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OSU App Blends Football, Math

Updated: Friday, February 8 2013, 08:07 PM EST
COLUMBUS € A new app will combine football and math for eighth graders in Columbus.

€ It's built around a football game so each drive has a certain number of math problems, € OSU Athletic Director Gene Smith said.

The Football FUNctions app is the brainchild of OSU, Battelle and Columbus State Community College. They say it will help eighth graders with their math skills through competition on a virtual field, using real football plays and incentives.  The app is being developing in Virginia by non-profit organization The Jason Project.

Smith says the students will see real-life rewards for their accomplishments.

€ They can win buckeye leaves which they're very familiar with or we could have a message from a current football player congratulating them on their accomplishment we'll have rewards for them once they complete the year maybe graduate go to the ninth grade they've gone through different level of the app maybe have them over to a football game in the Spring, € Smith said.

Smith said he hopes kids will learn without even realizing it.

€ I hope the math becomes so natural that they're so deep into the game they're just playing the game and they're just excelling at the math and just moving the football up and down the field, € Smith said.

The app will be tested in Columbus in May and is expected to hit classrooms in October.

ABC6 / FOX28 will tell you more about this app and how it works as soon as it implemented.

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Reporter: Ashley Yore
Web Producer: Kellie HannaOSU App Blends Football, Math