dimensional: An adjective for something that has features that can be described in three dimensions — commonly referred to as height, width and length.

tool: An object that a person or other animal makes or obtains and then uses to carry out some purpose such as reaching food, defending itself or grooming.

unique: Something that is unlike anything else; the only one of its kind.

vertical: A term for the direction of a line or plane that runs up and down, as the vertical post for a streetlight does. It’s the opposite of horizontal, which would run parallel to the ground.