Math 101 '" Olympic Sports Math

The Winter Olympics, much like any sports event, provides unparalleled opportunities to study math, science, geography, writing and other learning topics.

Here's an activity my wife and I just prepared focusing on this month's winter games in southwestern Canada. My wife, working her 6th grade team is actually carrying out the activity in her classes for a minimum of two scored grades.

Our main focus fro this activity was on mathematics and writing about mathematics.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• Internet
• graph paper
• computer
• television

As a student, you will be "covering" the Olympic games. Here is your assignment.

1. Learn a bit about the Olympic Games here:
http://www.vancouver2010.com/ and http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/2010/

2. Then choose an Olympic event (i.e., "sport"). See this link for starters: http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-schedule-results/

3. Research your chosen sport and find at least 5 mathematical applications involved in it. Write a brief summary of the sport and then describe each mathematical application in detail, including examples. Be sure to cite other references (at least two) that you used (internet, library books, textbooks, interviews). In my wife's class, this part of the assignment was due on Wednesday, February 24, 2010.

4. Follow the sport during the Olympics and graph and/or chart the progress of either teams or individuals (depending upon the event you have chosen).

5. Write a sports news story (as if you were covering the Olympics) each week. Include at least one science aspect of the sport and at least one map showing the locations of the medal winning countries/individuals in your chosen sport. You may choose the day on which to write it. Be sure it contains a catchy headline and adequately describes the event and the teams/individuals competing.

Here is a sample based on football. Tell about the math concepts, principles and applications in this brief article.

New Orleans Saints Win Super Bowl XLIV

The New Orleans Saints, behind 10-0 at the end of the first quarter, scored 31, mostly unanswered, points to win Super Bowl XLIV 31-17 on Sunday. The game was played in Miami, FL under mostly clear skies and temperatures in the chilly 50's.

New Orleans 0 6 10 15 31

Indianapolis 10 0 7 0 17

Saints' Quarterback Drew Brees threw 32 completed passes during Super Bowl XLIV for a total of 281 yards. This tied the record for the number of completions during a Super Bowl game. Brees was honored with MVP (Most Valuable Player) status for his efforts.

This was the first time in 44 Super Bowl events that the New Orleans Saints even played; the team has only been in existence for 42 Super Bowl games. The fact that they won handily is testimony to the team building efforts of coach Sean Payton.

Although they lost, the Indianapolis Colts played well and even made an incredible goal line defense late in the second period. Their "immovable force met irresistible object" prevented New Orleans from scoring after 4 plays deep inside the "Red Zone."

Penalty minutes were limited with Indianapolis receiving 45 yards worth of infractions and New Orleans 19.

According to the National Football League, Super Bowl XLIV set a TV audience viewing record. It was estimated (through real-time polling) that 106.5 million people watched the game.

Sources:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/feb/08/super-bowl-xliv-stats/

http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/44

http://www.squidoo.com/super-bowl?utm_campaign=direct-discovery%20=sidebar%20=Ceph

Myself - I watched the entire game.

6. This part of the assignment was due on Monday, March 8, 2010, approximately one week after the Olympics ends.