Introduction
Let's get ready to rumble! It's March Madness time which means, Basketball! Basketball is not only a sport filled with excitement, slam dunks, and unbelievable athletes; it also is full of mathematical concepts as you will find in this webquest!
Task
In this webquest, you will look at many different areas of math found in the NCAA basketball tournament. You will use the NCAA bracket to look at all the teams participating in the tournament. The world of math will come alive as you find fractions, decimals, and percents; probability statistics; make predictions; and look for patterns.
By the end of this webquest, you will be able to relate a variety of math facts to the NCAA tournament and explain the importance of Mathematics in basketball.
Process
1. You will pick your teams individually on a bracket (we will do this together in class), but can work with a partner on the other activities. Use the links on the credits page to complete the activities.
2. How do patterns relate to the NCAA Tournament? You will useThe Elimination worksheet (posted in classroom) AND your individual bracket to fill it out. We will complete this together in class after the first round so you have an idea how to complete this worksheet. You will need to continue to complete it throughout the tournament, starting March 18th and ending April 6th. This will be due after the championship game.
3. Research the stats of the teams. If you are working with a partner, each member may be responsible for one region (Southeast, East, Midwest, and West). You will be looking for information about their past NCAA wins and their records for this year. You will need the Team Statistics worksheet (posted in classroom) to record your data. Answer all the questions on the worksheet.
4. Probability is our next area of focus. Use the resources provided to find out where each college or university is located. If you are working in teams, locate the states for the schools in your region. Only the state is needed. You may record this information on your bracket out beside the name of each school. Answer the probability questions on the Take Your Chances worksheet (posted in classroom) with this information.
5. Select an article from CBS sports or one of the other resources that deals with one game or team from the tournament. This needs to be done independently. From that article, record all the statistics that are mentioned. Write a brief summary of the article, and an ending paragraph which includes an explanation of the importance of Mathematics in basketball.
Evaluation
March Madness Rubric
Name:
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Category |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
Your score |
|
Use of Class Time |
Used time well. Focused on getting the project done without distracting others. |
Used time well. Mostly focused on getting the project done without distracting others |
Used some time well. Some focus on getting project done but occasionally distracted others. |
Did not use class time to focus on the project OR often distracted others. |
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|
Team Statistics Worksheet (x2) |
All regions were completed and math is calculated correctly. |
All regions were completed with a few math errors. |
Some regions were completed and/or math errors occurred. |
Fewer than 2 regions completed and/or many calculation errors. |
|
|
Take Your Chances Worksheet |
All questions are answered thoughtfully and correctly. Math calculations are accurate. |
All questions are answered but not in complete sentences. Math calculations are accurate. |
Not all questions are answered completely and some math calculations are incorrect. |
Worksheet was not completed. |
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Article Reflection (x2)
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Provides a very thorough and clear summary and demonstrates completely how math is important in basketball. |
Provides a clear but shallow summary of the article; may be too brief or may include some extra information. |
Provides a somewhat muddled, unclear and rambling summary of the article. Importance of math in basketball is not clear. |
No summary and/or no mention of the importance of math in basketball. |
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Article Resource Citation |
Credit/citations provided for all research information. |
Citations provided but not in the correct format. |
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No citations. |
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Bracket (x2) |
Bracket was completed and updated correctly showing correct wins and losses. |
Bracket was mostly completed and mostly updated correctly. |
Bracket was incomplete but updated with what was there. |
Bracket was not completed and/or no updates were recorded. |
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Mechanics |
Capitalization and punctuation are correct throughout. |
There is 1 error in capitalization or punctuation. |
There are 2 errors in capitalization or punctuation. |
More than 2 errors in capitalization or punctuation. |
|
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Grammar |
There are no grammatical mistakes. |
There is 1 grammatical mistake. |
There are 2 grammatical mistakes. |
There are more than 2 grammatical mistakes. |
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Evaluation |
Evaluation of the project was completed. Answers were thoughtful and helpful. |
Evaluation of the project was completed. Answers were somewhat thoughtful. |
Evaluation of the project was partially completed and/or answers were somewhat helpful. |
Evaluation of the project was incomplete and/or answers were not thoughtful or helpful. |
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Total |
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/48 |
