March Madness turned into “Mammal Madness” at First Colonial High School.
Students in Kelley Wyckoff’s two oceanography classes filled out their brackets in the science competition modelled after the annual NCAA Division I basketball tournament.
Senior Dax Granitzski selected the third-seeded hippopotamus to win it all.
“Just like in March Madness, you don’t always pick the number one seed,” he said. Sadly, the African mammal had suffered some wounds in the battle with an Asian elephant and was chased away by a blood-thirsty great white shark.
The project made learning the unit interesting, Dax said.
Wyckoff said that’s why she participated this year in the annual science tournament created by Arizona State University in 2013.
Throughout the month, the classes watched videos featuring entertaining play-by-play by an animated giraffe and lion who revealed the pre-determined outcomes researched by a team of scientists.
The format presented the material in a creative and unusual manner, Wyckoff said.
“I thought this was a way to get them interested and involved.”
Oceanography students divided up the list of 65 mammals and other organisms, even fungi and plants. They researched diet, environment, habitat and more and shared their findings on Google slides.
The research was used to complete brackets, forecasting the outcomes of a wild card game and five rounds of imagined one-on-one matchups, culminating in a championship round.
The challenge was to predict which competitor would win each duel. Would the Nile crocodile defeat the papyrus? How about the hippopotamus going up against a brown-throated sloth? Would the Falkland Islands wolf take out the sea mink?
Students analyzed how the species’ physical and behavioral traits influenced survival and interactions in the ecosystem.
They also knew combatants in the first several rounds had a home habitat advantage.
Sydney Fuller, who put the lion and the gorilla in the final round, said she enjoyed figuring out the probability of who would win. There was a lot to consider, the senior said.
“Like when there was a full moon, the tide was high and was an advantage for the whale.” Also, the environment was important, she noted.
Brackets were locked in via a Google form.
Twenty percent predicted the humpback whale as the winner, with 18 percent choosing the crocodile.
Each of the four divisions started with 16 seeded competitors, like March Madness. An assassin bug’s wild card victory over a bone collector caterpillar earned it a spot in the competition against the honey badger, ranked first in its division.
Points were accumulated based on predicted victories.
Some competitors didn’t survive, while others retreated, like the 15-seeded short-tailed bat. It fought the second-seeded wild dromedary camel on the Arabian Peninsula. The one-humped mammal released odor-packed urine to make its enemy retreat.
Upsets occurred, such as the confrontation between the 10th seed sea mink and the seventh seed Falkland Islands wolf. The wolf was surprisingly eliminated in round one.
Instructional technology specialist Suzanne Flach said the project was engaging.
“I was impressed with how serious the students were in choosing their brackets,” she said. “It was neat to see.”
Flach organized digital files, built a Google form to track predictions, and created a large hallway bracket poster for the project.
The crocodile eliminated the honey badger and the humpback whale frightened away the aurochs in “The Final Roar.”
Finally, in the championship round, the humpback whale attacked the crocodile on an Australian ocean reef for the win.
Student winners were top scorers Kade Spradlin and Hailey Rowland. Tyler Reitzel and Hasan Tajibaev took runner-up titles. All were presented trophies.
Tyler said the month-long project was an enjoyable way to learn about mammals, their habitats, and interactions. “It was better than reading about it in a book.”
More “March Madness” at First Colonial:
Twelve First Colonial students competed in the school’s March Madness Chess Tournament during lunchtime March 26 and 27.
The 20-minute fast-paced games held in the school’s library culminated with a final championship match broadcast live on the Patriot News Network (PNN) April 2.
Freshman Luke Harrington went up against principal Dr. Daniel Miani for the win!
