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Deflategate

About the Deflategate Collection On January 18, 2015, the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts played in the AFC Championship Game. That day, the Patriots defeated the Colts by a score of 45-7 and went on to play in the Super Bowl. But the Patriots were accused of deliberately letting the air out of footballs used in their victory against the Colts. After the game, the NFL launched an investigation, there was intense media coverage, and the controversy became known as “deflategate”.

Was air intentionally removed from the Patriots’ footballs, or could the recorded levels be explained by science? In this collection of learning tasks, you will apply your scientific knowledge and critical thinking skills to the game of football to try to understand what may have happened in deflategate.

Task #1 The Deflategate Timeline (Reading) What happened during the AFC Championship Game of the 2014–15 NFL playoffs? You will read a simplified timeline of the events that occurred during that game.

Task #2: The “Wells Report” (Articles) The NFL and the lawyers it hired produced a report — commonly known as the “Wells report” — of the investigation into the footballs used during the 2015 AFC Championship game. The report was released on May 6, 2015. What was the response to this report? You will read some articles about the report.

Task #3: Deflategate- Gases and Kinetic Molecular Theory (Video) Could basic scientific principles explain the change in the gauge pressure of game-day footballs? You will watch a video that explains the science of how it could have happened.

Task #4: Deflategate Science (Articles) What were some of the scientific principles people used to try to figure out what actually happened during deflategate? You will read some online articles that explore the science of deflategate.

Task #5: Deflategate Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning (Essay) What do you think happened with the New England patriot’s footballs? Do you think they could have deflated naturally? Or do you think there was foul play (meaning that air was intentionally let out of the footballs). You will write an essay that answers these questions.

Task #6 A Science Teacher’s Thoughts about Deflategate (Reading) What does a science teacher think about the deflategate controversy? You will read a teacher’s thoughts about deflategate.

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Could basic scientific principles explain the change in the gauge pressure of game-day footballs? You will watch a video that explains the science of how it could have happened.

The “Deflategate- Gases and Kinetic Molecular Theory” Video Task Watch the " Deflategate- Gases and Kinetic Molecular Theory” video (see link or embedded video below). While you watch this video, pay close attention to what the speaker’s argument is for why the game-day footballs might have deflated naturally. Then complete part 1 and part 2 below.

Deflate gate | Gases and Kinetic Molecular Theory (8:55) This video uses the ideal gas equation to calculate the change in air pressure in a football at different temperatures. https://www.khanacademy.org/science/chemistry/gases-and-kinetic-molecular-theory/ideal-gas- laws/v/deflategate-ideal-gas-law https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2JdRB3bdFM

Part 1: What did you learn from watching this video? Write a 1-paragraph answer to this question. Provide substance to your answer. Here are some questions to consider in your answer (Note: You do not have to address all of these): • What does the ideal gas law tell us? • What did you learn about gauge pressure? • What are some factors that could affect the pressure of the footballs? • What are some of the sources of uncertainty in the NFL’s measurement process, and how might this affect their conclusions?

Part 2: What are your thoughts about the information in the video? Write a 1-paragraph answer to this question. Provide substance to your answer. Here are some questions to consider in your answer (Note: These are just some suggestions to help you out, you do not have to address these if you don’t want to): • What is the claim that the speaker in the video is making and what are your thoughts about this claim? • What is the most important idea in this video? • The speaker in the video seems to be making a lot of assumptions. Do you think these are valid assumptions to make? Explain. • Was there anything mentioned in either video that you would like to learn more about? Explain.

The assignment is worth 10 points: 1 point for submitting the assignment 4 points for part 1 3 points for part 2 1 point for proper grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling 1 point for proper sentence formation, clarity, and organization

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What do you think happened with the New England Patriot’s footballs? Do you think they could have deflated naturally? Or do you think there was foul play (meaning that air was intentionally let out of the footballs). You will write an essay that answers these questions.

The “Deflategate Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning” Essay Task Write a 4-paragraph essay answering the question: “Was air intentionally removed from the Patriots’ footballs, or could the recorded levels be explained by science?” State your claim. The rest of your essay should support your claim. Include at least two reasons why your claim is valid. Elaborate on your ideas and make sure that all your ideas come together in a cohesive manner.

Your essay needs to have the following: Introduction Paragraph- Answer the question by making a claim. Your claim is your answer to the question. Body Paragraphs- Back up your claim using specific evidence and reasoning to support your thinking. You need to explain in your own words how your evidence proves that your claim is correct. Conclusion Paragraph- Add a conclusion to wrap up your thoughts and drive your claim home.

This essay is worth 10 points. Here is how it will be graded: 2 points- Essay states and maintains a claim • Claim is introduced and clearly stated • Claim is focused and maintained throughout 4 points- Essay supports the claim using evidence and reasoning • Provides thorough and convincing evidence for the claim • Includes the effective use of sources, facts, and details • Explains how the evidence proves that the claim is correct 2 points- Essay has a clear and effective organizational structure • Logical progression of ideas from beginning to end • Strong connections among ideas • Provides a sense of unity and completeness 2 points- Essay follows the rules of usage, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling • No errors in sentence formation • Adequate use of punctuation, capitalization, and spelling

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SAMPLE ANSWERS

The “Deflategate Timeline” Reading Task 1) What was the gauge pressure of the Patriots’ footballs before the start of the game and at halftime? Before the start of the game, most of the Patriots’ footballs registered at 12.5 psi. At halftime, the average of the pressure values that were measured with the Logo gauge was 11.49 psi. The average of the pressure values that were measured with the Non-Logo gauge was 11.11 psi. 2) Give you thoughts and some reasons why the stated pressure of the footballs before the game could have been so different from the stated pressure of the footballs during halftime. Answers will vary. 3) What were your initial thoughts after reading about what happened during the halftime analysis? Answers will vary. 4) Had you ever heard of the deflategate controversy before starting this learning task? Explain. Answers will vary.

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RESOURCES FOR CREATING ADDITIONAL LEARNING TASKS ABOUT DEFLATEGATE

Temperature, Pressure and American Football: Introduction to Gay-Lussac's Gas Law This lesson provides an introduction to Pressure, Temperature and Gay-Lussac's Gas Law, using Deflategate as an example. https://blossoms.mit.edu/videos/lessons/temperature_pressure_and_american_football_introduction_ gay_lussacs_gas_law

Gay-Lussac's Law Discussion and Six Examples An overview of the Gay-Lussac Gas Law, including examples and a worksheet. http://www.chemteam.info/GasLaw/Gas-Gay-Lussac.html

The Wells Report The investigative report published by the NFL regarding the deflation of footballs used in the AFC Championship game. WARNING: this report includes text messages that contain profanity. https://nfllabor.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/investigative-and-expert-reports-re-footballs-used- during-afc-championsh.pdf

NFL Game Ball Procedures Before each game, the footballs are prepared according to the NFL's rules. Here are the official game ball procedures. https://operations.nfl.com/the-game/gameday-behind-the-scenes/nfl-game-ball-procedures/

Transcript proves NFL didn’t know air pressure could drop naturally The testimony of NFL executive V.P. of football operations Troy Vincent at Tom Brady’s appeal hearing confirms that the league-office employees didn’t realize that, for scientific reasons, the air pressure inside a football drops in cold, wet conditions. https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/08/05/transcript-proves-nfl-didnt-know-air-pressure-could- drop-naturally/

Can Science Solve the Mystery of “Deflategate”? A Scientific American article about the science of deflategate. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-science-solve-the-mystery-of-deflategate/

Deflategate: A Real Application of the Ideal Gas Law This case study involves analysis of data collected as part of deflategate. After viewing a couple of brief video clips introducing the story, students are asked to analyze the relevant data using the Ideal Gas Law

and determine if the data can be explained using scientific principles or if it is likely that the Patriots 6 participated in game misconduct.

http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/collection/detail.asp?case_id=799&id=799 Page