Fantasy Football and Mathematics : A Resource Guide for Teachers and Parents, Grades 5 and Up

by Flockhart, Dan

• ISBN13: 9780787994440
• ISBN10: 0787994448
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-03-23
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Summary

A great new way to getall kids excited about math! Fantasy sports are a hit worldwide, and now teachers and parents can take advantage of this phenomenon to give students a reason to look forward to doing math. The games and activities in Fantasy Football and Mathematics will get kids excited about learning and practicing math, even if they're not big sports fans. With this fun-filled educational resource you can teach one math concept or many, and plan lessons that can last for a week or a whole season. Here's how it works. Students create fantasy teams by picking real-life professional football players, following their players' statistics, and calculating their team's total points using algebraic or nonalgebraic methods specifically designed to complement the math skills they are learning. The instructions are easy to follow, and the dynamic hands-on games address all learning styles and abilities. The book includes more than 100 scoring systems that give you the flexibility to customize the content according to your students' skill levels. In addition to the basic Fantasy Football game, the book contains easy-to-use lesson plans, reproducible worksheets for extra practice on 46 different math concepts, graphing activities, quizzes, a pre- and post- test, and an answer key. More than just a fun way to learn math, the book's activities also support the NCTM Math Standards. "I had students' eyes light up like never before when I told them we were going to play Fantasy Football in math class! The students who have never been successful at anything in math are now my experts helping other students. They are so proud of themselves!" --Julie Myers, Lyman Moore Middle School,Portland, Maine "Playing Fantasy Football and Mathematics from a preservice teacher perspective allows my secondary math methods students to see the power of teaching math with motivational and mathematically sound materials. My students are very engaged in Fantasy Football." --Dana Pomykal Franz, assistant professor, Curriculum and Instruction, Mississippi State University Also available in the Fantasy Sports and Mathematics series: Fantasy Baseball and Mathematics Fantasy Basketball and Mathematics Fantasy Soccer and Mathematics

Author Biography

Dan Flockhart, M.Ed., is a former middle school math teacher who incorporated fantasy sports into his math curriculum. He presents his innovative method of teaching at conventions and maintains a Web site for the series at http://www.fantasysportsmath.com.

Table of Contents

About This Book: FAQs

About the Author

Acknowledgments

Introduction

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards and Expectations Addressed

Computing Weekly Points

How to Play Fantasy Football and Mathematics

Selecting Players

Permanent Teams with Salary Cap

Different Teams Each Week

Choosing Your Own Team

Trades

Injuries and Bye Weeks

Reading Box Scores

Collecting Data

Computing Points

Non-Algebraic Method

Algebraic Method

Additional Scoring Systems

Total Points Equations

Explaining Fantasy Football and Mathematics to Students: Handouts

Description and Rules

Fantasy Team Roster

How to Read Box Scores

How to Collect Data

How to Compute Points: Default Scoring System

Practice in Computing Points Using the Default Scoring System

Default Total Points Equation

Practice in Computing Points Using the Default Total Points Equation

Weekly Scoring Worksheet

Weekly Scoring Worksheet Using Total Points Equations

Total Points Week-by-Week

Using Graphs

Graphing Activities

Circle Graphs

Stacked-Bar and Multiple-Line Graphs

Stacked-Bar Graph

Multiple-Line Graph

Additional Options for Graphing Activities

Using Practice Worksheets and Quizzes

Practice Worksheets

Number Sense

Rounding Whole Numbers and Expanded Notation

Least Common Multiple and Greatest Common Factor

Operations with Whole Numbers

Equivalent Fractions

Patterns and Multiples

Ordering Fractions and Decimals

Rounding Decimals

Improper Fractions, Mixed Numbers, and Reciprocals

Adding and Subtracting Fractions

Stacked-Bar Graphs

Multiplying and Dividing Fractions

Rounding Fractions

Multiplying and Dividing Decimals

Unit Rates

Converting Fractions, Decimals, and Percentages

Ratios

Percentage of Price Increase and Decrease

Finding a Percentage of a Number

Proportions

Ratios and Proportions

Factoring

Interest, Depreciation, and Tax

Prime Factorization

Scientific Notation

Ordering Integers, Fractions, and Decimals

Operations with Integers

Permutations and Combinations

Algebra and Functions

Unit Conversions

Evaluating Algebraic Expressions

Properties of Mathematics

Graphing on a Number Line

Linear Equations (A)

Linear Equations (B)

Measurement and Geometry

Area and Perimeter of Rectangles

Golden Rectangles

Functions

Area and Ci

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