Lesson Plan 2- Touchdown Decisions

Touchdown Decisions- Science NetLinks

            http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/sci_update.cfm?DocID=296

It is often harder to get boys to participate in lessons than it is to get girls to participate. However, this lesson plan would be the perfect plan to engage boys into the classroom. This lesson plan discusses the interesting fact that even though it will increase their chances of winning, most pro football coaches opt to kick a field goal rather than go for a touchdown on a 4^th and goal. By playing it safe, coaches limit the team’s odds of winning by taking a fewer number of points. After discussing this, the author of this lesson then proceeds to compare this risk to that of businessmen and the risks that they take in business. He claims that most businessmen do not maximize their profits because they do not take a healthy amount of risk.

            I really liked the information that this lesson plan presents, but I would make some major modifications to it before using it in a classroom. Although it was listed on a lesson plans page, it isn’t really that much of a lesson plan- it does not give details of anything that you can do with your class other than discuss the information provided. When inserting this lesson into a classroom, I would have students find information that they could analyze. For example, I would have students find information regarding their favorite professional team’s average for a successful 4^th down. (Meaning that their attempt to convert was successful and did not result in a turnover) Of those statistics, I would them have them analyze whether or not the team won the game. The students could then determine the probability of winning a game based on whether or not the team was successful in 4^th downs. I could also have my students analyze actions taken by their own football team. I think that this lesson would be an excellent lesson to present to a middle school classroom.