When the budget allows, give each student in the class a full-sized bar of Hershey's chocolate. Instruct each to carefully unwrap the bar and count the number of squares; the answering being 12. Ask the students to break the bar in half leaving six squares on each piece. Encourage the students to describe how six squares on each side equals 1/2 or 6/12 of the candy bar. Allow the creativity of younger students who may be unfamiliar with fractions to give their candid explanations while older, more advanced students, may be able to accurately describe how six out of 12 pieces of chocolate equals one half by reducing the fraction. Repeat the activity for other fractional amounts.
With an introductory fraction lesson or for younger children, use a miniature Hershey's chocolate bar containing only four rectangles of chocolate to discuss quarters of a whole.
Higher-level students can configure the fractional amount of fat, carbohydrates, protein and sodium in each square of Hershey's chocolate. On each bar, the federal government requires companies to list the nutritional statistics of what a person is eating so instruct students to save their wrappers for the activity. Each Hershey's chocolate bar is approximately 43 grams in weight and the amount of protein in each bar is 3 grams. Three grams of protein total in the chocolate bar divided by 12 is 1/4. Repeat the process with other nutritional statistics. Compare the values with the daily nutritional needs for a 2,000 calorie diet.
When each student is given a chocolate bar, use the activity to figure out the fractional amount of candy in the classroom contained by girls, boys, those with brown hair and students with green eyes. Allow each student to eat a few of the chocolate rectangles and instruct them, as a class, to compute the fractions again but this time using the smaller bits of chocolate pertaining to how many rectangles each has left. As an example, if Jimmy ate three of his rectangles, Susie ate seven and Mary didn't eat any, the fraction of chocolate rectangles remaining belonging to a boy would be 9/36, 3/12 or 1/4.
When available, give each student a dry erase slate or personal piece of chalkboard and something to write with. Divide the students into teams and call out Hershey's chocolate bar scenarios challenging students to write and show the accurate fractional amount on the slate. The teacher counts the number of correct answers as points for the team. The competition questions would be word problems such as: "If Jerry ate three of his chocolate rectangles, what fraction amount remains?" The activity may also be performed on the class chalkboard, one student from each team at a time and the first student to write the correct answer gets the point.