Football & Math (Part 1)

Football has always been a huge part of my life! I wanted to find a way to use football to teach math concepts in a fun and engaging way. The Pittsburgh Steelers were kind enough to open their doors for me to teach an interactive math series. Steelers offensive lineman, Maurkice Pouncey, brought his family in to learn math and how it applies to football.

Parents, introduce your children to the customary units of measurement (ie: inches, feet and yards).  Watch the video below to see our lesson!

Materials:

·     Ruler (3)

·     Paper (8.5 x 11)

·     Markers/Crayons

·     A painted football field

 Key Points:

·     Inches

·     Feet

·     Yards

·     Estimation

·     Using a ruler

Directions:

Step one: Find out how many inches are in a foot.

Step two: Use the rulers to physically measure out how many rulers it takes to make one yard. (3)

Step three: Make a paper football. There are very detailed instructions on how to do make one here. 

Step four: Have each child decorate their football with markers so they can tell which paper football is theirs.

Step five: Start at the endzone line. Teach your child what estimating means. Have them estimate how many feet and/or yards they think they can flick their football.

Step six: Flick the paper football as far as you can.

Step seven: Measure how far the football traveled using the ruler. 

More Information:

You can find a great source for learning customary units here. 

Here are some worksheets to use for this activity.

Make sure you tag @TheModernTeacher to show off your paper footballs!