Fantasy Baseball and Math for Webster County

1. Fantasy Baseball and Mathfor Webster County by Technolang

2. TechnoLang Players Bethany Stiefel Matthew White Jane Edwards Cliff Kicklighter ZenaMaNais

3. What is Fantasy Baseball? “Fantasy baseball is a game where players manage imaginary baseball teams based on the real-life performance of baseball players, and compete against one another using those players' statistics to score points.” Wikipedia

4. “The State of Mathematics" • In 2000, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) ranked Georgia’s math scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP): • 4th grade math scores: 33rd • 8th grade math scores: 30th SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

5. “The State of Mathematics" • In 2009, the NCES ranked Georgia’s math scores on the NAEP : • 4th grade math scores: 40th • 8th grade math scores: 39th SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

6. Details, Details, Details • Grade levels • Objectives • The Creator • Time period • Costs

7. Who wants to play? • All students in grades 3-12 will participate in the Fantasy Baseball and mathematics competition • Teachers of younger grade levels may also choose to participate on a slightly less involved levels • Teachers in other content areas may wish to scaffold

8. Objectives of Fantasy Baseball and Math “Fantasy sports are making a major impact on math education. The programs are being used in elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and higher education. The games are eliminating discipline problems, reducing absenteeism, helping teachers to be more effective, and changing student attitudes toward math. Empirical data collected by the University of Mississippi (results can be found below) indicate that fantasy sports are playing a major role in helping students to be successful, as teachers report that grades, enthusiasm, and test scores are all higher.” (Obtained from fantasysportsmath.com)

9. Dan Flockhart • Creator of Fantasy Sports and Mathematics Series • Taught middle school mathematics for 11 years in the San Francisco Bay Area • Has over 25 years experience playing fantasy sports • Taught at Northern California Community College • Made a documentary in 2008 showing the impact of fantasy sports in the learning environment • Recently finished a new book on ethics, culture, and education

10. Costs Materials • Teacher Guidebook + Student Handbook ≈ $40 (Based on recent purchase at Georgia Council for Teachers of Math conference, both seen listed on Amazon for less than $10 for each) • Times 3 (1 set for each grade level) ≈ $120 • Times 4 (Three additional sports, optional)≈ $480 Extras (optional) • Food for Parents Night ≈ $500 • Trohies and/or other prizes for winners

11. Time Frame • Major League Baseball begins April 5, 2010 • 1 day each week will be spent in class computing scores • Game will wrap up during the final week of school • Winners announced at awards ceremony

12. Description and Rules • How to Select Players • Handouts • How to Read Box Scores • How to Collect Data • How to Compute Points

13. Description and Rules How to Select Players • Option 1 • Permanent Teams with Salary Cap • Option 2 • Different Teams each Week Parents night is intended to be “draft night” but if parents are unable to attend, teachers have been known to provide randomly selected teams for students who needed them.

14. Description and Rules Handouts • Fantasy Team Roster • Practice in Computing Points • Weekly Scoring Worksheet • Total Points Week By Week

15. Description and Rules How to Read Box Scores • Categories Scored • Runs- r • Hits- h • Runs Batted In- rbi • Bases on Balls- bb (i.e. walk) • Strikeouts- so • Batting average- avg • Homerun- HR • Error- E

16. Description and Rules How to Collect Data • Webster County doesn’t have a daily newspaper • Online resources • Teacher brings paper once a week • www.fantasysportsmath.com • Students may choose to bring paper from home (with parents permission)

17. Description and Rules How to Compute Points Using the default scoring system, how many points did Albert Pujols earn against the Angels on June 10, 2007? Express the answer as a decimal rounded to the nearest thousandth. • Answer (Non-algebraic method) • 2 home runs = 1 (1/2 for each home run) • 2 runs scored = 2/3 (1/3 for each run scored) • 5 runs batted in (rbi) = 5/3 (1/3 for each rbi) • 2 hits = 2/6 (1/6 for each hit) • 0 stolen bases = 0 • 1 base on balls = 1/7 • 1 strikeout = -1/21 • 0 errors = 0 • 1 + 2/3 + 5/3 + 2/6 + 0 + 1/7 – 1/21 = 158/42 = 3 32/42 = 3.762

18. Description and Rules How to Compute Points cont. • Answer (Algebraic method) • Use 1/2 (H) + 1/3 (R + I) + 1/6 (B) – 1/7 (S + W) – 1/21 (K + E) = T • 1/2 (2) + 1/3 (7) + 1/6 (2) – 1/7 (1) – 1/21 (1) = 158/42 = 3 32/42 = 3.762

19. Technology • Blogs • Voicethread • Google Docs • Microsoft Office Suite • Moviemaker/iMovie • Etc.

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