Talk about Math: Thanksgiving Football

Happy Thanksgiving!

While the day is traditionally about giving thanks for the blessings upon our families there is another tradition:

Football!

Watching the game with my In-Laws, my Brother-in-Law's wife (which techinically is different than my Sister-in-Law which I don't have), mentioned that she teaches Points, Lines and Planes using football.  After all, the rule is that a touch down occurs when the ball breaks the plane of the goal line.  So you can imagine a plane that extends upwards from the field, perpendicular to it.  If the ball (a point) hits this plane or passes through it and is is possessed by the team, then it is a touch down.

In both Algebra and Geometry we've been talking about these terms:

• Parallel
• Perpendicular
• Plane
• Point
• Skew

As I watch the game it's hard not to see these terms illustrated on the field, in the plays, and player's movements.  I won't give them all away now, but there are brownie points available to everyone who posts an example of terms from class (and not just the ones above) in reference to football.  It's one point per definition/ example with a max of 3 points per student.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!