Using candy is a great way to build your confidence with statistics, and there's usually no problem about wasted resources afterward, either. Good quality analysis requires collecting useful data, and that skill takes practice. With the help of gummi bears, we'll try out a cause-and-effect diagram, a tool you can use to help plan your data collection so that you can find out what you really want to know. The most popular form of this tool is known as the fishbone diagram.

For collecting data, gummi bears have nice properties. Compared to hard, circular candy, they don't bounce or roll very much. I'm grateful to Cobb and Miao for coming up with Bears in Space, which is still one of the most fun ways to use candy to learn statistics.

To do the experiment, you will need:
• 10 gummi bears (more if you want to eat any)
• A tape measure or other convenient device for measuring distance
• A yardstick or other convenient launch ramp
• Two Popsicle sticks
• One pencil
• One rubber band (unless you break it, in which case you'll need more)
• Four thick books

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