Students Learn Math With Fantasy Baseball Series

Hermosa Beach seventh-graders stepped up to the plate Wednesday for the beginning of a five-day fantasy baseball series in which America’s favorite pastime is helping make students excited about math.

Hermosa Valley School students spent the last few weeks gearing up for the games, which had all kinds of big league fanfare, including peanuts, Cracker Jacks and the ceremonial “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” blaring in the background. Using baseball cards, students calculated statistics such as batting averages, strikeouts, at bats and overall team statistics for the baseball players they used in Wednesday’s simulated baseball game.

As part of the game, students rolled dice each time their players got up to bat and advanced them on paper cutouts that represented moves on a baseball field.

Their homework Wednesday night was to break down their score sheets and determine how each player fared.

“This is really helping them to understand math,” said teacher Michele Figg. “It will help them on the SAT and show them how math is used in everyday life.”