What do you get when you mix the National Science Foundation with the National Football League? Well, if you mix in a dash of NBC News, apparently you get an unusual chance to learn about vectors, projectile motion, and hydration, among other topics.
The news network’s educational arm, NBC Learn, is teaming up with the NSF and NFL to release the “Science of NFL Football,” a 10-part video series designed for teachers and students.
“This collaboration ... uses the universal appeal of football to drive an understanding of complicated scientific concepts,” a press release explains. “Students and teachers will see how the principles of science enable players to perform actions such as throwing a spiral pass, blocking an opponent, and scoring a touchdown.”
The announcement comes as NBC News later this month hosts Education Nation, a week of programming and related activities that includes a two-and-a-half day “summit” on improving education at all levels. For more, check out this EdWeek story.
By the way, as I started writing this blog post, it was ringing a bell in my head. And now I remember, in January, NBC announced a similar series of videos pegged to the Winter Olympics. And that also was a collaboration with the NSF.