Saving the New York Mets. 

Can You Do It?

Mr. Timothy Raphael

Statistics Teacher

Bay Ridge Preparatory High School

Email: traphael@bayridgeprep.org

 

 

The Introduction: In 2008, Bernie Madoff went to jail for ripping off his investors.  Many of his investors lost millions of dollars and many lost it all.  Fred and Jeff Wilpon, the owners of the New York Mets, lost millions in their small fortune.  Due to these circumstances, they were unable to allocate a large budget for General Manager Sandy Alderson to spend on players as they did in the past.  As all of you know, New York City is considered to be a “big market.”  Due to this “big market” label, their fan base won’t stay patient and allow many more losing seasons.  Gone are the days of offering large contracts to prominent players such as Carlos Beltran, Pedro Martinez and Carlos Delgado.  As a result, the Wilpons have asked GM Alderson to get creative and keep your beloved New York Mets competitive until they can raise their budget again.  Do you think Sandy Alderson can do this?

 

The Task: Your task is to help the Mr. Alderson come up with some creative ideas to keep the Mets competitive at budget. Group 4 will collaborate on a PowerPoint that will show us the risks of investing and how to spot red flags of fraud.

 

The Process:

The class will be split up into 4 groups that will each have a different task. 

Group 1 will be tasked to analyze the statistics of college players who will be drafted in this years’ baseball draft.  Group 1 one will create a PowerPoint presentation with a list of players and why they will be successful in the Major Leagues backed up with statistical evidence.  A helpful resource for this group is College Baseball Stats

 

Group 2 will be asked to do the same task but with their focus the pending free agent class of 2014.  A helpful resource for this group is Major Leaguer Stats

 

Find a player to hit a home run?

 

Group 3 will be tasked with analyzing every major league players’ defensive statistics.  You will create a PowerPoint presentation that will show us why these players would be a good fit to play defense at Citi Field.  Here is a helpful resource for this group Defensive Stats

 

Captain Wright playing defense at third base

 

Group 4 will collaborate on a PowerPoint that will show us the risks of investing and how to spot red flags of fraud.  Here is a helpful link to research the risks of investing. investing risks.  Here is a link that will help with spotting the red flags of fraud. red flags for fraud

 

 

It will also be helpful to use the PPA steps when completing the task.  Here are some helpful links:

1.      Define the problem

2.      Gather Evidence

3.      Identify Causes

4.      Evaluate a Policy

5.      Develop Solutions

6.      Select Best Solution

 

Evaluation:

 

1

2

3

4

5

Following Directions

I did not listen to the directions, so I did not know what to do.

I did not follow the directions.

I was frequently off task.

 

I followed the directions but I had to be reminded to stay on task.

I followed the directions and stayed on task while I was working on my project.

I followed all the directions and I helped other students who didn't know what to do.

Cooperation

with

Partner

 

We played around instead of working on our project.

We could not agree on what we should be doing, so we wasted time.

We were able to work together to complete our project.

We worked together on the poem but did not share the responsibility of presenting

We worked, together on the poem and shared the responsibility of presenting.

Use

of

Resources

 

I was unable to find the information I was looking for.

I was able to find some of the information needed to complete my PowerPoint

I was able to find most of the information I needed to complete my PowerPoint.

I was able to find all the information I needed to complete my PowerPoint with help from others.

I was able to find all the information I needed to complete my PowerPoint independently.

Completion

Of Report

 

I am just beginning to understand the task. My work is incomplete

I worked on my poem, but only included (2-3) pictures or pieces of information.

I completed (4-6) pieces of information on my poem

I included all 8 pieces of information.

My pictures were rushed.

 

I included all 8 pieces of information.

My pictures were carefully detailed.

 

Presentation

of

Report

I was unable to participate in the presentation

I participated in the presentation but could only remember (2-3) pieces of information.

I participated in the presentation and included (4-6) pieces of information.

I participated in the presentation and included (7-8) pieces of information.

I participated in the presentation and exhibited confidence in knowledge of all the material presented.

 

Conclusion:

You have all just investigated a problem that faces our society today by acting as public policy analysts. You are now capable of investigating other problems that you are interested in and finding ways to solve the problem.

Your PowerPoint Presentations will be sent over to the New York Mets and GM Alderson.  The winning group will win free tickets to a future Mets game this summer!

After completing this project you will have met the following

 

Standards:

English Language Arts

Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

 

Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for social interaction. Students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for effective social communication with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.

 

Mathematics

 

Thanks for helping my Mets become good again!