This month’s topic is near and dear to my heart. My father is a Physical Education teacher and Coach. Probably due to his influence, I’ve played my fair share of sports (one of my favorites being volleyball). I am also a scientist/engineer, and some of my books connect STEM with various sports. So I was excited to delve into the books for this month. Those I read are:
Learning STEM from Baseball: How Does a Curveball Curve? And Other Amazing Answers for Kids!
by Marne Ventura
This book explores a variety of STEM topics related to the sport of baseball. It covers a broad range of topics including how human biology is intertwined with pitching, how technology has improved baseball (especially safety) over the years, and how math is used to help baseball players and teams.
Stem in Football
by Brett S. Martin
Similar to the previous book on baseball, Stem in Football explores STEM topics in relation to the sport of football.
Swish: The Science Behind Basketball’s Most Dynamic Plays
by Allan Morey
Rather than taking a wider view of how STEM relates to a sport, this book looks at the science behind famous plays in basketball history.
Here are some ideas of activities you can do with these books. As always, the possibilities are endless, so I picked just a few.
Explore More Science
Explore some of the science that comes into play in sports.
There’s a great collection of experiments from Science Buddies for this, some of which specifically target sports: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/science-projects/experiment-with-friction-and-drag/middle-school
There are some great simulations from University of Colorado Boulder’s PhET Here’s one that explores scientific concepts related to skateboarding. (Registered teachers may have access to additional resources.): https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/energy-skate-park-basics
Explore physics activities from the American Physical Society. Here’s a page with activities related to forces and motion: https://www.aps.org/learning-center/learning-resources/physicsquest-2020.
Here’s another on potential and kinetic energy: https://www.aps.org/learning-center/learning-resources/physicsquest-2018.
Science Sparks has a nice collection of science explorations related to soccer (a.k.a. football): https://www.science-sparks.com/10-hands-on-football-stem-activities-for-kids
Have Fun with Statistics
I have really fond memories of going to the ballpark with my mom. One of the things I remember is keeping score while we watched the game. If you want to try your hand at keeping score, here are a few write-ups on how to do that.
https://www.mlb.com/official-information/basics/score
https://www.littleleague.org/university/articles/scorekeeping-101
Scoring and statistics are key to improvement for both individual athletes and teams. Here are some statistics related activities you can explore.
The Baseball Hall of Fame has a whole page of curriculum-based activities for statistics: https://baseballhall.org/education/curriculum/batter-up
WNET has a lesson plan that explores math in basketball: https://www.thirteen.org/get-the-math/uncategorized/teachersmath-in-basketball-lesson-planoverview/199
The New York Times has a Lesson Plan and simulator where students determine NFL teams’ playoff chances. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/01/learning/lesson-plans/run-the-numbers-exploring-the-math-behind-any-nfl-teams-playoff-chances.html
And more…
The NYT also has a bunch of activities, across many disciplines, that can be tied into the Super Bowl. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/learning/lesson-plans/teach-the-super-bowl-ideas-for-subjects-across-the-curriculum.html
You can also check out the sports science resources on my own website: http://janetsbooks.com/sports-science.
Describe a Favorite Sport Play
Everyone’s taste in sports is different. The books from this month’s list highlight different sports, although the STEM that supports them are all pretty similar.
Pick a favorite sport. Then pick a move or a play that’s common to that sport. Explain what STEM concepts are involved in the move or play that was picked. Use this month’s books as examples of how this can be done.
Janet Slingerland has written over 2 dozen books for young readers, including Sports Science and Technology in the Real World and The 12 Biggest Breakthroughs in Sports Technology. To find out more about Janet and her books, check out http://janetsbooks.com.
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