by Courtney Reguera

March Mammal Madness is an event that takes place in March in schools all over the country. It began in 2013, created and run by Arizona State University. The idea of this event is to educate students about different animals in an interactive way. By facing animals up against each other, students get the opportunity to research the two animals and decide which one would win. This year, the event begins on March 11 with the wild card match and ends on April 3 with the championship battle.

Our school began the March Mammal Madness tradition in 2021. The science department felt they needed a fun activity for students and staff to look forward to in the month of March. For many students, March seems like a very long month with no breaks from school and getting closer to the end of the year. With something to look forward to in science classes, it helps to keep students motivated to complete work. The activity also helps students learn and connect their knowledge to possible real-life scenarios. 

All students can participate in this activity, even if they do not have a science class during the second semester. There are printed brackets that are available in the Science Wing, for anyone who is interested. To fill out this bracket, on the March Mammal Madness section of the Arizona State Univerity website, there is an informative slideshow with facts about each animal. Use these slides to decide which animal should win each individual battle and see who will be the winner of the overall competition. Then as the competition proceeds, there is an overall bracket on the whiteboard in the science wing that will keep track of the winner of each section. There are also reveals of how the battle would play out and show who the winner of each is on the Arizona State University website in the March Mammal Madness section.

Many of the teachers are participating in this event as well. Mrs. LaFlamme is in between the Forest Elephant and the Giant Squid as her winner, Mr. Chilton is in between the Sperm Whale and the Northern Elephant Seal, Mrs. Mette has the Great White Shark, and Mr. Fedell wants the Pronghorn to win, but believes that the Giant Squid will be the winner. March Mammal Madness is a very beneficial way for students all over to learn while participating in a fun activity. 

March Mammal Madness is an event that takes place in March in schools all over the country. It began in 2013, created and run by Arizona State University. The idea of this event is to educate students about different animals in an interactive way. By facing animals up against each other, students get the opportunity to research the two animals and decide which one would win. This year, the event begins on March 11 with the wild card match and ends on April 3 with the championship battle.

Our school began the March Mammal Madness tradition in 2021. The science department felt they needed a fun activity for students and staff to look forward to in the month of March. For many students, March seems like a very long month with no breaks from school and getting closer to the end of the year. With something to look forward to in science classes, it helps to keep students motivated to complete work. The activity also helps students learn and connect their knowledge to possible real-life scenarios. 

All students can participate in this activity, even if they do not have a science class during the second semester. There are printed brackets that are available in the Science Wing, for anyone who is interested. To fill out this bracket, on the March Mammal Madness section of the Arizona State Univerity website, there is an informative slideshow with facts about each animal. Use these slides to decide which animal should win each individual battle and see who will be the winner of the overall competition. Then as the competition proceeds, there is an overall bracket on the whiteboard in the science wing that will keep track of the winner of each section. There are also reveals of how the battle would play out and show who the winner of each is on the Arizona State University website in the March Mammal Madness section.

Many of the teachers are participating in this event as well. Mrs. LaFlamme is in between the Forest Elephant and the Giant Squid as her winner, Mr. Chilton is in between the Sperm Whale and the Northern Elephant Seal, Mrs. Mette has the Great White Shark, and Mr. Fedell wants the Pronghorn to win, but believes that the Giant Squid will be the winner. March Mammal Madness is a very beneficial way for students all over to learn while participating in a fun activity. 

This activity is based on the March Madness competition for basketball. There is a bracket, in which specific animals are placed against each other to decide which continues onto the next round. The animals are ranked with seeds from 1-16; 1 would be the highest ranked, and 16 is the lowest ranked. The lowest ranked of the two in a competition would decide the habitat for the fight. The competition winners are decided by a group of scientists. They compare attributes of the animals such as strength, body mass, physiology, and fight style. The scientists create a reveal of the winning animals by creating a play-by-play of the fight as if it were real life. They explain how the animal got to win the battle.