I'm a big fan of applying math to everyday situations. I'm also a big fan of baseball. So naturally, I thought this PowerPoint slide would be a great way to show students how math influences baseball. Baseball is a game of numbers. The stats in baseball are very telling
about how a game should go. Everywhere you look in baseball, math can
be used to determine stats, probability, percentages, and many more.
You can use a math formula to determine anything in the game, from a
pitcher's Earned Run Average (ERA) - "Innings pitched/ (earned runs/9)
and
Slugging percentage "Singles + (doubles x 2) + (triples x 3) + (HR x 4) / At Bats
Check out this link for more baseball math!
http://academics.smcvt.edu/twhiteford/Math/Alexa%20Long.pdf
Great slideshow! I think it is so important to show the practical applications in math. So many students ask the question "Why do I have to learn this?!?!". By using examples like this is a great way to show how math is used and relevant in every day situations. I think the more interesting and applicable math concepts are to the lives of our students, the deeper their understanding.
ReplyDeleteThis is very very true. Numbers are everywhere and in all sports. I find if I can relate something to sports, no matter how weak the connection is, students (especially the males) will buy into it. Your post reminds me of the movie Moneyball, which is not only a great movie, but it can definitely be shown in a math classroom. Essential the movie is about a manager who says "Why pay a superstar whose hitting avg. is 75% millions of dollars, when we can pay 3 "no-name" players, who can each hit 25%, thousands of dollars". - and how that concept revolutionized the game. And then, as you stated, you can get into probability, stats...etc. Its never ending!
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