Pennsylvania teacher uses NASCAR Math in classroom

LONG POND, Pa. -- When fourth-grade teacher Tom Baughman tells his class to pull out their math books, eyes roll back in heads and bodies start slouching in chairs.

Typical reactions to perceivably boring lessons, Baughman, 37, knew he could do better and find a way to engage his students.

The solution to his problem came five years ago rolling die-cast cars down the family driveway with his then 3-year-old son. The two would race the cars down the asphalt and dad kept track of the finishes through bar graphs.

You wouldn't expect anything less from a committed math teacher, and it was no surprise when the Baughman recognized a correlation between his math curriculum and the racecars.

The result: Baughman's invented the art of NASCAR Math, a hands-on approach to learning mathematical principles through stock-car racing.

Brad Klein/NASCAR

There are two parts to Tom Baughman's NASCAR Math, and several die-cast cars.

Using the same numbers, shapes, angles and dimensions NASCAR uses to make the cars go fast, Baughman teaches and instructs his students to use the same principles in order to maneuver their die-cast cars quickly in the classroom.

The Pennsylvania teacher said the program is a growing success and gaining support from Sprint Cup teams around the garage.

"Basically, learning made fun gets done," said Baughman, who was shooting photos of crew members working on cars Saturday at Pocono Raceway. "I see my students learning because they are motivated to complete our objectives and they love doing NASCAR Math."

How does NASCAR Math work?

At Friendship Elementary School in Glen Rock, Penn., NASCAR Math is made up of two parts -- a five-station packet and a "review race."

The packet has the students measuring angle degrees reflective of the banking at certain NASCAR tracks.

Students at Friendship Elementary learn NASCAR at an early age.

Once they place their die-cast car at the angle measured by their protractor, the car is rolled down a dry-erase board, the "embankment," and they measure the distance traveled. Also, students use statistical analysis to estimate minimums, ranges, modes and medians of the distances recorded. With this information, the students figure out what car they want to race.

Following this process, the students are ready to race their best car in the "review race," which involves each team responding to questions from Mr. Baughman on topics relating to shapes, figures and math solutions.

Students answering correctly are allowed to "swat" or shove their car around the track. The teacher gives review questions, and correct answers serve as the fuel driving them around the track.

"But if a student gets overaggressive and swats or smacks the car too hard, it can crash or end up on its roof, and my students get just as upset as the real drivers do," Baughman said.

Possible review questions may include 'Can you draw Jeff Gordon's No. 24 machine using only polygons and other geometric shapes with a compass and graph paper?' while others may be asked to determine diameter measurements on the tires.

And in true NASCAR fashion, the students have sponsorships, as well. On Grandparents Day, the race was called the Grandparent 500 and the most recent race in April was titled the Friendship 500 after their school.

Held in the cafeteria, students dress up as pit-crew members and wear mock credentials.

But real-life NASCAR teams and owners themselves are taking part in the creative learning process.

Former NASCAR driver and FOX announcer Darrell Waltrip made a call into the class a couple of years back and teams such as Joe Gibbs Racing and Petty Enterprises both back the program and send boxes full of props, race gear for student prizes and autographed posters to hang in their classroom.