The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles will face off in Tremendous Bowl LIX, a rematch from two seasons in the past, on Feb. 9 on the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
The sport is anticipated to be watched by greater than 120 million folks and options many intriguing storylines because the Chiefs, led by celebrity quarterback Patrick Mahomes, search to develop into the primary workforce to win the Tremendous Bowl three years in a row.
How will you make this yr’s Tremendous Bowl related to your curriculum?
Whether or not debating football-related controversies, making predictions, analyzing advertisements, writing descriptions, understanding information and statistics, or studying about head trauma, we now have concepts for utilizing The New York Occasions and The Studying Community that can assist you just do that.
How do you educate the Tremendous Bowl? Tell us within the remark part, or by submitting a Reader Thought.
Map N.F.L. Historical past: In 2019, the N.F.L. celebrated it’s a hundredth birthday. Learn this essay that appears again at what has modified and what has remained the identical over the previous century.
Then, create a visible timeline that maps the historical past of the league. You would possibly select to characterize the game as an entire or do your personal analysis and visualize one side of it, like the best gamers of all time, the modifications to shoulder pads, or the expansion of the passing sport.
Research your timeline to see what patterns emerge. How has the sport advanced? What has remained fixed? What tendencies can you are expecting for the longer term?
Be taught About Girls in Soccer: Fifteen feminine coaches have been on N.F.L. staffs this season. And two girls have been coaches for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers within the 2021 Tremendous Bowl, an essential milestone within the N.F.L.’s gender range efforts, Gillian R. Brassil and Kevin Draper write in “These Girls Had been N.F.L. ‘Firsts.’ They’re Anticipating Firm.”
“What is de facto going to excite me is when that is not aberrational or when that is not one thing that’s noteworthy,” stated Amy Trask, who in 1997 turned the Oakland Raiders’ chief govt and the primary girl of that rank within the N.F.L.
Listed here are some football- and sports-related questions we’ve requested as a part of our Pupil Opinion characteristic:
Look at the Function of Politics in Sports activities: Political activism and protests by athletes are nothing new. Muhammad Ali publicly criticized the Vietnam Warfare. John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised fists as symbols of “Black energy” throughout a medal ceremony on the 1968 Olympics. Colin Kaepernick knelt in the course of the nationwide anthem to boost consciousness of racial injustice and brutality towards African-American folks by the hands of the police. The W.N.B.A. has lengthy been a hotbed of political exercise.
However following the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, activism in sports activities exploded. N.B.A. gamers wore jerseys emblazoned with messages of social justice. The W.N.B.A. devoted its 2020 season to Breonna Taylor, a Black girl who was killed by the police. Tennis champion Naomi Osaka wore masks to the court docket bearing the names of Black victims of violence. The civil unrest even prompted an uncommon outpouring from gamers, coaches and officers within the N.F.L., which has wrestled publicly with problems with race and racism greater than different leagues.
What are your college students’ ideas about political activism in sports activities? Do they assume soccer, and the Tremendous Bowl, ought to be apolitical, or do they assume athletes ought to be free to specific their political opinions and even make protests? Do athletes, in actual fact, have a accountability to make use of their platform to advocate for justice? Can these sorts of gestures really make a distinction?
Take a look at these associated Studying Community assets that can assist you begin the dialogue or take it additional:
Assess the State of the Recreation: In 2019, The New York Occasions created a six-part collection wanting on the state of the sport, from a small city college board debating whether or not to permit 13-year-olds to play sort out soccer to a navy base in Japan the place soccer is the very important connection to house.
Have college students learn a number of of the articles within the collection and assess the state of the sport: Is soccer in hassle? Or do you assume it can proceed to be America’s favourite sport and previous time?
Be taught About Management: Use sports activities to assist college students take into consideration management with our Tremendous Bowl lesson plan from 2001, by which college students answered questions like “Why do you assume the success of a sports activities workforce has such an influence on town it represents?” and “What’s ‘morale’ and what do you assume leaders can do to ‘enhance’ it?”
You may replace it with this 2020 article, “Pete Carroll Needs to Change Your Life,” in regards to the Seattle Seahawks coach who “insists that teaching ought to be about one thing larger than wins and losses — serving to folks be higher at life.”
What sort of teaching do you reply to greatest? Why? What classes can sports activities educate us about life basically?
Uncover a Excessive Faculty Group Breaking Stereotypes: Do you want tales about underdogs, lengthy pictures or unsung heroes — athletes and groups that break obstacles and defy the percentages? Educate with our lesson plan “Deaf Soccer Group Takes California by Storm,” a couple of highschool workforce that broke the stereotype that deafness is one thing to beat. Then focus on: What are the abilities and qualities — athletic, social and emotional — {that a} workforce wants to return collectively as a unit and win?
Create Museum Reveals: Have college students mirror on the qualities that make distinctive soccer gamers, or athletes of any type, then design museum reveals celebrating their achievements, utilizing our lesson plan The Sporting Life.
Language Arts, Media Research and Visible Arts
Make an Argument: Ought to mother and father let their youngsters play soccer? What guidelines within the sport would you modify and why? Who’s the G.O.A.T. (no, not these cute animals with the horns and the beard — the Biggest of All Time)? And, ought to Patrick Mahomes be thought of the G.O.A.T. if he wins a 3rd straight Tremendous Bowl this yr?
The Tremendous Bowl is a good alternative to harness your college students’ ardour for the game right into a writing or debate exercise. Our lesson plan “Taking part in to Win: Utilizing Sports activities to Develop Proof-Primarily based Arguments” affords dozens of articles, questions and workouts to assist your college students craft and hone a bulletproof argument.
Flex These Descriptive Writing Muscle mass: “The _________ gained the sport in opposition to the_________.” How do sports activities reporters reinvent that easy sentence in attention-grabbing methods every single day?
In “The Energy and Glory of Sportswriting,” Nicholas Dawidoff writes:
When writing about sports activities, you must study to navigate an odd literary predicament: Your viewers typically already is aware of the end result earlier than it begins studying. An editor at Sports activities Illustrated as soon as suggested me that the artwork of the work rested in telling individuals who already know what occurred a narrative so compelling that they overlook every thing and, on the finish, want they’d been there.
Use sports activities writing as a mannequin for descriptive writing with our lesson “Getting within the Recreation” and an annotated article by Alan Blinder, a Occasions sports activities reporter, who takes us behind the scenes of his reporting and writing course of for an article on school soccer signing day. Then problem your college students to jot down a energetic paragraph (or extra!) that reviews on some side of this yr’s Tremendous Bowl.
Poetry on the Tremendous Bowl: 4 years in the past, for the primary time ever, there was poetry at soccer’s greatest sport. The poet Amanda Gorman, who wowed People at President Biden’s inauguration when she recited her poem “The Hill We Climb,” carried out on the Tremendous Bowl LV preshow.
Invite your college students to study extra about Ms. Gorman and analyze her poem utilizing our lesson plan. Do your college students assume poetry ought to have a spot in future Tremendous Bowls?
Critique the Advertisements: The Tremendous Bowl is the largest day of the yr for promoting, particularly now when viewers can simply skip or decide out of commercials altogether.
Do your college students notice how a lot they’re marketed to basically? Tremendous Bowl commercials are clear, however Instagram advertisements will be sneaky. Do they know the best way to spot them?
Use the questions from our lesson plan on Tremendous Bowl advertisements or these 5 important crucial media literacy questions from Widespread Sense Training to have college students analyze and critique the spots that can air on Feb. 12 particularly, or these they see on-line main as much as the sport.
Right here’s an instance of what this evaluation can appear to be in the true world: Opinions of the notable advertisements from 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020. What sorts of tendencies do college students discover within the advertisements this yr?
Lastly, you would possibly seek the advice of this lesson plan at MiddleWeb for extra concepts on educating media literacy by way of Tremendous Bowl advertisements.
Think about Highly effective P.S.A.s: In 2015, the N.F.L. aired a public service announcement in the course of the Tremendous Bowl that addressed home violence and sexual abuse. As part of its “Encourage Change” initiative, it has debuted a number of advertisements that tackle police violence. In a single, which ran in the course of the N.F.C. and A.F.C. Championship video games, the previous participant Anquan Boldin tells the story of his cousin, Corey Jones, who was shot and killed by a police officer.
Ask college students what they give thought to these sorts of issue-based advertisements and public service bulletins. What industrial would they wish to see in the course of the Tremendous Bowl this yr, given the big viewers that message would attain?
Strive a Tremendous Bowl-related Artwork Venture: In 2019, the sportswriter Benjamin Hoffman and the illustrator Chris Morris teamed as much as create this illustrated information to the N.F.L. playoffs. Create your personal information for the 2022 Tremendous Bowl by summarizing the playoff video games that led to the Bengals-Rams matchup and pairing them with an unique drawing.
Need extra concepts for visible arts items utilizing The New York Occasions? You may adapt any of the initiatives on this lesson plan to make them Tremendous Bowl-themed. Like, making a paper path by way of Tremendous Bowl protection, illustrating a Tremendous Bowl snack recipe, creating an op-art illustration based mostly on a football-related Opinion piece, or placing collectively a blended media collage to characterize a favourite participant.
Suggest Your Dream Halftime Present: Kendrick Lamar will carry out at this yr’s Tremendous Bowl halftime present. Final yr, a pregnant Rihanna carried out a dozen of her hits in a 13-minute fashion-filled extravaganza. In earlier years, musical superstars Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncé have headlined. Be taught extra in regards to the historical past of the halftime present right here and right here. Then, suggest your dream present.
Create Emblem Artwork: Or, strive our design lesson, based mostly on a slide present of artist-created “different logos” from 2009, about how Tremendous Bowl artwork has advanced over time. You will discover all the official Tremendous Bowl logos, from Tremendous Bowl I to Tremendous Bowl LVII, right here.
Science, Expertise and Well being
Perceive Soccer and Head Trauma: The mind trauma sustained in soccer and different contact sports activities is now linked to long-term cognitive impairment, together with reminiscence loss, confusion, melancholy and dementia.
What’s the influence of a single concussion? What’s the long-term influence of mind trauma? What’s the degenerative mind illness C.T.E.? What’s the influence of concussions on youths? How do concussions have an effect on athletes’ short- and long-term bodily and psychological well being? What’s the position of kit in mind trauma? Can tools, resembling helmet caps, scale back concussions or does it give gamers a false sense of safety, subsequently making the issue worse?
You may have your college students do their very own analysis into any of those questions. Or, see our 2011 lesson plan on mind trauma. Primarily based on what they study, they could weigh in on our associated Pupil Opinion query or Image Immediate, which each pose the query: Is sort out soccer too harmful for younger folks to play?
It’s Not Simply Head Accidents: Over the course of an N.F.L. season, gamers’ ft and palms take a beating on practically each snap. Fingers are jammed, toes are stepped on, ankles are twisted, and nails are damaged. College students can discover this Occasions interactive detailing the bodily toll on athletes. Then, they could create their very own infographic informing others on the damage and tear of a single season.
What’s With Soccer and the Flu?: Why does attending a Tremendous Bowl occasion offer you the next danger of getting the flu? This Upshot article explains:
In response to a brand new research revealed within the American Journal of Well being Economics, the demise fee from the flu is appreciably increased amongst these whose house workforce makes it to the Tremendous Bowl.
This seemingly puzzling discovering really makes some sense. The sport happens in the course of the coronary heart of flu season which explains for the mingling at Tremendous Bowl events. And followers with their workforce within the sport are in all probability extra more likely to attend one.
For a lot of concepts about educating in regards to the flu and the best way to keep away from it, go to this lesson plan.
Uncover the Science of Sports activities Gear and Expertise: Ever surprise how these N.F.L. footballs are made? What about these tremendous sticky gloves receivers like Odell Beckham Jr. use to make these dazzling one-handed catches? Or why an ideal spiral soccer go doesn’t break the legal guidelines of physics? Three latest classes have the solutions:
On this Movie Membership lesson, college students learn the way footballs are made in a brief documentary that takes viewers inside a Wilson soccer manufacturing facility in Ada, Ohio, the supply of the N.F.L.’s handmade footballs.
On this lesson, college students examine how sticky gloves have modified soccer and debate whether or not athletes ought to have the ability to use know-how to enhance their efficiency.
And on this lesson, college students study in regards to the forces behind a quarterback’s go and take into account how they’ll apply what they study to enhance their very own spiral.
Pose and Reply Sports activities-Associated Science, Expertise and Well being Questions: Do coronary heart assault charges rise in the course of the Tremendous Bowl? Have your college students brainstorm a listing of sports-related science, well being and know-how questions. They’ll put up their responses to our writing immediate, “What Questions Do You Have About How the World Works?”
Be taught Soccer Anatomy: Strive our lesson on the anatomy and physiology of the muscular system, the skeletal system and connective tissue and have college students analysis joints within the physique.
Play the Odds. Which workforce will win Tremendous Bowl LIX? By how a lot?
In 2018, the Supreme Court docket lifted a federal ban on sports activities betting. The N.F.L. has since embraced the playing business and cast partnerships reportedly price practically $1 billion over 5 years with sports activities betting corporations.
Discover out the percentages for the Chiefs-Eagles matchup right here.
(You can too discover the percentages for sport M.V.P. in addition to prop bets like, “Will a participant or coach cry in the course of the nationwide anthem?” and “Will Travis Kelce suggest to Taylor Swift?”)
On this 2014 piece, Joe Drape profiles the so-called “oddsmakers” for soccer’s greatest sport:
It’s a title bestowed on those that put out level spreads, or traces, on scores of sporting contests all yr spherical, however have a flip within the mainstream highlight solely every year when the Tremendous Bowl transforms America right into a coast-to-coast sports activities ebook. They’re the lads — and they’re nearly all males — who determine the numbers and proposition bets for soccer’s greatest sport, affecting every thing from workplace swimming pools to bets made with neighborhood bookies and arranged crime syndicates.
How do these oddsmakers determine the numbers and proposition bets for giant video games just like the Tremendous Bowl? Why do the sports activities books practically at all times find yourself forward? What’s “sq. cash” and why is it that “the flood of sq. cash that inundates the Tremendous Bowl makes the sport one of many best traces of the yr for oddsmakers”? Why, in a world the place algorithms rule and quants are celebrated, does placing out a quantity stay “an old-school endeavor”? Have college students learn the remainder of the article to reply these questions and take into account if, when and the way betting on the Tremendous Bowl is price it.
Use Knowledge and Statistics to Play Fantasy Soccer: In our lesson plan, “Put Me In, Coach! Getting within the Quantitative Recreation with Fantasy Soccer,” college students use statistical analyses and quantitative evaluations to get the sting in fantasy soccer. By taking a look at information, measuring matchups and making projections, college students put their analytic expertise to the take a look at.
Decide Soccer “Greatness” — Mathematically: Use sports activities statistics to create graphs by way of this lesson, by which college students discover each the target and subjective standards used to find out the “greatness” of an individual or workforce. College students then examine the statistics and argue the necessity for different standards to adequately decide whether or not an individual or workforce is “one of the best” of their career.
Analyze a Sports activities Graph: In a 2020 version of our What’s Happening in This Graph? collection, we invite college students to investigate a graph of frequent accidents in highschool sports activities, together with soccer. We ask them three questions:
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What do you discover? In the event you make a declare, inform us what you observed that helps your declare.
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What do you surprise? What are you interested in that comes from what you discover within the graph?
After they research the graph, have them make some predictions about the way forward for soccer: Primarily based on the data within the graph, what do they assume would be the state of the game in 5, 10 or 20 years? Will youth participation charges proceed to say no? Do they assume soccer will stay America’s hottest sport? Then, they’ll learn the article, “Inside Soccer’s Marketing campaign to Save the Recreation” to search out out extra info.
You should utilize this three-question protocol with any football-related graphs from The Occasions. Listed here are a couple of to get you began:
And if you wish to do extra with sports activities and infographics, you would possibly like our 2014 record “Decoding the Knowledge: 10 Methods to Educate Math and Extra Utilizing Infographics.”
Plot Tremendous Bowl Knowledge: Or, maybe college students wish to gather Tremendous Bowl information and use it to create and analyze their very own graphs. Our lesson plan “Taking part in Sensible With Knowledge: Utilizing Sports activities Analytics to Educate Math” can assist.
Use Likelihood to Estimate the Possibilities of Your Favourite Group Making the Playoffs: We already know what groups are on this yr’s Tremendous Bowl, however subsequent season, use our lesson, “Run the Numbers: Exploring the Math Behind Any N.F.L. Group’s Playoff Possibilities,” to foretell who will make the postseason.
Use Statistics to Assemble Arguments: Caroline Doughty, a second grade trainer in Alexandria Metropolis, Va., wrote to us to inform us about how she’s educating the Tremendous Bowl:
This yr, I’m integrating Tremendous Bowl statistics into my math and writing blocks. In math, we’re evaluating numbers (touchdowns, yardage, years of expertise) and including collectively scores. After analyzing the statistics, college students are creating arguments for who they assume will win and offering proof to again up their opinions. Then, college students will attempt to persuade others. Lastly, every scholar will vote on who they assume will win and we’ll graph the outcomes.
I attempt to incorporate sports activities into my instruction as a lot as I can. Particularly in math, it offers actual life information to work with and the youngsters love it.
