Every March while many people are focused on basketball and cheering during March Madness something just as exciting happens in schools and online across the world. It’s called March Mammal Madness which is a tournament where animals instead of athletes battle for survival in a competition based entirely on science and statistics.
At Oak Park, MMM runs through the library.
Since March Mammal Madness has wrapped up you’ll have to wait for next year but when that time rolls around the librarian will send out a email and your ELA classroom will come down to the library.
The librarian will hand out the brackets to fill out for who you think will win by filling out the whole bracket and then finishing and turning in the bracket paper to the librarian.
She will email you if you got a round right, who won the round, and to come down to the library to claim your prize.
The creation of March Mammal Madness begins with Katie Hinde, a scientist who wanted to make learning fun and interactive. What started as a small classroom activity quickly grew into a global event. Today, students, teachers, and even scientists join in. People filling out brackets just like a sports tournament, predicting which animals will win each round.
March Mammal Madness is not just a game it’s a science-based storytelling competition. Each matchup places two animals against each other in a specific environment. The outcomes are decided using real facts about the animals, such as their size, strength, speed, and behavior.
Each round is written like a live sports broadcast, making it feel intense and dramatic even though it’s all based on real biology.
The tournament takes place every year in March, following a schedule similar to the basketball tournament. It begins with many animals and slowly narrowing down through rounds like the “Sweet Sixteen” and “Final Four,” until only one champion remains.
The “battles” happen in habitats from all over the world. One round might take place in a hot desert, while another happens deep in the ocean or in a dense rainforest. The environment plays a huge role in determining the winner.
For instance, an animal that is strong on land might struggle in water. This helps students understand how ecosystems affect survival.
Even though the matches are imaginary, the science behind them is real, making each setting feel alive and believable.
The purpose of March Mammal Madness is to make science exciting and accessible. Instead of just reading about animals in textbooks, students experience science through storytelling, prediction, and critical thinking.
It teaches important lessons like how animals adapt to their environments, how predators and prey interact, how scientists use evidence to make decisions, and it shows learning can be fun, competitive, and full of surprises and fun.
