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Cards or Tigers

Take Me Out to the Ball Game and Teach Me a Little Math

Oct 23, 2006 Lynn Moore

Using real life situations makes math come alive for kids. Story problems are hardest for all kids, especially the ones who have difficulty with language.

Who are you rooting for in the World’s Series? That leads to lively discussion in our house since my husband is from Detroit, and I am from St. Louis. No matter which side of the plate you are on, you can use ball games to build math skills with your little ones.

Real Life at the Ball Park Math Story Problems

It is the fourth inning of the game. The ------ (name of team) scored --- points in the first inning, ---- points in the second inning, and --- points in the third inning. The ----- (name of the other team) scored ---- points in the first inning, ----- points in the second inning, and ---- points in the third inning. Who is winning the game?
It is the top of the ninth inning. The -------- (name of team) have ------ points total; the ----- (name of team) have --- points total. How many points do the -----(trailing team’s name) need to win?
Grandad gave Dan $20.00 for food at the game. Dan bought a hot dog for $6.25 and a soda for $3.75. How much money does Dan have left?
Bryson has $27.00 of allowance money. He wants to buy a ----- (name of team) T-shirt at the game. The sign says that T-shirts are $29.00. How much more money does Bryson need to buy the shirt?
Chad, Sara's little brother, is getting tired. He wants to go home, but it is the fifth inning of the game. How many more innings are left before Chad can go home?
Amanda’s favorite restaurant has hamburgers for $1.00 and fries for $.50 during the World Series. Amandas’s grandmother wants to get an equal number of hamburgers and fries for their family. How many of each can she buy with $9.00?

Remember these strategies when you are figuring out story problems:

Read, reread, and REREAD the problem.
Make a picture, act it out, or make a chart.
Set up the problem.
Read the problem again to make sure you chose the correct operation.
Show your work.
Check your computation.
Decide a good label word to go with your answer: 4 balls? points? dollars? team members?

Oh, and just for the record . . . The Cards are sure to win!

The copyright of the article Cards or Tigers in Special Needs Parenting is owned by Lynn Moore. Permission to republish Cards or Tigers in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.