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.
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!