Introduction: You have played games all your life. You know some playing fields are larger than others. (Imagine playing football on a tennis court) You will discover the dimensions of the different sports and compute the area of the playing fields.
Prior Knowledge: You need to know that Area = length times width, know how to create scatter plot, know how to convert yards and meters to feet.
Grade Level: 4-5
Task: Look up the field dimensions and record the data, compute the area of each field, create a scatter plot, measure the dimensions a the field your school uses for sports and compute the area. Compare your school's dimensions to regulation.
Resources:
U.S. OUTDOOR VOLLEYBALL RULEBOOK
Freezone has pages containing rules for basketball, football, and soccer.
AARA Racquetball: Rule 2.1 Court Specifications
About the Game of Polo - The Rules
Process: Access Freezone and continue the search for the dimensions of individual sports. Use other URL s for other sports. Record data. Compute area of each field. Measure the field at your school. Record data. Compare your field to regulation fields.
Learning Advice: Organize the scatter plot with the vertical axis being the width and the horizontal axis being the length. In groups, one person can create the scatter plot, one can compute the areas, one can measure the field and one can access the Internet. Check computations with calculator.
Evaluation:
4- Data table is complete. Computations are accurate. Questions are answered correctly.3- Data table is complete. Computations are reasonable. Questions are answered.
2- Data table is partially complete. Correct formula is used.
1- Little or no progress made in completion of assignment.
Extensions: Use the same data to compare perimeters. Create scale models of the playing fields. Create games to play on the scale models. Algebra students can determine linear equation for the line of "best fit" of the scatter plot. Give the area and length and compute the width.
Conclusion: By researching the Internet you discovered the dimensions of a variety of playing fields and calculated the area. Brainstorm with your group why a football field is the size it is.
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California Mathematics Academic Standards:
Grade 4:
Measurement and Geometry
1.0 Students understand perimeter and area.1.1 measure the area of rectangular shapes by using appropriate units, square centimeter2, square meter2, square kilometer2, square inches2, square yard2, square mile2
1.2 recognize that the rectangles that have the same area can have different perimetersStatistics, Data Analysis and Probability
1.0 Students organize, represent, and interpret numerical and categorical data and clearly communicate their findings.1.3 interpret one- and two-variable data graphs to answer questions about a situationGrade 5:
Measurement and Geometry
1.0 Students understand and compute the volumes and areas of simple objects.1.1 derive and use the formula for the area of right triangles and of parallelograms by comparing it with the formula for the area of a rectangles (i.e., two of the same triangles make a parallelogram with twice the area; a parallelogram is compared with a rectangle of the same area by cutting and pasting a right triangle on the parallelogram)Statistics, Data Analysis and Probability
1.0 Students display, analyze, compare, and interpret different data sets, including data sets of different size.1.4 identify ordered pairs of data from a graph and interpret the meaning of the data in terms of the situation depicted by the graph
NCTM 5-8:
STANDARD 1: MATHEMATICS AS PROBLEM SOLVING
STANDARD 2: MATHEMATICS AS COMMUNICATION
STANDARD 3: MATHEMATICS AS REASONING
STANDARD 4: MATHEMATICAL CONNECTIONS
STANDARD 5: NUMBER AND NUMBER RELATIONSHIPS
STANDARD 7: COMPUTATION AND ESTIMATION
STANDARD 8: PATTERNS AND FUNCTIONS
STANDARD 13: MEASUREMENT