Students will measure their strike zone and practice pitching into the strike zone.
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Students will measure their strike zone and practice pitching into the strike zone.
Learn how to measure and calculate the area of your strike zone.
● Tape Measure
● Giant Post-It Paper or other large paper
● Painter’s Tape (if available)
● Markers
● Wiffle Balls (if available)
● Wiffle Bats (if available)
● Worksheet
● Each student will need their own piece of paper for this activity. Or, if working in pairs there can be one piece of paper per pair and each student draws their strike zone on one side
● (Note: it would be beneficial to have a sample strike zone drawn in advance to use as a model)
● The width of the strike zone is 17” for everyone since the width of the home plate determines it. The height of the strike zone is the only measurement necessary, from the batter’s knees to their chest (approximately where the uniform letters are).
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● The strike zone is the area over the plate above the hitter’s knees, below the midpoint between the hitter’s waist and shoulders.
● The strike zone is an invisible rectangle of a unique areas for each player based on their height and batting stance.
● Show students the video below on how to measure your own strie zone.● Distribute a piece of paper, a wiffle bat (if available, or another object to represent a bat), a tape measure, and a marker to each student. Have them measure each other’s strike zone height - while standing in the batting position - and draw it on the butcher paper.
● Using the tape measure (100 ft.), determine the height of the strike zone, which is the distance between the batter’s knees and their chest (specifically the midpoint between their shoulders and waist).
● Note: The strike zone in professional baseball is slightly different than in Little League baseball. In pro baseball, the top of the strike zone is marked by the batter’s chest, while in Little League, it uses the batter’s armpits.
● The width of the strike zone is based on the width of the home plate (17 inches).
● Calculate the area of the strike zone using area = height x width.
● Athletic activity. This can be done with the wiffle bat and ball or something else to be used as a bat and ball.
● Tape the strike zones on the wall or fence.
● Measure 10 feet from the strike zone and have students throw at their own strike zones.
● Ask students to count how many balls or strikes they throw. Adjust the throwing distance closer or farther based on the skill and age level of the students.
● Lead students in a short discussion/reflection about strike zone and anything they may have found difficult about the task.
Discussion:
● How can a player change the size of their strike zone?
● What is the difference in strike zone areas between tall people and short people?
● What effects do genetics have on a baseball player’s body dimensions?
● How could baseball rules be changed to increase the number of strikeouts?
Reflection:
● What did you find difficult or fun about this activity?
● What is a strike zone?
● How does a player’s height affect the shape of their strike zone?
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Math 4.MD.3 Apply the area and perimeter formulas for rectangles in real-world and mathematical problems. For example, find the width of a rectangular room given the area of the flooring and the length, by viewing the area formula as a multiplication equation with an unknown factor.
