Over 100 Years of the Olympics
Marcia Heaps
Williamsville Junior High School; Williamsville, IL.
Overview:
A brief look at the history of the Olympics. How are politics, economics and math incorporated into the Olympics?
Objectives:
- Students will be able to state facts about Olympics from the past by using the Dates and Locations online resource.
- Students will view photos of previous Olympics. They will document facts from the photo and make conjectures about the situation.
- Students will research the unit cost of foods and find the total cost for the amount of food used at the summer Olympics.
- Students will calculate the cost of food per athlete, per day and per participating country.
Time Requirements:
Two class periods
Recommended Grade Levels:
Middle School
Standards and Assessment Anchors:
Social Science:
14.C.3 Compare historical issues involving rights, roles and status of individuals in relation to municipalities, states and the nation.
16.A.3b Make inferences about historical events and eras using historical maps and other historical sources.
Math:
6.B.3a Solve practical computation problems involving whole numbers, integers and rational numbers.
Resources:
Library of Congress
Dates and Locations of Modern Olympics
Pictures at Library of Congress; then search for Olympic Games
Web sites for more research:
A History of the Olympics
The Ancient Olympics
Olympic Tables handout from "The Math of Sports" by Hope Martin and Susan Guengerich. Publisher- J.Weston Walch
Materials Needed:
Access to a computer
Dates of the summer Olympics on separate pieces of paper to be drawn from a hat.
Three worksheets:
- History of Olympic game- specific date
- Picture Description worksheet
- Olympic Table worksheet
Newspaper ads for supermarket prices for food items.
Calculator
Pencil
Procedures:
A) History
Student need to be in groups of 2 or 3.
Have one student from each group choose a date of one of the past Olympics from the hat.
- Have the students sign-on to the computer. They need to locate the Dates and Locations page on the Library of Congress web site.
- By selecting the date, the students will jump to an information page about the Olympics. They will need to answer the questions on the worksheet. Students may use other web sites to answer questions if need be.
- Students will present/share with the class what they learned.
B) Pictures
Each group will be given a different picture from one of the Olympic Games.
They will answer the questions on the Description page. Allow the students to search the web for more research.
Students will present/share with the class what they learned.
C) Food- Math
Each group will research the cost of the food used at the Olympics. They should use newspaper ads or the web to find food item prices.
Students will answer the questions on the Olympic Table worksheet to find the total cost for each item.
Evaluation:
- Observe students as they work. Are they asking questions? Are they researching their questions?
- Rubric for all three activities.
Teacher Name: Mrs. Heaps
Student Name: ______________________________________
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4 |
3 |
0-2 |
Comments |
| Dates Worksheet |
Olympic Date worksheet is completed with will defined answers showing knowledge learned of subject matter. |
Olympic Date worksheet is completed with some of the answers well defined and only some knowledge learned of subject matter. |
Olympic Date worksheet incomplete. Answers do not reflect knowledge gained on subject matter. |
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| Picture Analysis |
Facts were stated, subjective information given, questioning and research done. |
Facts were stated, subjective information given, some questioning and some research done. |
Facts were stated, some subjective information given, lack of questioning and research. |
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| Presentations |
Students prepared and organized. Clear and concise information. Demonstrate knowledge learned. |
Students prepared. Some organization apparent, information not concise and some knowledge learned. |
Student unprepared, lacked information to present, knowledge not gained. |
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| Math Skills |
Food worksheet, all product prices are found. All calculations are correct and worksheet is complete. |
Food worksheet, all product prices found, some errors in calculations, worksheet is complete. |
Food worksheet, students unable to locate prices, worksheet incomplete. |
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| Working with Others |
Each member almost always listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others. Share responsibility. |
Each member usually listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others. Does not cause "waves" in the group. |
Each member rarely listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others. Often is not a good team player. |
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