Hi, this is my first year to participate in the Challenge also. It looks like so much fun. I have 8th graders and invited some students to participate while requiring it of another class. How is everyone else doing it, as part of classwork or extra curricular.
RE: the plastic container.
I believe the formed plastic container for 20 chips will have a fairly high mass and a volume that will prove difficult to measure to 3 significant figures, therefore, removing itself from the packaging. So I'm letting my kids use it if they want. Inquiry, inquiry, inquiry