Losing team in the playoffs


In the 2011-2012 NFL season Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos made the playoffs without a winning record and have advanced in another thriller of a game by beating the Steelers.  Even though the Broncos did not have a winning record in the regular season they weren’t the worst team ever to make the playoffs.   During the 2010-2011 season, the Seattle Seahawks made the NFL playoffs with a losing record. They were the first NFL team to do so in a non-strike year. Let your students explore other teams in the three major sports who have made their playoffs with a losing record. How will they determine which team had the worst record if many of the teams played different amounts of games? Seems like a good time for students to think about ratios, percent and proportionality in a familiar context.   Enjoy the playoffs … and the math.

CCSS: 4.NF.2. , 6.RP.1 , 6.RP.2 , 6.RP.3 , 7.RP.3

 losing-team-in-the-playoffs.pdf

For members we have an editable Word doc, teaching suggestions and solutions.

losing-team-in-the-playoffs.doc       losing-team-playoffs-solution.pdf

08. January 2012 by Oldmanmarks and Leslie
Categories: Data and Probability, Number Sense, Sports | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

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