Valerdi's 'Science of Sport' Comes to Dallas Classrooms

SIE professor Ricardo Valerdi's program The Science of Sport engages children in STEM activities through real-world examples in a variety of sports. Recently, the Dallas Mavericks basketball team worked with the Science of Sport concept to bring the Science of Basketball to Texas classrooms. 

According to the Mavericks website, the team partnered with Science of Sport to empower Dallas Independent School District students who might be underperforming academically. It also makes learning practical for students. The program involves a Texas standards-based curriculum for fifth-grade teachers, students and parents with hands-on activities and lessons.

“I’m always looking for different ways to engage my students,” said Tanishia Horton, a fifth-grade science teacher at Elijah M. Pease Elementary. “They are wonderful, but they have some disadvantages and learning challenges, so if I can incorporate something fun that they love to do in their lives with learning, it’s a complete buy-in."

The Science of Sport program has directly taught and supported more than 300,000 students and 3,000 teachers across 13 states.

"If you really want to increase the number of students that go into STEM, why not impact them in elementary school?" Valerdi said. "That's where the Science of Baseball comes in. We explain to them 'Hey, Science of Baseball is about changing your perspective.' Launch angles, geometry, physics, Newton's laws of motion. All of these really relevant topics that they can now apply to baseball."