The following activities may be used in conjunction with the tournaments to heighten the interest of mathematics

students. Both men’s and women’s tournament results should be used in the interest of sex equity. Certain activities

are listed to be done in other curricular areas or to promote an interdisciplinary approach to the topic. A suggested

sequence is listed at the end of the activity section. The activities numbers are for cross-referencing with this

sequence.

Activity 001

Pre-activity: Copy the brackets of the men’s and women’s touraments to a regular 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper--women’s on

one side, men’s on the other.

TLW understnd the tournment brackets and will predict the winning teams.

Explain a group of representatives select what they feel are the top 64 teams in the country in Division I basketall.

These teams are seeded and placed in four regions. Point out that a team can be playing in a region even if they are

not located in that region. Each team in the region is seeded and that is what the number in parenthesis before the

team’s school represents. The numbers after the school name is how many games they have won and lost this year.

Tell them they will be doing a series of activities based on the tournament, and the first thing they will do is select

who they think will win the first round games, then the second, etc. until they have selected their pick for the national

champion.

A teacher may wish to keep these papers in a file because they will be used throughout this unit.

Interdisciplinary Eng.001

TLW read a minium of two articles and his/her favorite team and present an oral report.

Interdisciplinary Eng.002 and Soc.001

TLW research and write a term paper on the history of baskeball

Interdisciplinary Sci.001

TLW calculate the basketball trajectory if a half-court shot is made given initial velocities

Activity 002

TLW be able to express as a fraction, decimal and percent the wins vs. total games played during the season for:

(teacher may select any or all of the following)

a) each team

b) all regions

c) all the teams together

d) your favorite teams

e) the teams you picked to make it to the final four

The team’s winning percentage can be calculated from the win-loss record following the team name.

Activity 003

TLW be able to express the ratio of correct guesses to total guesses as a fraction, decimal and percent after

a) each round

b) the entire tournament

Aleternative

A teacher may wish to reprint the brackets after the first round and let the students proceed in their selections again.

Otherwise it is possible for someone to have no possibility of a correct guess in subsequent rounds (i.e. all their picks

lost)

Activity 004

TLW do research via print and internet media on the coach of each of the top seeds and/or the coach of some of their

favorite teams and be able to tell the coaches winning percentage of college games coached.

Ask students to compute the average number of games won per season coached

Interdisciplinary Eng.003 and Soc.002

TLW write a two page research report on the coach(es) selected.

Activity 005

TLW calculate the average offensive score, defensive points allowed, and the greatest spread between offensive

average and defensive average for

a) each team that advances

b) each region’s teams

c) the total tournament

d) their favorite teams of those still remaining in the tournament

e) the final four

Activity 006

TLW rank the offensive averages of the winning teams from high to low and will calculate the mean, median, mode

and range for

a) each region’s teams

b) the total tournament

c) their favorite teams of those still remaining in the tournament

d) the final four

Activity 007

TLW rank the defensive averages of the winning teams from high to low and will calculate the mean, median, mode

and range for

a) each region’s teams

b) the total tournament

c) their favorite teams of those still remaining in the tournament

d) the final four

Activity 008

TLW rank the difference between the offensive and defensive averages of the winning teams from high to low and

will calculate the mean, median, mode and range for

a) each region’s teams

b) the total tournament

c) their favorite teams of those still remaining in the tournament

d) the final four

Activity 009

TLW collect the game statistics and compare the winning team’s statistics with the losing team’s for

a) each game in a region

b) all games in the tournament

c) games involving their favorite teams

d) the final four

The comparisons may be in the form of

a) tables

b) percentage comparisons

c) charts

Activity 010

TLW calculate the volume of men’s and women’s basketballs

Activity 011

TLW calculate the surface area of men’s and women’s basketballs

Activity 012

TLW calculate perimeter of the basketball court.

Activity 013

TLW calculate the area of a basketball court

Activity 014

Sweet Sixteen--TLW calculate each “sweet sixteen” team’s won-loss record, offensive average for the first two

rounds of the tournment; defensive average for the first two rounds of the tournament; the difference between the

offensive and defensive averages; and will rank the teams from best to lowest on each category.

Higher order thinking--have the students devise a method for seeding of the top 16 based on the information above.

Activity 014

Sweet Sixteen--TLW make their picks toward national champions and calculate the percentage of correct picks

compared to the total of 15 games,