Tracking Olympic Gold!
Subjects
Arts & Humanities
--- Visual Arts
Educational Technology
Mathematics
--- Applied Math, Arithmetic, Statistics
Social Studies
--- Current Events, Geography, History (World)
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Grades
Pre-K, K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
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Brief Description
Students use print or online resources to track daily Olympics results. They build graphs as they track medal winners by country and/or sport.
Objectives
Students will
use print or online resources to track the results of the Olympic Games.
record daily results on graphs.
use graphs to collect information.
respond to questions that require them to interpret graphs.
pass an assessment test that indicates they have mastered grade-appropriate graphing skills.
Keywords
Olympic Games, graph, geography, newspaper, sports, winter, interpret, data, critical thinking Materials Needed
daily newspaper and/or computers with Internet access
art supplies as needed
Lesson Plan
Have students track daily Olympic Games results in daily newspapers or on such Web sites as the official Torino Winter Olympic Games 2006 site, NBC Torino 2006 (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 -- Countries.) To the right of each country name on the graph should appear a grid of about 35 boxes of equal size. (That number is based on the Final Medal Standings -- Winter Olympics 2002. 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.
Divide 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 Winter Olympic Sports page 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.)
Have students update their graphs daily. Each day, ask students to use their graphs (or the class graph) to answer grade-appropriate questions, such as the following:
- 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?
Provide lots of practice questions for students so they will be prepared to pass a graph-reading assessment test when the 2002 Olympic Winter Games are over.
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
MATHEMATICS
SOCIAL SCIENCES: Civics
- 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
SOCIAL SCIENCES: Geography
TECHNOLOGY
See more Olympics lessons at http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson250.shtml.
Click here to return to this week's Winter Olympics lesson plan page.
Originally publishd 2/8/2002
Links last updated 01/13/2006
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