Whether your favorite team has made it this far or you’re watching for the historic win, with a combined 176 years without a championship, the two teams playing are both eager to end the drought with a series victory.
While this stretch of games will sure to be one for the books, there are plenty of other history-making baseball events to share in your classroom. Check out these Discovery Education resources for historic baseball moments, mechanics, and more.
History of the Game
Video, Grades 6-12, Discovery Education Streaming, Social Studies Techbook
This program tells the story of the Negro baseball league and the importance of its existence to black America. It weaves together history from the reconstructive era to the Brown vs. Board of Education case, and shows the correlations of this history to the history of the races in baseball.
Yesterday’s Newsreel: 1919-1921 World Series Scandal!
Video (Primary Source), Grades 6-12
Members of the Chicago White Sox are investigated for intentionally losing games during the 1919 World Series.
Original newsreel footage discusses the events that led to American disillusionment about the honesty of the game, the establishment of the Baseball Commissioner, and the sport’s recovery as America’s national pastime.
Video, Grades 6-12, Discovery Education Streaming
In 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play in the Major Leagues, thus breaking the “color barrier” that had always existed in Major League Baseball.
Babe Ruth: The Pride of Baseball
Reading Passage, Grades 6-12, Discovery Education Social Studies Techbook
Babe Ruth lived more than 100 years ago, but his name is still one of the most recognized in baseball. His accomplishments on the field captured the attention of the nation.
Great Stories of Baseball
Players in Pigtails
Video, Audio, Grades K-5, Discovery Education Streaming
Katie Casey was baseball mad. Had the fever and had it bad. A story that celebrates a brave girl’s love of the game as she works to become a player in the first-ever All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Narrated by Zooey Deschanel.
Video, Grades K-2, Discovery Education Streaming
Students share books they’ve recently read, including Casey at the Bat by Earnest Lawrence Taylor; Old Turtle’s Baseball Stories by Leonard Kessler; and Ronald Morgan Goes to Bat by Patricia Reilly Giff.
Baseball Mechanics
Baseball: What Makes a Curveball Curve?
Video, Grades 3-12, Discovery Education Streaming
A curveball is a type of breaking ball that has a sideways or downward motion. When the pitcher releases the ball, the stitching on the leather causes pressure on one side of the ball to be greater than on the other side. This imbalance of force, called the Magnus force, makes the ball move faster on one side than the the other, resulting in a curved trajectory.
Video, Grades 6-12, Discovery Education Streaming
Sean Steffy takes curveballs to the extreme and pitches unbelievable breaking balls with a plastic baseball.
Video, Grades 6-12, Discovery Education Science Techbook
The MythBusters take on myths from America’s favorite pastime, with help from two-time Cy Young Award–winner Roger Clemens. Jamie and Adam test whether a corked bat can hit a ball farther than a regulation bat, while Tory, Grant, and Kari investigate the impact of humidity on a baseball’s velocity and distance.
Investigation, Grades 6-8, Discovery Education Math Techbook
One player from a baseball team will be chosen as player of the month. The coach must decide which player performed the best, based on statistics. The first statistic the coach looks is batting average.
Distillations Podcast: Baseball
Audio, Grades 6-12, Discovery Education Streaming
Discusses the influence of anabolic steroids in sports, explains the “mystery meat” of hot dogs, and explores the nanotechnology that is entering the athletic gear market.
