UNIT TITLE: AMERICA'S NATIONAL PASTIME

Author: William Barlog
E-Mail Address: wbarlog@plainfield.will.k12.il.us

School:Walker's Grove Elementary School: Plainfield, IL

School Home Page URL: www.plainfield.will.k12.il.us

THEME : Baseball, Sports

BROAD CONCEPT: Teamwork, Dedication, Differences

GRADES: 5

INTEGRATED SUBJECTS: History, Geography, Math, Technology, Art, and Language Arts (Writing, Reading)

UNIT GOALS AND PURPOSE: Students will use the game of baseball as a springboard to many curriculum areas including technology. Students will use the Internet as a source of information. They will use computers to assist in word processing and production. They will also use the computer to play math games related to the sport of baseball. Scanning, using a digital camera, and using programs for producing authentic presentations are also included in this unit. Students will collect information, organize it into a spreadsheet, and analyze the data for specific purposes. Throghout the 2-3 weeks for completion, the students will also learn about important historical events in the United States and use map skills to locate states, capitals, and regions in the United States and Canada. The students will also be required to measure distances on a map using a scale in several of the activities. Many math skills and concepts will be developed throughout the unit as well. These math skills include prediction, estimation, statistical analysis (mean, median, mode, etc.), basic mathematical facts and skills, and using logic and critical thinking to solve and explain math situations. We will use literature not only for a reference, but in the form of a novel. This novel will be read to teach several comprehension strategies (prediction, clarifying text and vocabulary, and summarizing). Students will also be asked to write for a variety of purposes (to inform, to entertain, for creative expression). There will also be opportunities for students to use artistic expression as a means to facilitate learning.

Assessment will be an ongoing process throughout the unit. Teachers may evaluate the students based on the performance for each activity. All of the included activities may be easily modified to meet the needs of the individual students in the classroom, as well as for the level of technology available to the teacher participating in the unit. All the activities listed have a common theme of baseball, but aren't necessarily dependent on each other as a whole. Teachers can adapt any one of the activities to a different theme to meet the needs or interests of their students. Collectively, these activities will give the students opportunities to practice important curriculum skills in a non-traditional way, without asking them to become experts on the sport of baseball. I feel that even the students who aren't extremely excited about baseball will find the activities interesting because they do not need to have a tremendous background of information about this particular sport. Many of the activities keep with ideas and concepts already included in the curriculum, but the only difference is that baseball is used as the backdrop instead of district or school selected textbooks.
 
 

TIME FRAME: 10-15 class periods (There are 11 activities included in this multi-disciplinary unit. Some of these activities will need more than one period to complete. Teachers should expect to take about 3 weeks to complete the activities described below.)
 
 

OBJECTIVES:

In this lesson, students will:

MATERIALS: STATE STANDARDS ADDRESSED BY THIS UNIT:

Standard #1: Read with understanding and fluency (English and Language Arts)

Apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to comprehend selections

Apply reading strategies to improve understanding and fluency

Comprehend a broad range of reading materials
 
 

Standard #3 : Write to communicate for a variety of purposes (English and Language Arts)

Compose well-organized and coherent writing for specific purposes and audiences

Communicate ideas in writing to accomplish a variety of purposes
 
 

Standard #5: Use Language Arts to acquire, assess, and communicate information (English and Language Arts)

Locate, organize, and use information from a variety of sources to answer questions, solve problems, and communicate ideas

Analyze and evaluate information from a variety of sources
 
 

Standard #6 : Demonstrate and apply knowledge and sense of numbers, including numeration and operations (Mathematics)

Investigate, represent and solve problems using number facts and their properties, algorithms, and relationships

Compute and estimate using mental math, paper and pencil, calculator, and computers
 
 

Standard #7: Estimate, make and use measurements of objects, quantities and relationships, and determine acceptable levels of accuracy (Mathematics)

Estimate measurements and determine acceptable levels of accuracy
 
 

Standard #10: Collect, organize, and analyze data using statistical methods, predicting results, and interpreting uncertainties using concepts of probability (Mathematics)

Organize, describe, and make predictions for existing data

Formulate questions, design data collection methods, gather and analyze data, and communicate findings
 
 

Standard #16: Understand events, trends, and individuals and movements shaping Illinois history, U.S. history, and world history (Social Science)

Understand the development of significant political events

Apply the skills of historical analysis and interpretation
 
 

Standard #18: Understand social systems, with an emphasis on the U.S.

Understand the roles and interactions of individuals and groups in society
 
 

N.C.T.M. STANDARDS ADDRESSED BY THIS UNIT:

Number and Operations Standard (3-5)

Understand numbers, ways of representing numbers, relationships among numbers, and number systems

Understand meanings of operations and how they relate to one another

Compute fluently and make reasonable estimates
 
 

Algebra Standard (3-5)

Use mathematical models to represent and understand quantitative relationships (graphs and tables)
 
 

Measurement Standard (3-5)

Understand measurable attributes of objects and the units, systems, and processes of measurement

Apply appropriate techniques, tools, and formulas to determine measurements
 
 

Data Analysis Standard for (3-5)

Formulate questions that can be addressed with data and collect, organize, and display relevant data to answer them

Select and use appropriate statistical methods to analyze data

Develop and evaluate inferences and predictions that are based on data
 
 

Problem Solving Standard (3-5)

Build new mathematical knowledge through problem solving

Solve problems that arise in mathematics and other contexts

Apply a variety of appropriate strategies to solve problems
 
 

Connections Standard (3-5)

Recognize and use connections among mathematical ideas

Recognize and apply mathematical concepts in contexts outside of mathematics
 
 

Representation Standard (3-5)

Create and use representations to organize, record, and communicate mathematical ideas
 

STUDENT ACTIVITIES WHICH WILL PROMOTE ENGAGED LEARNING:

  • In lesson 1, you will preview the unit and the theme. Tell the class that they will be using the theme of baseball to cover many of the school subject areas. There will be reading, writing, art, math, social studies (geography, history, etc.), and that we will be using technology to a large degree. The purpose of the unit is to present cirriculum topics in a way that the students will hopefully enjoy and appreciate. You may also want to have the students complete a KWL chart dealing with any ideas about baseball they currently have. After this introduction is complete, you may present a historical video about baseball to the class. The choices I suggest are any video from the "When it Was a Game; Sports of the 20th Century" series. There are at least three volumes and they are produced by Warner Entertainment. The videos run about 40 minutes to an hour each. When the video is complete, you may discuss the video with the class and see if there are any questions about what they will be doing. Students may have some insight to add from the video. You might want to ask them to compare and contrast not only baseball from the past and present, but also anything else they picked up (people's attitudes, styles, or anything else that may compare our decade to the 1960's and 1970's.
  • For lesson 2, the students will need to work on computers with Internet capabilities. If there are not enough machines for each student, they may work in groups (preferably no larger than three to a group). Have the students log on to www.cubs.com, or www.whitesox.com, if that is your preference. Have them search the page to find the information about the current schedule (are they home or away?), their current record, and finally find the information about the individual statistics and biographies of the players. Once they are at the biography page, you may ask the students some mental math questions dealing with the ages of the players. This page usually tells the birthdate, but not the age. The students can use mental math to calculate the ages of the players. They may also compare the ages of the players to each other. At this point, the students may also need calculators. You can look over the team profile to see how many right-handed batters and throwers there are, as well as the left-handed players. With the calculator, the students can calculate the percent of the team that throws right-handed or left-handed, as well as the players that bat either left-handed or right-handed. You may also find the percent of the team that is originally from a particular state. If you are studying states and regions, you may ask the class what region of the country players are from. When you return to the classroom, you may want to plot these home states on the map to measure distances. (this will be a preview to an activity that follows later)
  • In lesson 3, ask the students to bring in some cards from any card collection they may have. They do not need to be baseball cards. Have the students talk about their cards with a small group or whole group. Ask the students to look over the cards their classmates bring in. They may also look through the book 300 Great Baseball Cards of the 20th Century: A Historical Tribute by the Hobby's Most Relied Upon Source. What types of things do they see on these cards? Tell the class they are going to make cards of themselves. To do this, you will need a digital camera and a word processing program (like MS Word). If you don't have these available, you may create a template of your own and ask the class to bring in pictures of themselves. Once the students have become familiar with the types of things they see on the cards, they may want to brainstorm categories to include on the cards of themselves. Some ideas might be: age and birthdate, hometown or place of birth, favorite foods or subjects, least favorite foods or subjects, hobbies, family members, pets, hopes for the future, etc. In the word processor or on the paper, have the class work on the written information for the card. While they are working on this, call students to take their picture with the digital camera or Polaroid. Once the pictures and words are done, you may put them together in the form of a card. You may want to place these on display as a bulletin board with a team name for your group.
  • To complete lesson 4, the class will need to work with a spreadsheet program (Crunchers). The students will input information on to a spreadsheet and find statistics like percents, averages, and totals. The information they will use will come from the newspaper. Locate a box score from a recent baseball game and make copies for the students. The box score shows the statistics for individual players in the game. If your students are experienced at typing, they may enter the names and categories for their spreadsheet. If they are not as skilled, you may want to create the names and categories in advance. Once the spreadsheet is ready, ask the students to program operations to find the batting averages for the day. You may also ask the class to find sums like hits, walks, strikeouts, singles, doubles, etc. They may also program the computer to find percents for the categories as well, (like on-base percentage). Have the class print out their sheets to evaluate their progress.
  • Lesson 5 deals with geography. This can be done in the classroom with little technology. Have the students list as many of the teams as they can. You may need to help them with cities, states, or team names when it comes to the end. Once the students have listed all the teams on the board, pass out blank maps of the U.S. (they may need maps of North America since there are some teams located in Canada). Ask the class to locate, name, and color all of the states that are home to a professional baseball team. Have the students write the capital cities of all these states and indicate their location with a star. Then ask the class to name and locate the rest of the states and capitals. When they have exhausted all they know, ask them to complete the rest of the map with any resource available to them (textbooks, wall maps, encycclopedias). Do not color the states that do not have a team. At this point, using the same resources, the students should place dots at the locations of the cities that have the baseball teams (if they aren't at the state capital). Now the students have a map that names all fifty states and capitals, and it is colored to show which states have teams, and which do not. Your students will need a scale to measure distances from city to city. You may want to prepare this in advance for the students.When their map is ready, you may continue the activity. Find a week's schedule of a local team from the newspaper. You may want to duplicate and allow each student a copy, but it is not necessary if you put the schedule on the board. Tell the class we are going to find the number of miles the team will travel this week to their games. The students can use predicting and estimating before they actually start. Then they will need to measure with a ruler and compare it to the scale. They can find sums, averages, maximum, minimun, etc. These maps can be collected and used for evaluation at this time, but there is another activity upcoming that asks them to use these maps again.
  • Activity 6 deals with math. There are several options for this activity. If you have access to the Internet for pairs of students, they may get into pairs and log on to www.funbrain.com. This site has a game called "Math Baseball". The students use a variety of math operations and the computer will tell them what type of hit it is, or if it is an out. It will keep track of score, innings and outs. Basically it is good practice of basic math skills for the students. If you choose to do this activity without the computer, there is a game called "Multiplication Baseball" with the Everyday Math program. The idea is the same, only the students use dice or playing cards to determine if the answer is a hit or an out on a hit table. The table uses 1-6 facts, 1-10 facts, 1-12 facts, and 2 step multiplication. There is a gameboard and chips to move the runners. A scoreboard is also included on the gameboard. You may adapt the difficulty level depending on the students you have (use dice for 1-6 facts, use playing cards for 1-10 or 12 facts, and you may use 3 dice or 1-10 playing cards for 2 step multiplication).
  • For activity number 7, the students will need to get out the map they made from lesson 5. For this activity, the students will work on an art project and will need drawing paper, markers, rulers, and any other items to illustrate their ideas. They are to play the role of a graphic designer. Their job is to select a state and city that does not already have a professional baseball team. They are to create a team name, logo, and uniform design for a new team in the league. Allow them to use any avenues of creativity for this project. If your school has enough machines, you may use a program like Kid Pix Studio Deluxe for the students to create their uniform design. When the class has completed their new teams, you may want to add them to the map from lesson 5. They might want to use a diferent color so they do not get the real teams confused with the new invented teams. Their finished designs may look nice in the hallway or as a new bulletin board in the classroom.
  • In activity number 8, the students will use information they are reading about in a novel to write a news article about an event. The novel they will be reading during this unit is called Me, Mop, and the Moondance Kid by Walter Dean Myers. The story has several characters about the same age as the students. They are on a little league team and in the middle of the story, the author highlights the events from several games. The students are to play the role of a news reporter and write an article about one of the games. Again, this activity can be adapted to the technology level of your building. A word processing program like MS Word can be used to produce the articles in a newspaper format. My school also has mobile word proccessors and printers that can be used in the classroom for the word processing. If this is not available, the students may write them out. When they are complete, the students can either produce an entire newspaper of their own writing other types of articles related to school or the baseball unit, or you could combine several of these articles into different newsletters to send home for the parents to see.
  • For activity 9, the sudents will research and read about events in baseball history that also relate to topics besides baseball (World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, Negro League Baseball, Women's Baseball League, Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball, etc.) Some of the resources the students can use for this research includes reference books like almanacs, encyclopedias and their social studies textbook. Some other sources I would provide for the students include the following: The Story of Negro League Baseball, America's Game: A Three-Dimensional Interactive Book, Jackie Robinson: A Biography, Babe: The Legend Comes to Life, and The 500 Home Run Club: From Aaron to Williams. There are also sites on the Internet that provide this type of information. Some of these include: www.nationalpastime.com, and www.playhere.com/desktop/baseball.htm. Students may also choose to use computer resources like Encyclopedia Britannica interactive CDs. I would ask the students to look for events in history that somehow impacted not only baseball, but influenced areas outside of baseball. The students could present their findings in one of several ways. They could write a report about the findings, create a poster or visual presentation to the class, or they could do a slide show on Kid Pix Studio Deluxe, or even Power Point. I would hope that the students learn about historical events, practice finding information through a variety of sources, use technology for a presentation, and complete steps necessary to prepare a presentation.
  • Activity 10 will also be an Internet activity.You may want to start by asking the students to list the equipment necessary for the sport of baseball. Ask if any students have predictions about the cost, rate of production, or any other types of information related to this area of baseball. The sites we will use for this activity are the following: www.slugger.com/museum/tour1/htm, and www.wilsonsports.com/baseball. Both of these sites are produced by companies that have a long reputation for making equipment and materials for baseball. Both of these sites also include virtual tours of their plants. Students will have the opportunity to visit the Louisville Slugger factory to see how the baseball bats are made. They can also visit the Wilson Sporting Goods site to see how baseballs are made. They may also be interested to see the different types and sizes of baseballs. The students may want to discuss their findings and check any predictions they had about what they just investigated. Or as an extension, they may create a poster that shows and describes the steps they saw in the tour. Another idea might be for the class to think of another item(s) that is produced and see if they could use some resources to learn about that process (how M and M's are manufactured and packaged, how the Nike Air Jordan shoes are manufactured, etc.)
  • The last activity will be an investigation of the ballparks around the country. We will use prediction and math skills to compare the different ages, sizes, and cost for a ticket. Ask the students how many people they think can fit into a large baseball stadium. How about a small baseball stadium? Have them predict how old the oldest ballpark is. This may launch you into a good discussion about realistic and logical predictions. Show the class the book, Ballparks of North America: A Comprehensive Historical Reference to Baseball Grounds, Yards, and Stadiums (1845-Present). Start answering some of the questions about the predictions. The students can find average capacities, ages of stadiums, comparisons of capacities and ages, they can also use math to find how much money the stadium earns for a game based on ticket prices and attendance, they can also calculate the percent capacity for a given crowd. After providing some of the information and doing some sample problems, you may wish to have the students design their own story or word problems based on some of their findings. The students may switch problems and solve each others. If you would like to have the class write more about this topic, give them a persuasive prompt like the following; which do they think are better for baseball, the newer stadiums, or the older ones full of history, or what is one thing that they think professional baseball parks need to add or take away from the game.
  • Although there are no more lessons, some of them may have taken longer than 1 day. You may want to schedule 3-5 extra days to complete these activities. It will largely depend on your students, the flexibilty of your schedule, the technology in the building, and other resources available to you.

    •  


    SHARE YOUR IDEAS: Upon completion of the unit, I would like some feedback from my students. The way that I might do this is to list the activities on the board and ask the students to write a short piece with their thoughts on the unit. Some items I would like them to include in this evaluation might be the following:

    Their favorite activity

    Their least favorite activity

    The hardest activity

    The easiest activity

    One thing they think I should eliminate from the unit for the next time

    One thing that they think needs to stay in the unit for the next time
     
     

    There will also need to be a culminating activity where the students can share their learning with each other. For the culminating activity, we would look over all of the activities we have already done. The students will be divided into groups (as evenly as possible). Each group will then be asked to develop a unique way to present the final product from one of the projects we have completed. The group will be responsible for presenting their findings to a group of students who are not in your class. Depending on the size and grade levels of your school, you could make and send out invitations to another class or classes to be your guest for a interdisciplinary unit presentation about baseball. Since all the students have completed each project, any student could be part of any group. You may want to set time limits for presentations since there will be between 9 and 11 groups to go. Since there were a large number of projects, the number of group members can stay reasonably small (3-5 students depending on your class size). The choices for methods of presentation should be left open to the group. Some ideas might include; using the overhead projector, creating a poster, a mock news report, software presentation (Kid Pix), or any other. With these presentations, your audience will also be exposed to the benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to teaching. It also may provide other teachers with new ways to present curriculum, or new ways to use technology that exists in your building.

    Each student will be evaluated on their individual progress throughout the unit, and the last presentation will also be evaluated for their progress. This presentation, however, will be based more on the preparing and final presentation of their topic as a group, while the projects completed during the unit will be more based on the individual performance of the students.

    When I evaluate students on presentations similar to this, I include several categories and rank each category on either a 10 point system or a check, plus, or minus. Usually, an exceptional ranking for a category would earn a 9, 10, or a plus. If the item in question was good, but could be improved, it would earn a 8 or a check. If the item in question had a good start, but seemed to be lacking effort or content, it would earn a 7 or a minus. I usually do not like to give credit lower than a 7. I will, however, if there is evidence that little or no effort was put into completing the product.

    Some of the categories I would use for this culminating final presentation would include the following:
     
     

    Cooperation, Teamwork (did all members of the group participate)

    Quality of presentation (was the purpose stated and explained)

    Depth (were all necessary steps included)

    Creativity (was the presentation interesting for the audience)

    Effort (did the group take the project serious and give their best effort)

    Oganization (did everyone complete and know their responsibility)
     
     

    STUDENT AND TEACHER ROLES:The teacher will play the role of facilitator throughought the majority of the activiities. She will be responsible for introducing the assignments and setting parameters for each activity. The teacher will also act as a guide for the students as they progress through the lessons. At times, the teacher will need to field questions from students who are "stuck". A successful facilitator will not answer the questions posed by the students, but should attempt to clarify the students question and perhaps pose a new question to assist the students in their learning. With this type of learning, the teacher may not have all the answers. This sets up a situation consisting of a community of learners, which includes the teacher as a learner. This allows the students to have more control over their learning. They will need to actively use poblem solving and other skills to complete the activities.

    Because the teacher does not play the role of sole provider of information, the student has specific requirements to complete the activities. No longer will the student be a passive listener of information presented to them. They are now in control of their learning. The will be presented a task, a problem, or situation they are asked to solve or complete. The teacher will set guidelines and provide some insight on what materials are available, but it becomes the students role to actively use resources and problem solvong to complete the specific tasks. They have the control over their learning and play and active role in acquiring new information. Many of the assignments start with the same instructions, but lead to entirely different outcomes for individuals based on their strengths in learning. The students may look to the teacher and classmates as coaches to help them with any obstacles they encounter. Allowing the students to have this type of control will allow them to practice real life skills as they learn. Interest levels tend to be higher and students will feel a greater sense of accomplishment and confidence in their abilities when presented with unfamiliar or difficult tasks.
     
     

    ADDITIONAL REFERENCE PRINT RESOURCES STUDENTS MAY USE :

    Various textbooks including... math, social studies, encyclopedias from the school media center
     
     

    THE FOLLOWING BOOKS CONTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT THIS TOPIC:

    Baseball: Unit Study Adventures, by Amanda Bennet

    Jackie Robinson: A Biography, byArnold Rumperstand

    Me, Mop, and the Moondance Kid, by Walter Dean Myers

    300 Great Baseball Cards of the 20th Century: A Historical Tribute By the Hobby's Most Relied Upon Source, Beckett Publishing

    The 500 Home Run Club: From Aaron to Williams, by Bob Allen and Bill Gilbert

    All That Once Was Good: InsideAmerica's National Pastime, by Howard Rothman

    America's Game: A 3 Dimensional Interactive Book, by Tim Kurkjian

    Babe: The Legend Comes to Life, by Robert W.Creamer

    The Story of Negro League Baseball, by William Brasher

    Ballparks of North America: A Comprehensive Historical Reference to Baseball Grounds, Yards, and Stadiums (1845-Present), by Michael Benson
     
     

    FOR ADDITIONAL ONLINE INFORMATION AND MEDIA PERTAINING TO THIS UNIT, TEACHERS MAY WANT TO USE THE FOLLOWING INTERNET ARTICLES:

  • Title1: MLB Homepage


    • URL1: www.majorleaguebaseball.com

    Description1: This is a comprehensive website for all MLB teams and their homepages. It also has links to historical information about baseball as well as present baseball schedules and happenings
     
     

    Title2: Chicago Cubs Homepage

    URL2: www.cubs.com

    Description2: This is the Cubs homepage. It has current information about the Chicago Cubs and their players and personnel as well as schedule, records, and statistical data.
     
     

    Title3: Chicago White Sox Homepage

    URL3: www.whitesox.com

    Description3: This is the Chicago White Sox Homepage. It keeps current information related to the team personnel, record and other statistical data.
     
     

    Title4: Play Here. com

    URL4: www.playhere.com/desktop/baseball.htm

    Description4: This site provided themed activities related to baseball. It offers other special information related to African American history related to baseball. It also has crosswords and word searches that focus on famous African Americans and their accomplishments other than in the area of baseball.
     
     

    Title5: Pro Teacher

    URL5: www.proteacher.com/160002.html

    Description5: This websites offers numerous activities related to this theme, as well as ideas, lessons and rubrics for activities dealing with many other themes.
     

    Title6: Cool Teaching Lessons and Units

    URL6: http://169.207.3.68/~rlevine/coolunits.htm

    Description6: This site is a comprehensive list of many themes, units, lesson plans and activities that are related to this theme and other themes. It is a good source of information or reference when planning and designing new themed units to teach.
     
     
     

         RELEVANT INFORMATION, STUDENTS WILL VISIT THE FOLLOWING WEB SITES:
  • Title1: This Day in Baseball


    • URL1: www.nationalpastime.com

    Purpose of Use1: This page is updated daily and has historical events that occurred on the day you check. These events are usually, but not always related to baseball only. It can be used to get a quick look at the significance of the day in history. It also allows you to plug in other days to check events.

    Description1: This page is a daily historical reference to significant events that usually relate to baseball. We have found throughout this study that many events in baseball also have a significance to the world outside of baseball.
     
     

    Title2: Math Baseball

    URL2: www.funbrain.com

    Purpose of Use2: This on-line math game can help students practice such skills as multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction. It is easy, fun, and entertaining for the students. They will practice important math skills while working on a baseball game.

    Description2: This game is designed to work like the game of baseball. There are innings, outs, hits, and runs. The students are asked to solve math problems. If they answer them correctly, the computer willl tell them what type of hit it is and move their players for them while keeping score. It has nice graphics but does not overstimulate the players. It is quite easy for the students to follow and play.
     
     

    Title3: Sports for Everyone

    URL3: www.yeahsports.com

    Purpose of Use3: This site is an excellent reference for such topics as the Women's Baseball League of the 1940's), the Negro League, baseball records, and the accomplishments of specific players (Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, and Hank Aaron)

    Description3: This page is an on-line reference. When you log onto the page, there is a menu for what information you would like to find. This page can be used to help the students conduct research for the lesson that asks them to investigate the history of baseball.
     
     

    Title4: Louisville Slugger Museum

    URL4: www.slugger.com/museum/tour1.htm

    Purpose of Use4: This site can be used as an on-line guide to help the students verify their predictions about the baseball bat industry. The students can investigate earlier predictions while using important computer navigational skills.

    Description4: This site is connected to the Louisville Slugger homepage. On this page, it is explained how baseball bats are made and offers a virtual tour of their baseball bat manufacturing plant.
     
     

    Title5: Wilson Official Baseballs

    URL5: www.wilsonsports.com/baseball

    Purpose of Use5: This page is also used to help students investigate the production of baseballs in the Wilson factory. It also describes the different types and sizes of baseballs the company produces.This site will help to verify earlier predictions about the baseball manufacturing industry.

    Description5: This page is linked to the Wilson Sports homepage. It describes the process of manufacturing baseballs and also offers a virtual tour of the Wilson plant that creates baseballs for the Major League.
     
     

    Title6:Baseball... and Math

    URL6: http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/6082/5stm.html

    Purpose of Use6: This page can be used to help the students work on math word problems. This page is linked to the homepage of the San Francisco Giants, and asks math questions with a variety of operantions and levels of difficulty. The students will find that many of the questions relate to activities and information we have acquired throughout our interdisciplinary study of baseball.

    Description6: This page was designed and is maintained by a school in California. It also relates to the theme of baseball in our unit of study. It encompasses math becuase it presents a variety of problems to be solved by the students. Students are asked to use problem solving and other math concepts to complete the activities. This page also offers several difficulty levels to challenge a broad range of abilities.