In most sporting events, especially basketball, a multitude of statistics are recorded for each team. One of the most important statistics taken during a sporting event is the scoring . . . of course! Imagine that you are a recruiter for the National Basketball Association (NBA) or the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and you and your colleagues are trying to discover prospective college talent. Since you work for the Charlotte Hornets, your job is to find out statistics about the basketball teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

In this WebQuest, you will select five teams from the ACC and you will determine the average number of points scored by each team each game as well as the average number of points scored against each team each game for all the team's games in the 1999-2000 season. For the five teams you have chosen, you will compare the difference between the average number of points scored by a team each game versus the average number of points scored by it's opponents each game. Additionally, you will compare this calculated difference with each team's overall record and their standing in the ACC.

You and your associates will explore statistics of  either the men's or the women's basketball teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference. You will work in cooperative groups to collect the required data, organize the data in a meaningful fashion, interpret the data, and reach conclusions to answer some questions. You will predict what factors you think are associated with a team who scores a lot of points per game and what factors you think are associated with a team who gets scored on a lot per game.

After you complete the WebQuest you will answer these questions in a Power Point slideshow: Do you think a team can have a greater average number of points scored by it's opponents each game than it's average scoring per game and still have a winning record? Is it more important to score points or to keep your opponents from scoring?

You will also make predications about why some teams may be ranked higher than others in the ACC standings. Could the successful teams have a few of the ACC's top-ten leading scorers on their team? What else makes a team successful or unsuccessful?

Additionally, when both women's and men's statistics are explored, what are some differences with regards to scoring in women's and men's basketball games? Who has more comprehensive statistics available on their sites? You and your coworkers will generate answers to these questions and present your conclusions to the class.
 

Resources:

Duke Blue Devils Sports Page: http://www.goduke.com/

Florida State Seminoles Sports Page: http://www.seminoles.com/

Georgia Tech Yellowjackets Sports Page: http://www.ramblingwreck.com/

Maryland Terrapins Sports Page: http://www.inform.umd.edu/Athletics/

North Carolina Tar Heels Sports Page: http://www.tarheelblue.com/

North Carolina State Wolfpack Sports Page: http://athletics.ncsu.edu/

Virginia Cavaliers Sports Page :http://www.virginiasports.com/

Wake Forest Demon Deacons Sports Page: http://www.wakeforestsports.com/

1. For each of the five teams chosen, use Internet resources to find the following team statistics: average points scored per game, average points scored by one's opponent each game, overall record, and standing in the ACC.

2. Once all the data is collected and calculated, it should be organized into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. You will create two charts. One chart will compare the average points scored by the team each game versus the average points scored by it's opponent each game. The second chart will rank the five teams according to their standing in the ACC.

3. You will then use Microsoft Power Point to create a wonderful slideshow to present to the class. Each slide will contain all the data about one team. Therefore, you will make a total of 5 slides for the teams. You should think about using graphics, transitions, text variations, and sounds in your report. More importantly, you should come up with a generalization about teams' scoring (both for and against themselves) and their winning percentages as well as answers to the proposed task questions.

4. After the project is complete and each group has had a chance to explain their findings, you will evaluate the WebQuest by writing a journal entry in Microsoft Word. You will explain what you learned from the assignment, what you liked and disliked about the assignment, and if you feel the assignment had educational value. Additionally, you can make any suggestions you may have about changing the WebQuest if you were a teacher giving the same activity to your students.

Also, you will need to invent an extension or variation to the WebQuest, writing down some related problems that are easier, harder, or of the same difficulty as the assignment.
 

1. After selecting men's basketball or women's basketball from each sports page, link to that team's 1999-2000 season statistics.

2. Some schools may give you the averages you need upfront, while most others give you the total number of points scored for the first half and the second half by each team and it's opponents. REMEMBER: add the first and second half scores and divide by the total number of games played by that team (hint: you are trying to find the average!). This may be a bit tricky, so be careful and work with your group members to generate the correct data.

3. When organizing your information in an Excel worksheet, in worksheet one put each of the five teams in a column and put the statistics you want to display for each team above them in a single row. Use the second worksheet to enter the data about the rankings of the five teams chosen. Try and pick a chart that best describes your results! CAREFUL: When ranking the teams, you might want to rank the teams from 5 to 1, with 5 being the first place team and 1 being the last place team.  This way, your graph in Excel will represent the ACC teams' standings corectly.

4. Make sure to have a creative and fun Power Point presentation. I suggest using clip art, finding images on the pages you use, and even finding sounds from the pages you search (like the Wake Forest University fight song!). Make each slide contains all the data for each team, in addition to having an introduction slide and several conclusion slides.  The conclusion slides should answer all the questions posed in the task and include any additional findings you may want to note.
 

Although the WebQuest is time consuming, it will be an incredibly fun and beneficial activity. You will compare data, make generalizations about the data, and draw conclusions from your results. This WebQuest will involve critical thinking, reasoning, communication, and cooperation. Most importantly, you will discover the connection mathematics has to the real world and realize the value of learning statistics, interpreting data, and writing in a mathematical language.

Additional teacher materials (pdf)

   Author:  Amy Marchell Charasika is a mathematics teacher at Ballard H.S., Louisville, KY.