Since this is not a unit that focuses on a particular group of people, I chose to teach a little bit about some of the athletes that my kids enjoyed watching this last week, or that they heard about (Mark Spitz) while watching the Olympics.
Michael Phelps
-when he first started swimming, at age 7, he wouldn’t put his face in the water
-First Olympics was in 2004 in Athens, won 6 gold and 2 bronze medals
-won 8 golds in 2008 and broke 7 world records
-has won more Olympic medals than anyone else in history
Mark Spitz
-started swimming at 2 years old, competitively at age 6
-First Olympics was 1968, won 2 gold medals for team events
-won 7 gold medals in 1972, a record for the most medals won by 1 person in a single Olympics until 2008 when Michael Phelps took over the record with 8 medals in a single Olympics
Nastia Liukin
-Father was an Olympic gold medalist (1988) in gymnastics and mother was a World Champion (1987)rhythmic gymnast
-born in Moscow, moved to Texas when she was 2 ½ years old
-her parents did not want her to be a gymnast at first, but when they realized how good she was and saw her desire, they encouraged it
-would have been on the US Olympic team in 2004 (Athens), but she was too young (by 1 year)
-won 5 medals in 2008 Olympics: 1 gold (all-around), 3 silver (team, balance beam, uneven bars), and 1 bronze (floor exercises)
Shawn Johnson
-began gymnastics at age 3
-won 4 medals at 2008 Olympics: 1 gold (balance beam), 3 silver (team, all-around, floor exercises)
Showing posts with label 2008 Olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2008 Olympics. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
Math Monday: China and the 2008 Olympics
So this week's unit is in honor of the Olympics and will be focused on China, specifically Beijing and the 2008 Olympic games. For math this week, we will be doing the following:
Basic arithmetic, Counting, and Graphing
Olympic medal tracking: Click here for events and results
Choose an event and then click on the results
-how many medals did each country earn? (the younger ones can practice counting and those who are adding can add up the total number of gold, silver, and bronze medals a certain country has won)
-Make a bar graph of medals won
Distance Measuring, Timing, Number Places, Ordinal Numbers
Hold your own Olympics
Long jump = measuring
100 yard dash = timing and measuring
Use a stopwatch for the race and/or measure the distance jumped and then take their time/distance and use it to show number places.
Can also teach younger ones about ordinal numbers
Measuring, Fractions
Cook a traditional Chinese dish (this also ties in with social studies). Here are some recipes I have found:
Chinese Sponge Cake
Won Ton Soup
Fried Rice
Math tools
Abacuses are still used today for arithmetic in China. Practice using an abacus for adding and subtracting, but also for teaching number places.
Money
Chinese currency is called Renminbi and is made up of dollars called yuan or kuai. Pronunciations can be heard and pictures of the currency can be seen here
Time
-Print out clock template here
Attach hands with a paper fastener
-Have the children move the hands to set the time of various Olympic events. You can search the Olympic schedule here
Click the event(s) of your choice and then you will see the times of the matches.
Word problems
(with the exception of the first word problem, the others contain actual trivia/facts about China and Chinese culture):
Sun Li loves egg rolls. Her grandmother made one dozen egg rolls for lunch. Sun Li ate 3 by herself. How many egg rolls are left?
Chinese New Year is celebrated for 2 weeks plus 1 day. How many days are spent celebrating Chinese New Year, each year?
The Beijing Subway has 4 lines above ground and 5 lines underground. How many lines are there in all?
It costs 1000 yuan for the best tickets to the final Men’s basketball game and medal ceremony. The best tickets to the final Men’s volleyball game and medal ceremony cost 600 yuan. How many more yuan does it cost to see the basketball game?
One American dollar is equal to about 7 yuan. If I have 10 American dollars, about how many yuan would that be?
Can you think of any other ways to incorporate China and/or the Olympics into elementary math?
Basic arithmetic, Counting, and Graphing
Olympic medal tracking: Click here for events and results
Choose an event and then click on the results
-how many medals did each country earn? (the younger ones can practice counting and those who are adding can add up the total number of gold, silver, and bronze medals a certain country has won)
-Make a bar graph of medals won
Distance Measuring, Timing, Number Places, Ordinal Numbers
Hold your own Olympics
Long jump = measuring
100 yard dash = timing and measuring
Use a stopwatch for the race and/or measure the distance jumped and then take their time/distance and use it to show number places.
Can also teach younger ones about ordinal numbers
Measuring, Fractions
Cook a traditional Chinese dish (this also ties in with social studies). Here are some recipes I have found:
Chinese Sponge Cake
Won Ton Soup
Fried Rice
Math tools
Abacuses are still used today for arithmetic in China. Practice using an abacus for adding and subtracting, but also for teaching number places.
Money
Chinese currency is called Renminbi and is made up of dollars called yuan or kuai. Pronunciations can be heard and pictures of the currency can be seen here
Time
-Print out clock template here
Attach hands with a paper fastener
-Have the children move the hands to set the time of various Olympic events. You can search the Olympic schedule here
Click the event(s) of your choice and then you will see the times of the matches.
Word problems
(with the exception of the first word problem, the others contain actual trivia/facts about China and Chinese culture):
Sun Li loves egg rolls. Her grandmother made one dozen egg rolls for lunch. Sun Li ate 3 by herself. How many egg rolls are left?
Chinese New Year is celebrated for 2 weeks plus 1 day. How many days are spent celebrating Chinese New Year, each year?
The Beijing Subway has 4 lines above ground and 5 lines underground. How many lines are there in all?
It costs 1000 yuan for the best tickets to the final Men’s basketball game and medal ceremony. The best tickets to the final Men’s volleyball game and medal ceremony cost 600 yuan. How many more yuan does it cost to see the basketball game?
One American dollar is equal to about 7 yuan. If I have 10 American dollars, about how many yuan would that be?
Can you think of any other ways to incorporate China and/or the Olympics into elementary math?
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