Home Court in the NBA Bubble

As we dive into the depths of inference, it's nice to build some important intuition with a fun lesson: Was there a home court advantage during the NBA Bubble? We just did this lesson with our AP Stats students, and it hit different this year. Check out the lesson and notes below:

Intro: Hypothesis Tests

Lesson 7.4

During the pandemic, the NBA moved to a "bubble" in Disneyworld. "Home" and "Away" designations were randomly assigned. So, why did the "home" team still win more often? Students explore with simulation. 

See Lesson >>>

This year, there was finally enough distance from the pandemic that many students didn't remember that the NBA season was played in a bubble. This increased fascination and engagement with the context: "They all played at DISNEYWORLD?!"

Combining that setup - how could the "home" team win more often in a neutral court? - with great simulations in Desmos (Day 1) and thorough notes to formalize the concepts (Day 2) ... it all packed a powerful punch. Now, we’re walking into the rest of inference feeling confident about their intuition for hypothesis testing and statistical significance.

Try it out! We’re confident (95%, at least) that you'll have a similar experience with your students.

Let's skew it!

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