NHL Hockey: Back to Playing in Front of Fans
The Montreal Canadiens, the Quebec National Hockey League (NHL) team, is back on ice since October 13.
With the sanitary measures that are still changing, many fans wondered if the new hockey season would take place as planned. It is therefore with great pleasure that they will be able to cheer on their favourite team on site or at home.
Even if the beginning of the season was not as prolific as expected for the Habs, Dominic Ducharme, had some wise words to share:
“ADVERSITY MAKES YOU STRONGER AND STRONGER. I THINK WE PROVED THAT LAST YEAR. IT SEEMS THAT IT’S NOT GOING AWAY. IT KEEPS THROWING CHALLENGES AT US. WE’LL JUST ANSWER.”
The Montreal Gazette
This is all we needed to get started on activities related to the hockey theme!
Ask your students if they follow hockey on television, on Internet platforms or even on the radio. Have they had the chance to go see a hockey game in person (big league or small league)? Do they follow other sports? Do they play hockey or any other sport?
The following activity will examine the costs of a visit to the Bell Center to see the Canadiens in action and, in the process, cover a few surprising anecdotes about hockey players.
☝️ Activity 1 : How Much Does it Cost to See the Canadiens at the Bell Centre?
Notions explored:
– Selecting the proper equation for the task
– Practise different operations in context
– Problem-solving
An outing at the Bell Center to see the Canadiens is expensive.
In this activity, students will calculate the approximate amount it costs for their family to go see the Canadians play at the Bell Center.
1- Invite them to browse the different tickets available at billets.ca in order to get information on the prices.
2- Then, they have to estimate the cost of transport.
To do so, they will need to know the average gas consumption of the family car. To get this information, they may ask their parents, search for this information on the Internet, based on the model and year of the car, or they can also work with an average provided by the teacher such as 8L/100km
Then, they need to find the distance, in kilometres, that separates their house from the Bell Center. This can be done using Google Maps and entering both their address and that of the Bell Center.
With this information in hand, they calculate the cost of gas at the rate of 1.52$/L. Don’t forget, this is not a one-way trip!
3- Finally, how much is a night at the hotel close to the Bell Center? Students can choose amongst the hotels from the same neighbourhood and take notes of the price for a night.
4- Now it is time for calculations.
Although it is possible to use paper and pencil to complete the task, the ideal tool is a spreadsheet (Google Sheets, Excel, Numbers, etc.).
To explain their process, students use the whiteboard available on Flipgrid to record themselves. It will therefore be possible to listen to the explanations provided by students and provide feedback.
Want more?
You may add variables, fractions, traffic, parking, and other elements to review or teaching materials.
☝️ Activity 2 : An Inspiring Player
Notions explored:
– Tell a story using the structure proposed by the teacher
– Organize the information
When discussing inspiring hockey players, many names come to mind. Check with your students who these players are to them. What are their names? Why are they inspiring? Who would they like to learn about? Behind each athlete is a unique story that they will discover.
Create a contest in your class: which hockey player has the most surprising story? In order to find this information, students are invited to browse the list of NHL players as well as the list of female players who participated in the Olympics. They will find many anecdotes.
Ask students to tell the story, in the form of a narrative (or any form you wish to use), using a vocal clip created with Talk and Comment. They can then share it on Padlet. Using the “Like” option, students can vote for their favourite story. They can also add the name and pictures of the player for a more complete narrative.
✌️ Going Further:
- Ask students to provide constructive feedback to their peers based on selected
- Ask students to provide constructive feedback to their peers based on selected elements the teacher wishes to improve.
A guide by Laurie Couture, adapted in English by Valerie Harnois, revised by Karine Turcotte.
