MP5 Athletics performances: creating a quadrathlon

IDU Mathematics and Physical and Health Education

Using different perspectives and representations of data as justification,

students will develop and adapt their performance in a system.
Introduction of the task
Athletes and sports teams are increasingly turning to mathematics and data to help
them achieve the best possible results. You may have seen the movie Moneyball or
read about the special statistical analysis the German football team used to win the
World Cup (http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2014/07/10/germanys-12th-man-at-the-world-
cup-big-data/)...or maybe you yourself have downloaded a running app that helps
you track your speed and distance so that you can improve as a runner.

Just how important is data analysis in the sports world? How can understanding
statistics help you improve in a sport? Could statistics even help create a sport?

During Physical and Health Education (PHE), you will participate in a number of
athletics disciplines: a 60-meter run, a 400-meter run, javelin and long jump. You will
collect results for your partner and vice versa. You will share your own results with
the rest of the class in a Microsoft Forms document that is available via a link on
ManageBac. You will also make a video of your partner in order to be able to make
an analysis of the techniques.

You will start the project in math class by analyzing data from previous years. In PHE
class you will be measuring your performance on the four disciplines and making and
analyzing a video. The third part of the project is reflecting on your performance in
PHE. The final part is done in the math lessons where you will write a report. The
report should include a summary of the data analysis of the four disciplines and a
point system for a triathlon or quadrathlon in order to rank students.

You will work in groups of three or four in math class and in pairs of groups of three
in PHE, which will be assigned. You will be given time in class to work on this project,
so use it wisely! See the last page of this document for important information about
the format for your final piece of work.
PHE class – initial performance

 Safety and warm up

 How to measure
 Make a video of your partner

Your task in PHE consists of two parts. In the first part you will participate in 4
athletics disciplines over 2 lessons: a 60-meter run, a 400-meter run, javelin and long
jump. The teacher will make sure every student had a proper warm up and brings all
the materials needed. It will also be explained how to measure correctly.

In the second part you will have to make a video of your partner performing each
discipline. As coach, you need to analyze the movements and techniques, in order to
discover areas of improvement. This means you have to do research yourselves
about the movements, which techniques should be used and biomechanics, etc.

Math class – analysis and quadrathlon design

Your mathematical task consists of two parts. In the first part, each student
individually will have to produce a statistical overview of their chosen discipline. In the
second part, each group will have to invent a point-system that allows you to produce
an overall score for the four (or three) disciplines. The overall score will allow you to
rank students and decide on the winner based on the overall performance. You are
creating a sport! As a group, you will create a quadrathlon (or triathlon) based on the
data analysis done in part 1 taking into account all individual analysis.

Part 0: Brainstorm
You will develop a system that can be used to convert the times and distances that
have been achieved into a total point score for the four disciplines. The total points
for the four disciplines will then enable you to rank the students by their overall
performance and determine who is the best quadrathlete.

With your group, you should first think about what factors might be important for your
scoring system. You should also think about how the data could help you see how
important each factor is. This will guide your analysis in part 1.
To help you with this, here is a small sample of what the data you get will look like.
Gender Javelin (m) long jump (m) 400m (s) 60m (s)
F 9,48 2,44 108 11,51
M 19,2 4,02 92 9,7
F 7,9 2,68 130 13
M 11,2 4,3 131 12

Here are some things to think about:

1. How are the four disciplines scored? Is a higher score better or worse? How
can you compare times and distances?
2. Is being 1 second faster on the 60-meter run just as good, worse or better
than being 1 second faster on the 400-meter run? How about 10 cm more on
javelin compared to 10 cm more on long jump?
3. Should you have separate scores for different genders?
 4. Are performances on any of the disciplines related? In order words, do you
expect someone that is good on one discipline to also be good on another
discipline.

Come up with an initial idea for your scoring system and think about what information
you need from the analysis of the data.

Part 1 - Analysis: create a statistical overview

You will first need to do statistical analysis of the data. You will produce an overview
of the performances for the whole group in the different disciplines. This will be done
individually, with each group member analyzing one discipline and the correlation
between two disciplines. Decide with your group who does which discipline and
which combination of two disciplines. They should all be unique. You will hand this is
once as a formative assignment for feedback and then as a summative assignment
for a meth grade.

Using proper mathematical notation and explaining your work. Every student should
present a formal report that completely analyses, displays and summarizes the data
as concisely and clearly as possible. This analysis should:
 Use appropriate measures of center
 Use appropriate measures of spread
 Include diagrams for a visual display of the performances
 Include an explanation of which measures of spread and of center and which
diagrams are most appropriate for this data.
 Contain a brief discussion of whether the data is discrete or continuous
 Explain how you decided to group the data, if you are using grouped data
 Explain what outliers there are and how these might affect the data.
 Analyse, represent and describe the correlation between the results on two
different disciplines

Make sure you present relevant data and graphs only. Create a story for the
reader, don’t just dump all the data, graphs and measures on a page. If you do want
to include all measures to show you have done all the calculations, add them in an
appendix. Your main report should only show results that are relevant to creating the
quadrathlon.

Students in Math Extended should also consider the distribution of performances

across the disciplines. The heights of a group of people follow a normal distribution.
Do the performances of the students in MP5 on the four disciplines also follow a
normal distribution?

Math Extended students should:

 Explain whether the times and distances for the four disciplines follow a
normal distribution.
 If they do, determine the mean and the standard deviation. Include within how
many standard deviations of the mean your performance is.
 If they don’t, describe the shape of the distribution
 Explain any conclusions and reasoning.
Part 2 - Design: create a quadrathlon
Now that you have an overview as to how an average or typical student performs in
all four disciplines, it is time to develop your quadrathlon scoring system. This part
will be done together as a group.

Look back at your brainstorm from part 0 to think about what you want to take into
account.

The point system that you will develop has to take into consideration what you found
in your analysis. Make sure you explain your choices and discuss the fairness of your
system.

PHE class – reflection and improvement

Students will be given one lesson in the OLC to work with their partner to analyze the
performances of the different athletics disciplines and define strengths and
weaknesses. The analysis and reflection should be uploaded on the deadline
published on ManageBac.
Math class – final report
You will use your quadrathlon design and the new performance data to determine
who is the current best quadrathlete in mp5. Then you should write your final report
as a group, you will be given two lessons to work on this. The report should include:
- A title page with your names and teachers
- A summary of your statistical overviews and correlations
- An explanation of your quadrathlon points system and why you chose this
system
- The final quadrathlon results: applying your point system to data for this year’s
mp5 students. Who is the best quadrathlete of the year?

Throughout the report, make sure you show that you can combine your knowledge of
both subjects effectively.

Reflection
In addition to the group report, you hand in an individual reflection, where you need
to reflect on the development of your own interdisciplinary understanding.

Some questions to guide you:

- How did knowledge from PHE (disciplines, participants…) help me decide
how to apply Maths, to analyze the data, make sense of the real-life situation
and create a fair sport?
- How did Maths help decide what to do in PHE?
- Will you use this interdisciplinary understanding to combine Sports and
Mathematics in the future? How?
- Looking at your analysis in Maths, what discipline should you try to improve in
to improve your quadrathlon/triathlon score?
- What ATL skills did you develop during the IDU and how?

NOTE: This reflection is not asking you to make a list of what you have learnt in PHE
class or Maths class in isolation. This reflection is asking you to analyse how you
combined the knowledge from both subjects to analyse the data in order to create a
fair scoring system. It wants you to reflect on how analysing and interpreting data,
you can make decisions that can affect your PHE performance. It also wants you to
think about how you can use this knowledge in the future.

Also reflect on the statement of inquiry for this IDU:

Collecting and analyzing data can help us improve our performance.

Do you agree or disagree with this statement and why? Has the IDU changed your
perspective on this?
Assessment
This assignment will count towards a PHE, a Maths and an IDU grade. For PHE, you
will be graded on Criterion A: Knowing and understanding, C: Applying and
performing and D: Reflecting and improving performance. Both the report and your
performance in class will be taken into account. For Maths, you will receive an
individual grade on Criterion C: Communicating and D: Applying mathematics in real-
life contexts, based on the report you present in part one of the assignment.

For the IDU, criterion A, B and C will be based on your groups final report, the initial
brainstorm from math class (part 0) and your individual reflection.

Guidelines and checklists for writing the analysis / report

In order to score well on Math criterion C you must write a report that:

 consistently uses appropriate mathematical language

 uses appropriate forms of mathematical representation to consistently
present information correctly
 moves effectively between different forms of mathematical representation
 communicates through lines of reasoning that are complete, coherent and
concise
 is consistently organized using a logical structure.

To score well on Math criterion D you must:

 identify the relevant elements of the situation

 select appropriate strategies to model the situation
 apply your selected strategies to reach a correct solution
 justify the degree of accuracy of a solution
 justify whether the solution makes sense in the context of the situation

See the next two pages for the scoring rubric that will be used to grade the project.
You should make sure the workload is evenly divided within the group. You should
also make sure you all understand what has been done. You may be asked
questions about any part of the report to check your participation. ‘That was not my
part, so I don’t know’ is not an acceptable answer.
The final product (report + reflections + final analysis) needs to be uploaded to
ManageBac by Wednesday 7 November 17:00.

Your report should:

 be saved in the format Name1_Name2_Name3_Athletics.pdf
 have a proper heading/title page
 have a relevant introduction
 contain math workings using correct math type. For example, 7/10 will not be
7
accepted. Accepted forms will be or 7 ÷ 10. Please use the equation editor,
10
which is full of symbols you might want to use such as≈ , Σ , ∴ , x , σ .
 feature diagrams that are fully labeled and explained, created either using
technology or by hand. If created by hand, clear high-quality scans should be
utilized. Diagrams should be directly in the text, not as an appendix
 include clear explanations and conclusions
  tables with raw data included in appendix, not within the report.

Criterion A: Evaluating
Maximum: 8
In order to address real-world and contextual issues and ideas, students will be able to:
• analyse disciplinary knowledge
• evaluate interdisciplinary perspectives within a source, work or text.

Level Level descriptor

0 The student does not achieve a standard described by any of the descriptors given below.

1–2 The student:

• attempts to analyse by identifying disciplinary knowledge
• attempts to evaluate by stating the strengths or limitations of interdisciplinary perspectives.

3–4 The student:

• partially analyses by outlining the disciplinary knowledge
• partially evaluates by outlining the strengths or limitations of interdisciplinary perspectives.

5–6 The student:

• analyses by describing disciplinary knowledge
• evaluates by describing the strengths and limitations of interdisciplinary perspectives.

7–8 The student:

• fully analyses by explaining disciplinary knowledge
fully evaluates by explaining the strengths and limitations of interdisciplinary perspectives

Criterion B: Synthesizing
Maximum: 8
In order to address real-world and contextual issues and ideas, students will be able to:
• create a product that communicates a purposeful interdisciplinary understanding
• justify how their product communicates interdisciplinary understanding.

Level Task-specific decriptor

0
1–2 The students have:
selected knowledge of the sports and their conclusions reached with the data analysis to create a
scoring system that demonstrates some interdisciplinary understanding
stated how the scoring system takes into account their interdisciplinary understanding and its fairness

3–4 The students have:

applied their knowledge of the sports and their conclusions reached with the data analysis to create a
scoring system that demonstrates interdisciplinary understanding
outlined how the scoring system takes into account their interdisciplinary understanding and its
fairness

5–6 The students have:

developed their knowledge of the sports and their conclusions reached with the data analysis to
create a fair scoring system that demonstrates interdisciplinary understanding
described how the scoring system takes into account their interdisciplinary understanding and its
 fairness

7–8 The students have:

synthesized their knowledge of the sports and their conclusions reached with the data analysis to
create a complete and fair scoring system that demonstrates effectively purposeful interdisciplinary
understanding
Justified clearly how the scoring system takes into account their interdisciplinary understanding and
its fairness

Criterion C: Reflecting
Maximum: 8
In order to address real-world and contextual issues and ideas, students will be able to:
• discuss the development of their own interdisciplinary learning
• discuss how new interdisciplinary understanding enables action.

Level Level descriptor

0 The student does not reach a standard described by any of the descriptors given below.
1–2 The student:
• states the development of their own interdisciplinary learning
• states how new interdisciplinary understanding enables future action.
3–4 The student:
• outlines the development of their own interdisciplinary learning
• outlines how new interdisciplinary understanding enables action
5–6 The student:
• describes the development of their own interdisciplinary learning
• describes how new interdisciplinary understanding enables action.
7–8 The student:
• discusses the development of their own interdisciplinary learning
• discusses how new interdisciplinary understanding enables action.
 Grading Rubric Math Criterion C – Communication in mathematics.
Level General Descriptor Task Specific Descriptor
The student does not reach a standard
0 described by any of the descriptors
below.
The student is able to: You have:
i. used the most commonly used expressions in your work
i. use limited mathematical language
ii. have used only few different measures and diagrams
ii. use limited forms of mathematical
1-2 iii. your explanations have often been unclear and/or difficult
representation to present information
to interpret.
iii. communicate through lines of
reasoning that are difficult to interpret.

The student is able to: You have:

i. sometimes used appropriate mathematical language in
i. use some appropriate mathematical
your project
language
ii. usually represented your information correctly and you
ii. use appropriate forms of
have sometimes chosen correct measures of center,
mathematical representation to present
3-4 measures of spread and diagrams
information adequately
iii. communicated your results using complete lines of
iii. communicate through lines of
reasoning
reasoning that are complete
iv. organized your work according to a logical structure.
iv. adequately organize information
using a logical structure.

The student is able to: You have:

i. used appropriate mathematical language in most of your
i. usually use appropriate mathematical
project
language
contain Maths’ formulae or workings using correct math
ii. usually use appropriate forms of
type
mathematical representation to present
ii. usually represented your information correctly and you
information correctly
have mostly chosen correct measures of center, measures
5-6 iii. usually move between different forms
of spread and diagrams
of mathematical representation
iii. mostly combined different statistical measures and diagram
iv. communicate through lines of
effectively to present your conclusions
reasoning that are complete and
iv. communicated your results in a complete and coherent way
coherent
v. presented most of the project in an organized way and
v. present work that is usually organized
following a logical structure.
using a logical structure.

The student is able to: You have:

i. used appropriate mathematical language and notation
i. consistently use appropriate
using math type in the whole project
mathematical language
ii. correctly presented measures of center and spread with an
ii. use appropriate forms of
adequate accuracy and units and diagrams that are fully
mathematical representation to
labelled.
consistently present information
iii. combined different statistical measures and diagram
correctly
effectively to present your conclusions. Tables and
iii. move effectively between different
7-8 forms of mathematical representation diagrams are referred to clearly and adequately throughout
the report
iv. communicate through lines of
iv. communicated your results in a complete, coherent and
reasoning that are complete, coherent
concise way
and concise
v. individual: presented a full analysis with an introduction and
v. present work that is consistently
a summary
organized using a logical structure.
group: presented a full report, which includes a cover page,
a table of contents, a relevant introduction, and a
conclusion.
 Grading Rubric Math Criterion D – Applying mathematics in real-life contexts
Italics: extended only
Level General Descriptor
The student does not reach a standard
0 described by any of the descriptors
below.
The student is able to:
i. identify some of the elements of the
1-2 authentic real-life situation
ii. apply mathematical strategies to find a
solution to the authentic real-life
situation, with limited success.
The student is able to:
i. identify the relevant elements of the
authentic real-life situation
ii. select, with some success, adequate
mathematical strategies to model the
authentic real-life situation
3-4 iii. apply mathematical strategies to
reach a solution to the authentic real-life
situation
iv. discuss whether the solution makes
sense in the context of the authentic
real-life situation.
The student is able to:
i. identify the relevant elements of the
authentic real-life situation
ii. select adequate mathematical
strategies to model the authentic real-life ii. Selected correct ways to organize and represent univariate
situation
iii. apply the selected mathematical
strategies to reach a valid solution to the
5-6 authentic real-life situation
iv. explain the degree of accuracy of the
solution
v. explain whether the solution makes
sense in the context of the authentic
real-life situation.
The student is able to:
i. identify the relevant elements of the
authentic real-life situation
ii. select appropriate mathematical
strategies to model the authentic real-life ii. selected appropriate strategies to organize and represent the
situation
iii. apply the selected mathematical
strategies to reach a correct solution to
7-8 the authentic real-life situation
iv. justify the degree of accuracy of the
solution
v. justify whether the solution makes
sense in the context of the authentic
real-life situation.
Task Specific Descriptor
You have:
i. identified the type of the data and made a statistical overview
ii. tried to organize, represent and analyse the data
Ext: tried to determine if the data follows a normal distribution
attempted to develop a method for scoring the quadrathlon
You have:
i. identified the type of data and made a statistical overview,
sometimes using the appropriate measures
ii. selected adequate ways to organize and represent univariate
data
iii. Analysed and summarized the data
Ext: tried to determine if the data follows a normal distribution
Developed a method for scoring the quadrathlon
iv. discussed all your choices you made to analyse the data and
the conclusions you reached in your analysis.
You have:
i. Identified the type of data and made a correct statistical
overview mostly using the most appropriate measures of
center and spread in this scenario
data and bivariate data
iii. Analysed and summarised the data correctly making use of
the graphs used to display it
Ext: correctly determined if the data follows a normal
distribution
Developed a reasonably fair and correct method for scoring
the quadrathlon based on the data analysis
iv. explained the degree of accuracy of the data and of your
analysis. Discussed any rounding done
v. explained all your choices you made to analyse the data and
the conclusions you reached in your analysis.
You have:
i. made a correct statistical overview, using the appropriate
measures of center and spread, identifying any outliers in
your data
data most adequately by means of groups, diagrams, etc.
iii. analysed and summarised the data
justifying all choices taken to organize represent the data, to
choose most relevant statistics, to determine outliers etc.
Ext: correctly determined if the data follows a normal
distribution
Group: developed a fair and correct method for scoring the
quadrathlon based on the data analysis
iv. justified the degree of accuracy of the data and of the
analysis justifying any rounding done
v. evaluated all your choices you made to analyse the data and
the conclusions you reached in your analysis.
 PHE criterion A: Knowing and understanding
Achievement level General level descriptor
I. States physical and health
education factual, procedural and
conceptual knowledge
II. Applies physical and health
education knowledge to
investigate issues and suggest
1-2 solutions to problems set in
familiar situations
III. Applies physical and health
terminology to communicate
understanding with limited
success.
I. Outlines physical and health
education factual, procedural and
conceptual knowledge
II. Applies physical and health
education knowledge to analyse
3-4
issues and to solve problems set
in familiar situations
III. Applies physical and health
terminology to communicate
understanding.
I. Identifies physical and health
education factual, procedural and
conceptual knowledge
II. Applies physical and health
education knowledge to analyse
5-6
issues to solve problems set in
familiar and unfamiliar situations
III. Applies physical and health
terminology consistently to
communicate understanding.
7-8 I. Explains physical and health
education factual, procedural and
conceptual knowledge
II. Applies physical and health
education knowledge to analyse
complex issues to solve complex
problems set in familiar and
unfamiliar situations
III. Applies physical and health
terminology consistently and
effectively to communicate
understanding.
Task specific descriptor
I. The student is able to classify
factual knowledge about athletics.
II. The student is able to apply
knowledge to outline issues and
suggest solutions to problems set
in familiar situations.
III. The student is able to apply
physical and health terminology to
communicate understanding with
limited success.
I. The student is able to define
terms and demonstrate
understanding of factual and
procedural knowledge about
athletics.
II. The student is able to apply
knowledge to describe issues and
to solve problems set in familiar
situations.
III. The student is able to apply
physical and health education
terminology to communicate
understanding.
I. The student is able to provide a
detailed account on factual,
procedural and conceptual
knowledge about athletics.
II. The student is able to apply
knowledge to explain issues and
to solve problems set in familiar
situations and unfamiliar
situations.
III. The student is able to apply
physical and health education
terminology consistently to
communicate understanding.
I. The student is able to provide
significant detail and reasons on
factual, procedural and
conceptual knowledge about
athletics.
II. The student is able to apply
knowledge to break down key
issues and solve problems set in
familiar and unfamiliar situations.
III. The student is able to apply
physical and health education
terminology consistently and
effectively to communicate
 understanding.

PHE criterion C: Applying and performing

Achievement level General level descriptor Task specific descriptor

I. The student is able to
demonstrate and apply skills and
I. Demonstrates and applies skills
techniques with limited success.
and techniques with limited
II. The student is able to
success.
demonstrate and apply basic
1-2 II. Demonstrates and applies
techniques with limited success.
strategies and movement
The performance negatively
concepts with limited success.
impacts the result.
III. Recalls information to perform.
III. The student is able to recall
information to perform.
I. The student is able to
demonstrate and apply skills and
I. Demonstrates and applies skills
techniques, but not all essential
and techniques
elements are performed or some
II. Demonstrates and applies
elements are performed poorly.
3-4 strategies and movement
II. The student is able to
concepts
demonstrate and apply basic
III. Identifies and applies information
techniques.
to perform.
III. The student is able to identify and
apply information to perform.
I. The student is able to
I. demonstrates and applies a demonstrate and apply a range of
range of skills and techniques. skills with good technique. Most
II. demonstrates and applies a elements are at high standard.
5-6 range of strategies and II. The student is able to
movement concepts. demonstrate and apply
III. Analyses and applies information complicated techniques.
to perform. III. The student is able to analyze
and apply information to perform.
I. The student is able to
demonstrate and apply a range
I. Demonstrates and applies a of complex skills with excellent
range of complex skills and technique.
techniques II. The student is able to
II. Demonstrates and applies a demonstrate and apply
7-8 range of complex strategies and complicated techniques. which
movement concepts. enhances the overall
III. Analyses and applies performance.
information to perform III. The student is able to analyze
effectively. and apply information to perform
effectively.
 PHE criterion D: Reflecting and improving performance
Achievement level General level descriptor
I. Identifies and demonstrates
strategies to enhance
interpersonal skills.
1-2 II. Identifies goals to enhance
performance.
III. Outlines and summarizes
performance.
I. Outlines and demonstrates
strategies to enhance
interpersonal skills.
II. Outlines goals and applies
3-4
strategies to enhance
performance.
III. Describes and summarizes
performance.
I. Describes and demonstrates
strategies to enhance
interpersonal skill.
II. Explains goals and applies
5-6
strategies to enhance
performance.
III. Explains and evaluates
performance.
I. Explains and demonstrates
strategies to enhance
interpersonal skills.
II. Develops goals and applies
7-8
strategies to enhance
performance.
III. Analyses and evaluates
performance.
Task specific descriptor
I. The student is able to identify and
demonstrate strategies that
enhance interpersonal skills.
II. The student is able to outline the
effectiveness of the plan based
on the routine, without supporting
their decision.
III. The student is able to outline and
summarize performance.
I. The student is able to outline and
demonstrate strategies that
enhance interpersonal skills.
II. The student is able to provide
detail and reasons to explain the
effectiveness of the plan based
on the routine.
III. The student is able to describe
and summarize performance.
I. The student is able to describe
and demonstrate strategies that
enhance interpersonal skills.
II. The student is able to break down
the key components regarding
the effectiveness of the plan
based on the routine.
III. The student is able to explain and
evaluate performance.
I. The student is able to explain and
demonstrate strategies that
enhance interpersonal skills.
II. The student is able to break down
the key components regarding
the effectiveness of the plan
based on the routine. They can
assess the implications and
limitations regarding the
effectiveness of the plan based
on the routine.
III. The student is able to analyze
and evaluate performance.