Basketball Skills Run in the Family

Basketball players are more likely to be related to elite athletes than baseball, football players

New York Knicks' Robin Lopez is defended by his brother, Brooklyn Nets' Brook Lopez, during an NBA game in April.   (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

http://www.newser.com/story/225714/basketball-more-than-any-other-major-sport-is-a-family-affair.html

1)  What numbers are the most significant in the article for convincing soeone that basketball is unique in this instance?  What role do statistics play in sports?   What words help you identify the main idea of this article?  

2)  Why might a sibling of a professional athlete feel differently than a parent after hearing this?  To what degree would a world-class musician identify with the results of this study?  Why might this be a good article to read in a class of academically gifted students?  Whose view is not represented in this article?

3)  In what ways is this story connected to math?  Politics?  Harry Potter?

4)  How might this story be different if the basketball rim was raised by two feet to twelve feet?  In what ways would this be different if it was about actors and actresses?

5)  What are basic assumptions about talent in athletics?  About hard work vs. natural ability?  About competition?  To whom does this study matter?

Extension Activities:

1)  Students can try to create a sport or change the rules to an existing sport that minimizes the effects of inherited physical ability.

2)  Students can fictionalize their own life story by writing about a real or imaginary sibling who always overshadows them or who is always in their shadow.

AoK:  Human Sciences

WoK:  Sense Perception

Study Confirms the Harmful Effects of Spanking

Science Shows How Physical Punishment May Change Personality

http://mic.com/articles/141851/here-s-what-getting-spanked-as-a-kid-did-to-your-personality-according-to-science#.PaWX9lpLU

1) What evidence is used to support the claims? What quotes are most useful? Which numbers are most significant to refuting this study?

2) Why might a teacher have a different perspective than a student on this topic? Why might your great-great grandfather think differently than your future grandchildren? Whose perspective is missing in this article?

3) In what ways is this connected to school? To what degree is this connected to athletics?

4) In what ways would this news be different if it happened 5 years ago? Why might this change if the definition of spanking was extended? Restricted?

5) What is the purpose of the study? What are the possible implications of this article? What are some basic assumptions about punishment in this article? What are some basic assumptions about parenting? In what way is this story significant to you?

Extension Activities:

1) Students can create a mock article that substitutes the subject of "Spanking" for another issue for comedic effect/satire.

2) Students can conduct a survey of "unpopular opinions" and present their findings.

AoK: Human Sciences

Wok: Reason, Perception