Valerdi Discusses the Intersection of Science and Sport With At-Home Activity

On a recent webinar for the Science of Sport, SIE professor Ricardo Valerdi compared the surprisingly interrelated fields of STEM and sports. He described an at-home learning activity where you can measure the area of a baseball field using Google Maps.

The activity involves using the app's "Measure Distance" tool to calculate the dimensions of the baseball stadium. 

"There's a lot to be said about the different trades and the different STEM professions and the STEM thinking that's required to build and maintain a ball park," Valerdi said. 

Science of Sport, founded by Valerdi, is a nonprofit organization focused on teaching elementary and middle school students about STEM through sports. As soon as COVID-19 stay-at-home orders were issued, the Science of Sport team began offering free webinars through its Facebook page. Topics ranged from the geometry of stadium design to mathematically honing free throws and broad jumps.

“Doing this digitally actually makes our offerings scalable,” Valerdi said. “Before, it required me to get in a car or get on an airplane and go do this somewhere, but now we can reach thousands – tens of thousands – of kids just this summer, and nobody has to take any transportation."