TheThemeoftheProjectBasedUnit: ThethemeoftheProjectBasedUnitistoimproveyourbasketballskillsandtoappreciatehow mathematicsandsportscomplementeachother.Studentswilldevelopanunderstandingofthe relationshipbetweendistance,speed,accelerationandtimeinthedevelopmentofquadraticequations. Theywillalsousequadraticequationstoanalyzewhatstepstheycouldtaketoimprovetheirbasketball (oranysport)skills. TheApplicationoftheProjecttoRealWorldExperiences: ManystudentsinAlgebraIplaybasketball,aresportsenthusiasts/supportsorjustsimplyathletic. Interestingtonote,thisincludesmalesandfemalesfromdifferentbackgrounds.Thisprojectwillgive themtheopportunitytoexplorehowmath,sportsandevensciencearecollaborativeventuresin developingandsolvingrealworldproblems.Whilestudentsmaynothaveafirmunderstandingof velocityoracceleration,theywilldevelopworkingknowledgetousethosetermswithwordssuchas distance,timeandspeed.Itislikelythatstudentswillhaveseenthesetermsinactionwithanumberof sports.

.Beingabletounderstandandusethecomponentsofaquadraticequation,throughan explorativeactivityinsports,willhelpstudentsunderstandthetechniques,maneuversandskills necessarytobeasuccessfulathlete.Thiswillalsoreinforcethenotionthatmathematicalandscience skillsarenecessarytobecomeascholarathlete.Thisprojectshowsthemhowtousethatinformationto investigateanddiscoverhowtoemploymathematicalskillsintherealworld. TheLocationoftheFieldTripSite: MensorWomensBasketballGameandPracticeSessionattheStephenC.OConnellCenterin Gainesville,FL(http://www.gatorzone.com/basketball/men/andhttp://www.oconnellcenter.ufl.edu/) TheEducationalResourcesthatareCurrentlyProvidedattheSite: Onthewebsiteareinterviewswithplayersandcoachesthatdiscusstheimportanceofusingskills, practiceanddeterminationinorderfortheteamtobesuccess.Thesearegreatmotivationaltoolsfor studentstohearwhenengagingindifficultproblemsolvingactivities.However,thereisanother website:http://www.thirteen.org/getthemath/teachers/mathinbasketballlesson plan/overview/199/,wherethereareactualsimulationsforstudentstoexplore.Studentswouldhave anopportunitytoexplorethesimulations,animationsandexamplevideosduringthecourseoftheunit whichisavaluableeducationalresource. ThePotentialEducationalResourcesEmbeddedattheSitethatSupporttheUnit: Thecoachesandathletics,complimentedbyaUFphysicsprofessorortheschoolphysicsteachers,could provideapresentationtostudentsabouthowmathematicsandsciencedirectlyrelatestobeingskilled andsuccessfulathletes.ThestudentscouldvisittheUFwomensormensbasketballteamontheir practicecourtstoinvestigatehowdifferentactionsimpactathleticschools,usemathematicaltoolsto createquadraticequationstosolve,andfinallyusethatinvestigativeapproachtoimprovetheirathletic skills.Thiswillallowstudentsaninteractive,funandhandsonwaytoengageinmathematical explorationpertainingtodevelopingandsolvingquadraticequations.Studentscouldalsousewhatthey learnduringthefieldtriponanotherexplorativeactivityattheschoolsbasketballcourts.Students shouldprobablyvisitthissiteafterthetwodaylessonandcertainlybeforethepresentationperiod. Thereforethemiddlefivedaytimeframewouldbeanidealtimetotakethisfieldtrip.Studentscould watchandworkthroughthebasketballsimulationsprovidedontheabovelistedsite.Theywouldbe abletoseehowthemathematicalandscienceconceptsintertwine,isaccessibletolearnandis applicableinarealworldapplicationthatmanyenjoytoperformorwatch.Goingonthisparticularfield tripprovidesanincentiveandanopportunitytoexploreandputwhattheyhavelearnedintoaction.It

willenhancetheirlisteningskills,investigativeandgroupworkskillsaswellashelpthemtodevelop presentationskillsandconfidenceinmathematics.Thoseskillsinhand,coupledwithconceptual understandingofquadraticequations,studentscouldpresentonhowtheycanusewhattheyhave learnedtoimprovetheirathleticskillsinanysportorotherrealworldsituations. Studentswillneedtoknowhowtofactorandsolvequadraticequationsbeforethefieldtripaswellas knowhowvelocity/speed,acceleration,distanceandtimecanformpartsofaquadraticequation.This willhelpstudentsunderstandhowcoachesandplayersunderstandandusethisinformationtoimprove theirathleticskillsandreaffirmtheideathatmathematicsdoeshavearoleinrealworldapplications. Afterthefieldtrip,studentswillhavetheopportunitytocontinuetomakerealworldconnectionsand perhapsthefieldtripwillkeepthemmotivatedtoengageincomplexproblemsolvinganddiscussion. Incorporatingalessonongraphingquadraticsandmodelingathleticsituationsongraphsintermsof distanceandtimemaybeausefuladditiontotheunit. YourRationaleForChoosingthisSitetoSupportandEnhanceProjectInstruction: Thissitewaschosenasitallowsstudentstogainavisualofthemathematicsdiscussedandtheskills exploredduringtheunit.Thegoalistoprovidearealworldexampleinwhichtomakeconnections betweentheclassroomandoutsidecommunity.Theywillhaveseenandusedsimulationsonthe aforementionedwebsite.Thetripwouldallowthemtobringtheprojectintorealitybyinteractingwith localcollegiateathletesandcoaches.Thiswillalsobeanincentiveforstudentswhoarelessmotivated toparticipate,remainengagedandeagertolearn.Seeingthepracticalcomponentsofmathematics wouldallowthemtostrengthentheirunderstandingofwordssuchasdistance,time,acceleration, speedandvelocityinthecontextofmathematicsandevenscience. TheFieldTripProtocolfortheClassroomYouAreCurrentlyObserving: Therearefieldtripguidelinesthatmustbefollowed.Astheteacher,itisnecessarytofirstseek administrativeapprovalandtorecruitchaperonesfromapoolofotherteachersandparents.When seekingapprovalfromtheprincipal,itispertinenttohavethedateofthetrip,purposeofthetrip, educationalvalueofthetrip,tentativescheduleofcost,fundingsource,andthenumberofchaperones andstudentsattending.Forthepurposesofthistrip,wewillstrivetoplaceonechaperonewithagroup of510studentstomaintainasmallgroupfeeling.Thisiswellabovethenormalratioofonechaperone perfifteenstudents.Withthisinformationinhand,thenextstepistoordertransportationwhichwill mostlikelybethedistrictschoolbus.Itisnecessarytoputinarequestforthenumberofbussesatleast twoweekspriortothetrip.Allcostsforsecuringthetransportationwillneedtobehandedintothe schoolsecretaryaweekinadvanceofthetrip.Forthistrip,allstudentswillberequiredtorideonthe districtschoolbus.Allstudentswillbeprovidedapermissionslipatleastaweekinadvanceandare requiredtoreturnthepermissionslipatleasttwodaysbeforetheactualtrip.Acopyofthepermission slip,contactnumbersandnecessarylessonplansforasubstituteteacherwillbegiventothefrontoffice andschoolsecretarythedaybeforethetrip.Anystudentthatdoesnotattendthefieldtripwillbe reassignedtoanotherteachersclassduringthemissedperiod.Therearenospecialrequirementsfor thefieldtripfrommyteacher. Anticipateanyadditionalcoststhatwouldneedtobepaid(eitherbytheschool,student,oroutside organization)thatthistripwillincur. TherewillbeacosttotransportstudentstotheOConnellCenter.Forapracticesessionwherestudents caninteractwiththeplayersandtrysomeoftheskillslearnedintheunit,thereisnocost.The UniversityAthleticAssociationnormallychargespatronstowatchbasketballgames,howeverstudents andchaperoneswouldreceivecomplimentarytickets.