Winter Olympics 2006

The Winter Olympics begin in a week, and with it comes many opportunities for applying the skills in the curriculum in many real world situations. There's measurement in both U.S. and metric standards, elapsed time, the physics of skiing, skating and sledding, political and physical geography, history, civics and politics of the games, economics of the dollar and the Euro, a variety of world languages and cultures…….the list of possibilities goes on and on.

For the most ardent followers of the Olympics, having classroom Olympic games that make use of skills across the curriculum is a great way to motivate students in the gray days of February. You can find units and strategies for setting up such an event, designed to last a day, a week or a month, right online; just Google classroom Olympics.

If you are subscribed to my Digital Dozen (D12) Newsletter, you have already received four January issues on the Olympics, from its history and traditions, through the 2006 athlete's to watch, including a look at traveling to Turin to attend the games - more than sixty resources in all - plus five original activity sheets I developed to implement in the classroom. Not getting the D12 every week? Subscribe now and get all 19 back issues - including the four Olympics issues - and be ready for the remaining 21 issues of volume two!

Technology makes following the games and integrating them into instruction incredibly easy. All the data you need is right on the Web. Couple that with the excellent coverage you can find on television and you have a winning recipe for rich content. Consider these resources in making the 2006 Winter Games your own:

CBS Sportsline http://www.sportsline.com/olympics/winter/

Classroom Olympic Activities http://www.abcteach.com/directory/theme_units/funkids/olympics/

Countdown to the Torino Winter Olympics http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson250.shtml

Enchanted Learning http://www.enchantedlearning.com/olympics/

Getting Ready for the Winter Olympics http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/news/story/0,6260,1136751,00.html

Go for the Gold http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/athens_games/index.htm

InfoPlease 2006 Winter Olympics http://www.infoplease.com/spot/winter-olympics.html

International Olympic Committee http://www.olympic.org/uk/index_uk.asp

Kids Village http://www.kidsvillage.torino2006.org/

Olympic Legacy http://www.olympic-legacy.com/

Olympic Symbols http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_672.pdf

Olympic Winter Games News http://www.topix.net/olympics/winter

Olympics in the Classroom! http://members.aol.com/MrDonnUnits/GreekOlympics.html

Olympics through Time http://olympics.fhw.gr/

10 Lessons of the 2002 Winter Olympics http://www.topendsports.com/events/winter/lessons.htm

Torino 2006 http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/OlympicGames/home/index.htm

Turin 2006 http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/torino/index_uk.asp

US Biathlon http://www.usbiathlon.org/

US Bobsled and Skeleton http://www.usbsf.com/

US Skiing http://www.usskiteam.com/public/

US Curling http://www.usacurl.org/

US Figure Skating http://www.usfsa.org/

US Speed Skating http://www.usspeedskating.org/

US Hockey http://www.usahockey.com/

US Luge http://www.usaluge.org/

Winter Olympics for Kids http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/olympics/winterolympics.htm

Winter Olympics History http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/olympics1998/history.htm

Winter Olympics: Sport & Science http://btc.montana.edu/olympics/default.htm

Winter Olympics through The Years http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0115110.html

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