Activity Overview
The AFL Coleman Medal is awarded to the player who kicks the most goals in a season. In 1970 Peter Hudson kicked 146 goals, then backed that effort up with 140 goals in 1971. Gary Ablett (senior) won the Coleman Medal in three successive years totals of 124, 113 and 118. Lance Franklyn was the last player to kick more than 100 goals back in 2008. Since then the average number of goals scored by the Coleman Medallist has averaged just over 70 goals. Has the day of the dominant full forward come to a full stop? In this activity, students use moving averages to explore trends over the history of the Coleman Medal.
Objectives
- Numerical smoothing of time series data using moving means with consideration of the number of terms required (using centring when appropriate) to help identify trends in time series plot with large fluctuations.
- Graphical smoothing of time series plots using moving medians
Vocabulary
- Average ( Central Tendency)
- Moving Average
- Mean
- Median
About the Lesson
The AFL Coleman Medal is awarded to the player who kicks the most goals in a season. In 1970 Peter Hudson kicked 146 goals, then backed that effort up with 140 goals in 1971. Gary Ablett (senior) won the Coleman Medal in three successive years totals of 124, 113 and 118. Lance Franklyn was the last player to kick more than 100 goals back in 2008. Since then the average number of goals scored by the Coleman Medallist has averaged just over 70 goals. Has the day of the dominant full forward come to a full stop? In this activity, students use moving averages to explore trends over the history of the Coleman Medal.