Math activity
Sports Stats Analyst
Play sports and count your scores! How many balls can you toss into a basket? How many times can you bounce a ball? Track your numbers!
Materials and setup
- balls
- basket or bucket
- tape measure
- paper
- pencil
- graph paper
How this changes by age
Pre-K (ages 3–4)
Play sports and count your scores! How many balls can you toss into a basket? How many times can you bounce a ball? Track your numbers!
Steps
- Set up a basket or bucket for ball tossing. Stand 5 steps away.
- Throw 10 balls. Count how many go in the basket.
- Write your score on a chart. Try 3 rounds.
- Count how many times you can bounce a ball without stopping. Record each try.
- Compare your rounds: 'Which round was your best? Which was hardest?'
- Tell a grown-up one thing that surprised you.
Learning objectives
- Count and record scores from physical activities
- Compare numbers to find best and worst performances
- Track data over multiple rounds
Kindergarten (ages 5–6)
Track sports scores over multiple rounds and make a simple graph. Find your best score, worst score, and practice comparing numbers from your games.
Steps
- Choose a sport: ball toss, jumping distance, or ball bouncing.
- Play 5 rounds and record your score each time in a table.
- Create a bar graph of your scores. Which round was the best?
- Find the highest score and the lowest score. What is the difference?
- Challenge a family member. Record both scores and compare using a double bar graph.
- Tell a grown-up one thing that surprised you.
Learning objectives
- Record sports data across multiple rounds
- Create and read bar graphs of performance data
- Compare scores and calculate simple differences
Early elementary (ages 6–8)
Collect sports performance data and calculate mean, median, and mode. Create graphs to visualize improvement and compare statistics between players.
Steps
- Choose 2 physical challenges: free throws (out of 10), standing long jump (in inches), or ball bouncing (count).
- Perform each challenge 10 times. Record every result.
- Calculate the mean (average): add all results and divide by 10.
- Find the median (middle value when sorted) and mode (most frequent value).
- Create a line graph showing your performance over the 10 attempts. Did you improve?
- Compare with a family member: whose mean is higher? Whose scores are more consistent (smaller range)?
- In one sentence, tell a parent or sibling what surprised you today.
Learning objectives
- Calculate mean, median, and mode from sports performance data
- Create line graphs showing performance over time
- Compare statistics between players to draw conclusions
Upper elementary (ages 8–10)
Analyze sports statistics like a professional analyst. Calculate batting averages, shooting percentages, per-game averages, and use data to make predictions and support arguments.
Steps
- Create a sports stat sheet: track 3 different performance metrics across 10 rounds of a sport.
- Calculate shooting/scoring percentage: made shots / total attempts x 100.
- Calculate per-round averages and cumulative running averages. Graph both.
- Analyze consistency using range and looking at the spread of your data.
- Use your data to predict: based on your average, how many baskets would you make in 50 attempts?
- Write a 'Scouting Report' for yourself or a family member: present statistics, graphs, strengths, areas for improvement, and predictions using data evidence.
- In one sentence, tell a parent or sibling what surprised you today.
Learning objectives
- Calculate percentages, averages, and rates from sports data
- Use statistics to make data-based predictions
- Present analytical findings in a structured report with supporting evidence
Safety and evidence note
Read the full activity before beginning. An adult should supervise tools, heat, food, outdoor work, movement, and experiments as appropriate. Completion records that the activity was done; the child’s explanation, work sample, photo, or demonstration is stronger evidence of learning than a completion check alone.
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