Geometry Project- American Football Field

By: Gabriella Whited

For this project the class was assigned to pick a topic that they
were interested in that related to geometry. The topic I choose was an
American football field, the reason I chose this topic was because Ive always
been interested in the sport since my first soccer game when I was little, and I
thought it would be cool to learn how such a fun yet dangerous sport could relate
to geometry. In my research Ive discovered that geometry isn't just present on a
math sheet its present everywhere. I also learned that in every 5 years 500
people die from the football, but the question that I keep asking my self is how
does an American football field relate to math.
Football has been around for many centuries, and countries all around the
world love and appreciate the game. Many countries in Western Europe play the
game, but it wasn't until 1876 when American football (which originated from
rugby) became a sport. The idea of American football came from a game of
soccer in 1823. A man named William Ebb Ellis decided to pick the ball up during
the game and thats where the idea came from. A man named Walter camp also
had a very large influence on football, he was born on April 17 in 1859 and was a
player and coach of Yale University is known for developing the early rules of the
game and is recognized as the "father of American football." It took years and
years until the sport became popular and it wasn't until January 15, 1967 when
the first super bowel occurred. Football is now one of the most popular sports in
the US and is ranked the 5th most dangerous sport, but many people play and
love the sport.
The game is played by two opposing teams of 11, and the purpose of the
game is two out score the other team by scoring as many touchdowns as
possible while holding them to as few touchdowns as possible. To score a
touchdown a player must carry the ball into the opposing teams end zone or
catch the ball in the opposing teams end zone. About 65-75% of Americans play
football, and there are 55,007 reported concussions from youth football each
year. The dangerous sport is still played world wide and is one of the most
popular sports played in the U.S, the popularity of the sport will keep growing and
growing for generations to come.
An American football field relates to geometry in many different ways. An
American football field is a rectangle and includes of right angles and rectangles.
The end zones of the field are rectangles and are very important in the
game because the team that gets the most touchdowns wins. Its very important
that both the end zones have the same measurements because if one end
zone's length is shorter than the other than that could be an advantage for the
other team. The measurements for an end zone on a
profession football field measure, 12 yards wide and 53.33 yards long, resulting
in an area of 639.96 yards squared. I can see now that an American
football field defiantly does relate to math because geometry is present in math
and area and perimeter take a big role in geometry. An American football
field's measurements have to be precise and the area of
the professional fields all have to have the same area and perimeter. By
investigating how an American football field relates to geometry the lesson
learned is that math is not just found on a worksheet or a piece of paper it can be
found anywhere.
Concluding my research, geometry is present in lots of things, even an
American football field. Answering my research question a football field does
relate math because the field is a rectangle and it consist of many right triangles
and the field is split into congruent halts. Researching my question has helped
me look at things differently and has revealed my eye for geometry. Now I know
that geometry is present in more things than just a worksheet, it can be found
anywhere.

Bibliography:
Bellis, Mary. "History of Football." About.com Inventors. About.com, 05 Mar. 2014. Web. 23
Mar. 2014.

"Percentage of Kids Who Are Injured in Football." LIVESTRONG.COM. LIVESTRONG.COM,
17 Jan. 2014. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

"SportsKnowHow.com - HISTORY OF FOOTBALL - Page 1 of 4." History of Football. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.