Each student spreads out Play-Doh pie crust style on the wax paper.

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1 Baseball Geometry Grade: 6-8 Subject: Mathematics Background: Over the many years that baseball has been played, the ball itself has undergone many changes. Materials used inside and out have been tested, alternately resulting in advantages to pitchers and to batters. This lesson will explore the specifications of the modern baseball. Objectives: Students will: be introduced to historical and modern materials and construction of baseballs; apply various methods for finding volume and surface area of a sphere; compare and contrast results among these methods. Estimated Time: Two or more 50-minute periods (one for generating and collecting data for surface area and volume; one or more for each Extension activity) Materials Needed: Play-Doh wax paper baseballs overhead transparency with square centimeter grid. Shadow Ball, The National Pastime and The Capital of Baseball from the Baseball series (recommended but not required) Resources listed below Procedure: 1) Give every student a baseball for the activity. (The local Little League coaches can help you out here by loaning the baseballs temporarily for the activity, suggesting a source for purchasing a class set at the best price.) Each student spreads out Play-Doh pie crust style on the wax paper. Rolling the baseball in the Play-Doh, make an impression of the footprint shape of the stitching pattern. [** This pattern might also be called a peanut shape. Mathematically, it is an Oval of Cassini where k<b and for two foci F1(-b,0) and F2(b,0) and any point P on the curve, the

2 product of the distances from the foci to the point P is equal to the value of k squared, or PF1xPF2 = k^2. More on this can be found in many Handbooks of Mathematics Tables and Standards. For an Interactive Online model where students can drag and drop the foci to see changes in the Oval of Cassini, go to the University of Illinois Web site Ask students if they realize the covering of the baseball is actually two of these footprints stitched together? Place the overhead transparency of the square centimeter grid over this impression. Count the number of whole squares completely interior to the footprint. This is a lower bound to the area of the footprint (it is at least this much). Take this number and add the number of whole squares that even just touch the footprint. This is an upper bound to the area of the footprint (it is at most this much). Average the upper bound and the lower bound to get a best estimate of the area of the footprint. Double this area to find the total surface area. 2) Check this work using another method. Wrap a string or tape around the center of the baseball to find its circumference. Divide this circumference by PI = 3.14 to find the diameter. Take half of the diameter to find radius. Using r = radius and S = Surface Area, the formula for the surface area of a sphere is S = 4 * Pi * r^2 Have students get together in small groups to discuss their results. Then have the whole group get together to report out their results and what they have learned. Assessment: For assessment of the success of the activity, survey students for what they have learned and what more they would like to learn about the mathematics of baseball. Results can be used for further discussion or submitted as homework. Assessment can also be done utilizing the following Bloom Quiz, that is a quiz which has one or two questions from each level of Bloom s Taxonomy of Higher Order Thinking. Baseball Geometry Bloom Quiz

3 1. How many footprint shaped pieces are stitched together to cover a baseball? (Knowledge) 2. How can counting the number of whole centimeter squares that are completely inside the footprint and the number of whole centimeter squares that touch even a little bit of the footprint be used to calculate the surface area of a baseball? (Comprehension) 3. Use twice the average of the lower bound for area and the upper bound for area to calculate the total surface area of a baseball. (Application) 4. What is the circumference of a sphere? (Knowledge) 5. What is formula for surface area of a sphere? (Knowledge) 6. Find the circumference of a baseball? (Comprehension) 7. Calculate the radius of the baseball from measuring the circumference, and use that radius in the formula to find surface area. (Application) 8. Compare the surface areas you calculated by the two methods of Counting the Squares and Surface Area Formula. (Analysis) 9. Where are sources of error found in the different measurements needed for both methods? (Synthesis) 10. Which method is better, and why do you think so? (Evaluation) Extension Activities: Some other measures of the baseball can be calculated: Try using finer grids with the Counting the Squares Method. Use transparencies with ½ cm squares and ¼ cm squares. Do the answers get closer to that of the formula generated surface area? Have students explain why this is so. Ask students to consider what might happen if the grids kept getting finer and finer an infinite number of times. Using V = Volume and r = radius, calculate the formula for the volume of a sphere V = 4/3 * Pi * r ^3. Subtract the upper bound and the lower bound to get an estimate of the perimeter of the footprint, which will also be the length of stitching that needs to be done. If there is to be a ½-

4 inch stitch every 1/8 of an inch, then how long is the piece of string needed to stitch the entire baseball? How does the baseball bounce? Using CBL connections for measuring distance, drop a ball and let the TI*83 measure the amount of bounceback, and graph the resulting curve on the calculators. Resources: The Official Baseball History Site Science Kit and Boreal Laboratories: Online Catalog: Baseball Dissection Kit Baseball Bat Engineering and Design National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Standards: Correlation to NCTM Curriculum Standards and Expectations for Grades 6-8: Number and Operations Compute fluently and make reasonable estimates. Algebra Model and solve contextualized problems using various representations, such as graphs, tables, and equations. Geometry Precisely describe, classify, and understand relationships among types of two- and threedimensional objects using their defining properties. Use two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional objects to visualize and solve problems such as those involving surface area and volume. Use geometric models to represent and explain numerical and algebraic relationships. Recognize and apply geometric ideas and relationships in areas outside the mathematics classroom, such as art, science, and everyday life. Measurement Select and apply techniques and tools to accurately find length, area, volume,. Develop and use formulas to determine the circumference of circles and develop strategies to find the area of more-complex shapes.

5 Communication Communicate mathematical thinking coherently and clearly to peers, teachers, and others. Analyze and evaluate the mathematical thinking and strategies of others. Connections Recognize and apply mathematics in contexts outside of mathematics. About the Author: Author Steve Crandall has taught secondary mathematics and science since An amateur entomologist and astronomer, he has presented lessons at state/national conferences for math, science, and middle school.