Grade
4

Math in Our World: Running the Bases

Rashad plays baseball on a Little League team. At last night’s game, he got a chance to go to bat in every inning. He kept track of which base he made it to in each inning.

A table shows which base Rashad made it to in each inning. Inning 1: 2nd base. Inning 2 1st base. Inning 3: Run. Inning 4: Strike out. Inning 5: 3rd base. Inning 6: 1st base. Inning 7: Run. Inning 8: Run. Inning 9: 1st base.
A baseball diamond viewed from above. The distance between each of the 4 bases is 60 feet.

A run means that the player got all the way around the bases.
A strike out means that they didn’t run at all.

  1. Use pictures, models, or numbers to show what is happening.
  2. What do you notice? What do you wonder?
  3. What mathematical questions can you ask about this situation? Answer all the questions you can!
  • Make some mathematical observations about the field. How far does someone run when they hit a home run?
  • How far did Rashad run during this game?
  • Show your work to someone else, and explain your thinking. Did they understand?
  • Ask whether they have any other questions you can answer!

Whether it’s playing baseball, dancing, swimming, drawing, or any other activity, the more time you spend practicing something, the better you get. Set a goal for yourself — how many hours do you want to spend practicing over the next week or month? How many hours would you want to practice each day to meet your practice goal?

Printable Version

Google doc for printing and copying

Reference for Educators

Sample problems and solutions