Baseball Coast to Coast
Geography Grades 4 - 8
 

    Enrichment and Assessment Activities

A.   Choose a city without a current Major League Baseball team.  Provide a rationale for a team moving to that city.  Support the proposal with a written plan that addresses population, climate, economics, accessibility, transportation, landforms, natural resources and other pertinent factors.

B.   Design a futuristic ballpark, describing its technology, concessions and amenities for the 21^st century (e.g. force fields instead of outfield walls).  Present the design using graphics, written descriptions and multimedia.

C.   Research, either historically or currently, foods served at ballparks that represent the culture of the local region (e.g. sushi in Seattle, crab cakes in Baltimore, and clam chowder in Boston).  Make a list of foods that either are or could be served in the students’ hometown if a major league team played there.  Ask students to research where the first hot dog was served and how it was connected to the community in which it was introduced.  Food preparation and health standards of the early 20^th century could be discussed.

D.   Design a marketing brochure capturing the sights, sounds and colors of an imaginary or real major league stadium.  The publication should motivate prospective tourists to visit the ballpark.  Include a map with travel directions, ticket prices, stadium layouts, local attractions, suggested hotels, etc.  Contact each major league team to request examples of their actual marketing information.

E.   Research how the origin of many names for teams in the Major Leagues, Minor Leagues, the Negro leagues and the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League reflected geographic and cultural features of their locales.  Examples include the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Colorado Rockies, the Portland Sea Dogs, the Tulsa Drillers, the Rockford Peaches and the Kansas City Monarchs.

F.   Graph the average precipitation and temperatures, as well as the elevations of cities with Major League teams.  The comparison graphs could be in the form of percentages, bars, lines or pictographs.

G.   Encourage students to study world geography in locating baseball teams and ballparks on other continents, such as Asia, Australia, and South America.