WINGSPAN

Wingspan in NFL football refers to the measurement of a player's arm span, from fingertip to fingertip when arms are outstretched horizontally. In the context of the sport, a longer wingspan is often advantageous for players, particularly in positions like wide receivers or defensive backs, as it can contribute to reaching and catching passes or disrupting opponents' plays.

Objectives

Students will be able to apply their knowledge of height and wingspan to measure their own height and wingspan. Students will then graph their data and compare their measurements with other students.

Materials

  • Worksheet
  • Tape Measure
  • Graph
WINGSPAN

Academic Standards

Grade 4

  • Math 4.MD.B. Measurement & Data: Represent and interpret data.

Grade 5

  • Math 5.MD.B. Measurement & Data: Represent and interpret data.

Grade 6

  • Math 6.RP.A Understand ratio concepts and use ratio reasoning to solve problems.
  • Math 6.SP.B Summarize and describe distributions.

Grade 7

  • Math 7.RP.A Analyze proportional relationships and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems.
  • Math 7.G.A Draw, construct, and describe geometrical figures and describe the relationships between them.
  • Math 7.G.B Solve real-life and mathematical problems involving angle measure, area, surface area, and volume.
WINGSPAN

Discussion Questions

  • What is the difference between height and wingspan?
  • Does an athlete’s height and wingspan affect their athletic ability?
  • How do you measure height and wingspan?

Reflection Questions

  • Was your height and wingspan the same or different?
  • Do you think having a larger wingspan is important as a football player?

Answer Key

Students’ responses should reflect their own data from the measurement of their height and wingspan.

WINGSPAN
WINGSPAN

Setup

  • Students will need to be in groups of 3 or 4 for this activity. (This may vary depending on the number of students in your class.)
    • 1 student is being measured, 2 students hold the measuring tape, and 1 student reads and records the measurement.

Vocabulary

Wingspan: The length or distance from the tip of one of a pair of wings or hands to the other.

WINGSPAN

Activity

  • Ask students if they know the difference between height and wingspan. Ask students if their height and wingspan should be almost the same.
    • Note that in children, because everyone’s growth is varied, the ratio of height to wingspan wouldn’t be the standard since growth spurts in height and in armspans don’t happen at the same time.
  • Ask students if they have seen the NFL combine and the measurements done on players.
  • You can lead them in discussing height and wingspan in football and whether they think having a taller height and larger wingspan matters.
  • Video options to show below: measuring wingspan. This is a basketball video. Ask students how this relates to football and if they think having a larger wingspan in football is essential.
  • Tell students that they will calculate their own height and wingspan and find the difference between the two, as well as compare their height and wingspan to their peers and create a dot plot to show the data.
  • Demonstrate to students how to measure their height and wingspan.
    • Stand against the wall to measure their height from the bottom of the feet to the top of the head. Then, they hold out their arms and measure their wingspan from fingertip to fingertip.
    • Have students round to the nearest whole number, and tell them whichever number they are the closest to on the measuring tape is the one they should write down.
    • Students should record their measurements on the blank paper
  • Split students into small groups; give each group painter's tape, measuring tape, and their worksheet to record their measurements.
  • Once the time is up, have all groups come back as a whole group; at this time, you will record student measurement data on the dot plot on the worksheet.
    • The dot plot data represents the difference between each student’s height and wingspan measurements.
    • If you want, you can replicate the do plot on the board so it is larger and have students record responses on their worksheets individually.
    • Difference in height and wingspan dot plot.
      • Students are only recording the difference between their height and difference.
      • You can have students come up and plot their height and wingspan, or you can call out each number and ask students to raise their hand if that was their height/wingspan.
    • Have students analyze the data from the dot plot and discuss what they notice.
      • Which number has the most students, the least students, average, etc.
  • Lead students in a short reflection at the end of the activity using the questions provided or your own.

Additional Activity

  • Have students compare the height and wingspan of different players on the Broncos roster.
  • Students can research the relationship between height and wingspan and how it impacts athletic performance, specifically in football.
WINGSPAN