PREDICTING THE GROWTH OF THE N.B.A.

David Sayner

Preview of Main Ideas

As we all know the National Basketball Association is fantastic! This activity asks students to analyze the expansion of the N.B.A. from the 1950’s to the 1990’s. After analyzing population distribution and other geographic data, the students form hypotheses on the particular United States regions they think will acquire N.B.A. franchises. Throughout the activity students will be engaged in asking geographic questions and forming generalizations.

Connection with the Curriculum

This activity is particularly appropriate for use in geography classes, with connections to United States history and economics.

Teaching Level: Grades 9-12 (This lesson could be adapted to most grade levels).

Objectives Classification Outline (Also see objectives classification matrix below.)

Objective #1: The student will be able to identify and locate on an N.B.A. regional map the eight urban areas of the United States that had N.B.A. franchises in 1954.

Essential Element: The World in Spatial Terms.

Standard #1: How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.

Knowledge Statement #1: How to use maps and other graphic representations to depict geographic problems.

Skill Set #3: Organizing Geographic Information.

Skill #1: Select and design appropriate forms of maps to organize geographic information.

Theme: Location.

Objective #2: The student will be able to analyze the impact of the country’s changing population distribution on the growth and distribution of N.B.A. franchises.

Essential Element: Human Systems.

Standard #9: The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth’s surface.

Skill Set #4: Analyze geographic information.

Skill #1: Use quantitative methods of analysis to interpret geographic information.

Theme: Movement and Place.

Objective #3: The student will be able to use geographic data to form hypotheses concerning the location of N.B.A. franchises after 1954.

Essential Element: The uses of Geography.

Standard #18: how to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.

Knowledge Statement #3: How to use geographic knowledge, skills, and perspectives to analyze problems and make decisions.

Skill Set #4: Analyze geographic information.

Skill #2: make inferences and draw conclusions from maps and other geographic representations.

Theme: Place and Movement.

Objective #4: The student will be able to form generalizations about the factors contributing to and inhibiting a region’s development and acquisition of an N.B.A. franchise.

Essential Element: Human Systems.

Standard #11: The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth’s surface.

Knowledge Statement #2: How places of various size function as centers of economic activity.

Skill Set #5: Answer geographic questions.

Skill #1: Formulate valid generalizations from the results of various kinds of geographic inquiry.

Theme: Movement.

Materials

1.         List of 8 cities with N.B.A. teams in 1954 (Handout #1).

2.         United States Regional Map (Handout #2).

3.         United States Population Distribution Maps from 1950 to 1990 (Handout #3).

4.         United States Population Table from 1950 to 1990 (Handout #4).

5.         List of 23 cities with N.B.A. teams in 1967 (Handout #5).

6.         List of 25 cities with N.B.A. teams in 1988 (handout #6).

Suggestions for Teaching the Lesson

Opening the Lesson

1.         Share with students the fact that in 1954 there were eight professional basketball teams in the United
            States. Ask them to list quickly the eight cities they think may have had a N.B.A. franchise at that time.

2.         Provide students with a list of the eight cities that had N.B.A. franchises in 1954 (Handout #1). After distributing a Regional Map (Handout #2), have students identify the cities with N.B.A. teams by placing a dot in the appropriate regions.

3.         Have students form generalizations about the location of teams based on their dot map. Possible responses: Almost all of the teams were located east of the Mississippi River. All the teams were located north of 35 degrees north latitude. The teams were concentrated in the “Rush Belt.”

Developing the Lesson

1.         By 1967, a little more than a decade later, professional basketball (the N.B.A. and the American Basketball Association) had expanded from eight to twenty-three teams. Inform students that they will have to predict the cities/regions that gained or lost franchises; ask them to identify possible data they would want in order to make accurate hypotheses. Possible responses: Maps showing the changes in population distribution. Maps and data showing urban areas. Per capita income statistics by United States regions. Average levels of education by region.

2.         Distribute a Population Distribution Map 1950-1990 (Handout #3) and a Population table 1950-1990 (Handout #4) to the students. Based on these population statistics and any other data the students may want, individually have the students formulate hypotheses on the regions they predict gained and lost N.B.A. franchises. Instruct the students to state a rationale for the projected number of teams in each of the nine regions. Sample Hypothesis: I predict by 1967 the number if teams in the Mid-Atlantic to have increased five teams. I arrived at this hypothesis as a result of the Mid-Atlantic’s central location, the number of metropolitan areas in the region, the region’s total population, the population increase in the Mid-Atlantic fro 1955 to 1967, their relatively high per capita income level, and the average number of years of education in the Mid-Atlantic.

3.         Place students in small groups to share their hypotheses and rationales. Allow students to adjust their
            hypotheses during these discussions.

4.         In order to allow students to check their hypotheses show them the regions that gained franchises (Handouts #5 and #6). In addition to population growth and distribution, discuss the other factors that may have influenced whether a region gained or lost a franchise.

Concluding the Lesson

1.         Have the students repeat the process of analyzing geographic data and maps, forming hypotheses, and stating a justification for their predictions of cities that gained N.B.A. franchises from 1967 to 1988.

2.         Discuss the reasons why from 1967 to 1988 some regions gained franchises (South Atlantic and Mountain) while other regions (West North Central and East South Central) lost franchises.

Extending the Lesson

By the year 2000 the N.B.A. has expanded to the I.B.A. (International Basketball Association). Have students project the international cities that would be likely to gain franchises based on their culture, population, location, economic status, and other factors.

Assessing Student Learning

Between 1989 to 1996 four franchises- Orlando, Minnesota, Toronto, and Vancouver- have been added to the N.B.A. have students state rationales for why these cities were selected over other metropolitan areas, such as Oklahoma City, Boise, and Quebec.

GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS CLASSIFICATION MATRIX – GRADES           9-12 

Title:          Predicting the Growth of the N.B.A.            Author:     David Sayner

Note:  See also Objectives Classification Outline in the lesson.

Handouts

Handout A

Handout B

Handout C

Handout D

Handout E

Handout F

Handout G

Handout H

Handout I

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