Tracking Olympic Gold

Keywords

Materials Needed

Lesson Plan

Have students track daily Olympic Games results in daily newspapers or on such Web sites as the official Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics site, NBC 2010 Winter Olympics (NBC is broadcasting the Olympic Games in the United States), or one of many other sports Web sites covering the events.

Have students track the medal results on a bar graph. Each student can create his or her own graph, students can work in small groups to create graphs, or the class can create a single large graph. Following are a few suggested activities:

Have each student create a graph that includes the participating countries along its left axis. A list of participating countries can be found at NBC Olympics: Nations Competing in Vancouver. To the right of each country name on the graph should appear a grid of 35 boxes of equal size (assuming that any one country might win as many as 35 medals, based on the Final Medal Standings -- Winter Olympics 2006). Have students update their graphs on a daily basis. As each country wins a medal, students color in a box on the graph next to that country's name. Students could use crayons or markers of gold, silver, and bronze to indicate which medal was awarded. If crayons/markers of those colors are unavailable, students should create their own color key for tracking each of the three medal categories.

Arrange students into six groups. Each group will create a graph that shows certain medal results. Two groups will create graphs tracking the number of gold medals awarded to each country, two groups will track silver-medal winners, and the other two groups will track the bronze-medal competition. As a country wins a gold, silver, or bronze medal, students color the appropriate box on their graph. Students might also include a flag next to the name of each country; they can draw the flags or print them from a Web resource such as World Flag Database or Flags of the World.

Have students follow the directions in the activity above, except instead of coloring a box on the graph, students should record the medal winners by posting next to each country's name an icon that represents the sport in which each medal was awarded. Students can create an icon for each sport or download icons. A good source for Winter Games sports icons is the Vancouver 2010 Olympics: Sports Pictograms (or you might use these smaller pictograms) on the official Olympic Web site; students can print the page and cut out the icons to paste on their graphs. (The graphics on that page are small. If those icons are used, each square on the graph should be about 1/4-inch square. For larger icons on the Olympics Web site, click on an icon, save it as a .gif file, and use PhotoShop or a similar program to enlarge it; or enlarge the graphics on a photocopier.)

• How many bronze medals has the United States won?
• Which country has more silver medals -- Austria or Italy?
• How many countries have won five or more gold medals?

Assessment

At the conclusion of the Olympic Winter Games, have students use their graphs to correctly respond to 8 of 10 teacher-created questions. The questions above might serve as models.

Lesson Plan Source

Education World

Submitted By

Gary Hopkins

National Standards

FINE ARTS: Visual Arts

• GRADES K - 4
  NA-VA.K-4.1 Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, And Processes
  NA-VA.K-4.3 Choosing And Evaluating A Range Of Subject Matter, Symbols, And Ideas
  NA-VA.K-4.6 Making Connections Between Visual Arts And Other Disciplines

• GRADES 5 - 8
  NA-VA.5-8.1 Understanding And Applying Media, Techniques, And Processes
  NA-VA.5-8.3 Choosing And Evaluating A Range Of Subject Matter, Symbols, And Ideas
  NA-VA.5-8.6 Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines

• GRADES 9 - 12
  NA-VA.9-12.1 Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes
  NA-VA.9-12.3 Choosing And Evaluating A Range Of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas
  NA-VA.9-12.6 Making Connections Between Visual Arts And Other Disciplines

• GRADES K - 4
  NM.K-4.1 Mathematics as Problem Solving
  NM.K-4.2 Mathematics as Communication
  NM.K-4.4 Mathematical Connections
  NM.K-4.6 Number Sense and Numeration
  NM.K-4.8 Whole Number Computation
  NM.K-4.10 Measurement

• GRADES 5 - 8
  NM.5-8.1 Mathematics as Problem Solving
  NM.5-8.2 Mathematics as Communication
  NM.5-8.4 Mathematical Connections
  NM.5-8.5 Number and Number Relationships
  NM.5-8.7 Computation and Estimation
  NM.5-8.10 Statistics
  NM.5-8.13 Measurement

• GRADES K - 4
  NSS-C.K-4.4 Other Nations and World Affairs

• GRADES 5 - 8
  NSS-C.5-8.4 Other Nations and World Affairs

• GRADES 9 - 12
  NSS-C.9-12.4 Other Nations and World Affairs

• GRADES K - 12
  NSS-G.K-12.1 The World in Spatial Terms

• GRADES K - 12
  NT.K-12.3 Technology Productivity Tools
  NT.K-12.4 Technology Communications Tools
  NT.K-12.5 Technology Research Tools

See more Olympics lessons at http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson250.shtml.

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