Culminating+Activity


 * WINTER OLYMPICS Culminating Activity **toc

Overview
Students will produce a multi-media presentation for the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s Programme Commission (a.k.a. "Team Teachers"), which will be based on the idea of promoting a new event in the WInter Olympics.

Using their knowledge of the physics of various sports (//see// Science Lessons ), students will create and present a new Olympic event to "pitch" to the Olympic Commission. This proposal must include the elements listed below and on the attached Rubric. Students' proposals will be presented to the Team Teachers who will decide which event to allow into the next winter Olympics. The presentation must be created in one of the formats listed on the RAFT Assignment sheet, and include text, images and graphic representations (like the graphs studied in Math - Graphing Lessons ) so that all information is clear to the Olympic Programme Commission. In addition, students will be required to turn in a written Proposal for the Commission which includes drawings, diagrams and charts reflecting the necessary information listed below.

**Requirements**

 * Name of the specific Olympic event and an explanation
 * Classification of the event
 * Explanation on how the event is scored
 * Explanation of number of people involved in the event, and gender(s), distances, etc. within the event
 * Description of equipment that is needed to compete in the event, including drawings
 * Description of the facilities or outside areas needed to complete event, including maps/diagrams
 * List of athletes/teams that are expected to do well in your event based on various factors (climate, social/political environment, history, etc.)

Illinois Learning Standards Addressed
Language Arts Standard 3B: //Compose well-organized and coherent writing for a specific purposes and audiences.// Language Arts Standard 3C: //Communicate ideas in writing to accomplish a variety of purposes.// (Middle School) 3.B.3a. Produce documents that convey a clear understanding of ideas and interpretation of ideas and information and display focus, organization, elaboration and coherence. (Middle School) 3.C.3a. Compose narrative, informative, and persuasive writings (e.g., in addition to previous writings, literature reviews, instructions, news articles, correspondence) for a specified audience. (Middle School) 3.C.3b. Using available technology, produce compositions and multimedia works for specified audiences

Math Standard 10A: //Organize, describe and make predictions from existing data.// (Middle School) 10.A.3a Construct, read and interpret tables, graphs (including circle graphs) and charts to organize and represent data.

Science Standard 11B: //Know and apply the concepts, principles and processes of technological design.// (Middle School) 11.B.3b. Sketch, propose and compare design solutions to the problem considering available materials, tools, cost effectiveness and safety.

A nticipatory Set
Did you know that when the Winter Olympics first began in 1924 in Chamonix, France, there were only 9 events? Today we have 15 Winter sports, with medals awarded in over 80 different events. (See @http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Sports/ for details about the Winter and/or Summer Olympics.) Do you ever wonder how new sports and events were included in the Olympic Games? For this project, you will create your own sport to introduce to the Olympic Committee. If you pitch your sport well, it may be included in the 2014 Winter Games!

Students can use the following chart to help generate ideas.


 * Element || How are points earned || Rules ||
 * Land || Based on time/speed || What are you allowed to do? ||
 * Water || Is it like scoring a basket || What are you not allowed to do? ||
 * Air || Are there points for creativity || Can you score bonus points? ||
 * Fire || Do you get points for having the lead for a certain amount of time || Are there penalties? ||