Beginning Activity List for March Madness Problem-Based Learning Task

 

Complete the following problems and activities in any order.  Please have it completed and handed in by the end of the week.  Each day, be sure to schedule in the appropriate benchmarks and mini-lessons when and where necessary.

 

 

¨    Measure for Measure

1.        The NCAA basketball court is 94 feet long and 50 feet wide.  Using a ruler, draw an NCAA court to scale (1 inch = 8 feet).

2.        What is the total square footage of the NCAA basketball court?

3.        The lane area, or key, under each basket is a rectangle 12 feet wide by 19 feet long.  Draw a key on your court that you made in #1.  What is the square footage of the key?  Write a fraction to tell what proportion of the court the key takes up.

4.        If a high school basketball court is slightly smaller than a college court (74x50), what is the square footage of a high school court?  What is the difference between the area of a college court and a high school court?

¨    Area of a 2-Dimensional Figure

Formulas: 

Area of a circle:  πr²

Area of a rectangle:  bh

Problem:

Given:  The college court is a 94 ft. x 50 ft. rectangle, with a radius of the small center circle of 2 ft. 

Find:  The percent of the court that is taken up by the center circle.

Plan:   Find the area of the court, the area of the circle and the percentage of the court taken up by the circle.

Solution:  See answer page

¨    Assist/Turnover Ratio

Pont guards area significant part of any basketball team.  Their assist/turnover ration is a good measure of their success.  This ratio can be found by dividing the number of assists by the number of turnovers.  If he/she has a ratio higher than 1:1, they are considered to be doing a good job.

 

Player	Assists	Turnovers	Ratio
Ashley	32	10	:
Amy	49		3.1:1
John		28	2:1
Dave	97	45	:

 

1.        What is Ashley’s assist/turnover ratio?

2.        How many turnovers did Amy have during the season?

3.        How many assists did John have during the season?

4.        What was Dave’s assist/turnover ratio?

¨    Challenge Problem

1.        Stacey made the same number of free throws, two point shots, and three-point shots.  If she scored 30 points altogether in the game Saturday night, how many points did she score on three-point shots?

2.        Missy scored 35 points in Friday night’s game.  She did not make any three-pointers and she hit twice as many field goals as free throws.  How many field goals and free throws did she make?

3.        During the game last night, Washington University scored 10 more than twice as many points as Stacey scored.  How many did Washington University score?

¨    Painting the Floor

Many times, special courts are designed for arena floors.  What are the dimensions for each of the following courts?

1.        Suppose that the court is the standard size of 94-ft. long and 50-ft. wide.  If the floor extends an extra four feet at each side and four feet at each end, what is the length and width of the floor? 

2.        What then is the total area of the floor?

3.        If a single piece of wood being used is 4-ft long and 4-ft wide, what is the area of the piece?

4.        Use your answers to question 2 and 3 to determine how many pieces of wood would be needed to make the entire floor.

¨    Box Scores

Looking at a box score can give you a great deal of information about a game.  Look at the box score below and answer the questions that follow. 

¨    Running Drills

1.        To get in shape for the upcoming season, Angela and Mary have to do a drill called running lines.  They start on the baseline and run to the foul line and back.  Then they run to half court and back.  After that, they run to the opposite foul line and back to the baseline.  Finally, they run to the opposite baseline and back.  Their coach says this is one set of lines.  How far, in feet, did the girls run to complete one set of lines?

2.        The team completes five sets of lines at the beginning of practice.  How far does each team member have to run?

3.        If the team runs another five sets of lines at the end of practice, what is the total distance, in feet, each player runs for the day? 

4.        Calculator problem:  If the team keeps up this pace of running for six days during all fifteen weeks of the season, how far will Angela and Mary each run?  How many miles is that? 

¨    Same Unit Calculations

In basketball, there are many different statistics.  What makes a player the “best?”  The one with the most points?  The most rebounds?  The most steals?  In order to deal with the different kinds of data, it is important to convert it all into the same unit. 

 

One way is to convert stats such as points, rebounds, assists, steals, turnovers, missed shots, and fouls into a single rating, which can then be compared with other players and teams.

 

 

In basketball, the following is a common way of converting stats:

 

Positives:

Points – Each point is worth 1 point.

Rebounds – An offensive rebound gives an opportunity for scoring, and a defensive one takes away your opponents chance of scoring.  Either one is worth 1.5 points because there is a chance you will take away an opponent’s opportunity to score. 

Assists - A player directly helps his/her team score, so it is worth 2 points.

Steals – Gives the team a chance to score, so it is worth 1.5 points. 

Blocks – Sometimes a block alters a shot, often enough for it to miss the basket.  There for it is worth 2 points.