Here are the details of the Out of Bounds Baseball Unit, if you don't want the PDF:
Back Story
Integrating GIS into core content is easy if you take
advantage of preexisting content. This
unit was born out of a baseball theme in English Language Arts (ELA)
class. As the four core teachers talked
about what we were doing in ELA class, they wanted to get on board. Over time, we incorporated all four classes
at the same time to create a powerful experience for our middle school
students. This is an outline of what
each class did as their part of the baseball unit. The GIS activities were incorporated in ELA,
Science and Social Studies classes.
Perhaps you can play out of bounds and integrate!
English Language Arts / Reading
- “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” song by
Jack Norworth
- “Strong Men Weep” short story by Benedict
Cosgrove
- Excerpts from Wait Till Next Year a novel by Doris Kerns Goodwin
- “Who’s on First?” play by Abbott and
Costello (videos available at YouTube)
- “Casey at the Bat” poem by Ernest Thayer
(videos available at YouTube)
- “Baseball in April” short story by Gary
Soto
- Shakespeare
Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge
Science
·
Ball analysis (measurement, physics, experiment
procedures)
Math
·
Baseball statistics and spreadsheet formulas
Social Studies
·
Games and sports in cultures around the world
Projects
·
Build a baseball Museum
·
Research baseball topics
GIS
·
Play Ball! Spatial Analysis of Baseball (http://edcommunity.esri.com/arclessons/lesson.cfm?id=334)
·
Baseball Radio Station Analysis (http://edcommunity.esri.com/arclessons/lesson.cfm?id=390)
·
Where should you put the next MLB team?
·
Demographic patterns related to baseball
Resources
- Matt Davis’ Blog Article: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/world-series-classroom-activities-matthew-davis
- Negro Baseball League Museum
Lessons: http://www.coe.ksu.edu/nlbemuseum/resource/lessonplans.html
- Baseball Hall of Fame
Lessons: http://baseballhall.org/education/school-programs/curriculum
- Baseball Stats: http://www.baseball-almanac.com/bstatmen.shtml
- Baseball and Music: http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/interactives/perfectpitch/
- Around the Field: http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-3-4/All_Around_The_Baseball_Field.aspx
- http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/baseball/teachers/lesson4.html
- Teaching Ideas: http://community.prometheanplanet.com/en/blog/b/blog/archive/2010/10/27/5-great-ideas-for-teaching-with-baseball.aspx#.UImMjkSkAew
- Lessons from Teachers Corner: http://seasonal.theteacherscorner.net/baseball/
