Losing team in the playoffs 2013
In the 2011-2012 NFL season Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos made the playoffs without a winning record and advanced in a 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
The Activity: 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
Want to be updated by email when we add a new post? Click here to sign up for email updates.
Interested in more NFL Math? Check out these activities:
Ben Watson TD Save
One Comment
Pingback: Super Bowl Math 2013 « The Algebra Toolbox