Shoveling again! Between
our record breaking cold, 7 snow days and the winter Olympics approaching,
tying your lessons to snow seems like a no-brainer, no matter where you are!
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) lessons of
course are an excellent fit, but why not include art (STEAM) and Reading
(STREAM) and Social Studies (STREAMS)…there are lots of resources and
opportunities to take advantage of this global event in your classroom.
If you have snow in your backyard, there are lots of
questions you can explore: Why does it
form crystals (flakes) sometimes and other times it is just ice? How does salt help snow to melt? Are there environmental consequences of
salting the roads? Can you design a
better snow shovel? Why does some snow
make better snow balls than others? How
do ski areas make snow?
If you don’t have snow in your backyard (hard for me to
believe!), there is plenty of snow science going on in Sochi. I recently learned from an NBC (Orlando)
reporter, Stewart Moore, on his way to cover the Olympics, that Sochi was a “tropical resort” in Russia, with
weather comparable to Atlanta (except for the nearby mountains!). Snow was actually
saved from last year under blankets just in case they need it! Imagine all of the logistics involved in
pulling off an event like this (science, technology, engineering, math, anyone?)!
There are lots of great resources to get students engaged in
relevant learning in your content area this month!
Science: Check
out these great videos on the Science
and Engineering of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games including the “Science of
Ice” “Science of Snow” and “Building Faster and Better Bobsleds” complete with in-depth
lesson plans! You can find more videos
on the Science
of the Olympic Games 2010 related to individual sports and gear. Just for fun, check out this fascinating sound
interactive which illustrates in sound the fractions of a second separating
finishers in events at the Olympics.
This was found amongst the gems offered in TeachersFirst’s
Resources for the Sochi Olympics.
Technology: Yesterday, I witnessed a great Digital
Day Winter Olympic Challenge going on between students in Indiana and
Lousiana. Hosted by William Krakower in
NJ, students met in a Google Hangout and answered challenge questions based on
the Olympics. The questions included “How
many miles from your school to Sochi?
How many kilometers? What is the time difference between your school and
Sochi?” These students were totally engaged and motivated by the hot (cold?)
topic of the Winter Olympics and the social capital built in. You can easily replicate this with your own set
of questions, set up game show style within your classroom, with a class across
the hall, a class across town, or a class across the globe. Kudos to those teachers who brought this cutting-edge
activity to their students despite some technical difficulties and weather
cancellations.
Reading: WhyFiles.org
has some great articles that feature different perspectives, ask great
questions and cover ethical issues that make for great reading and persuasive
writing. Some examples include “Sports
Doctors: Conflict of Interest?” or “Too
Much Training?” Find the articles by
searching for Olympics or Science Meets Sports.
Discover more ideas for Olympic-related reading and writing activities at
ReadWriteThink.
Engineering: There are lots of opportunities for
engineering research from the Olympic venue to the athlete’s gear. Check out this simple student
challenge from We are Teachers which has students build their own bobsled
out of Popsicle sticks. Or use the video
on Engineering
Faster and Safer Bobsleds and the accompanying guide for STEAM activities
related to designing the bobsled.
Math: Have you seen Yummy Math? This site provides “mathematics relevant to
our world today.” Their most recent post was on the lighting of the Olympic
Torch and one on how Olympic ski jumping is scored, both great math lessons
with authentic and timely connections. Check out the Mathletes
video and lesson for another activity on scoring in the Olympic Games. There are some very simple ideas on what you
can do with results (including fake result pages) that you can use for simple
math activities involving reading and building tables.
Social Studies: Delve into the history of the Olympics, geography
of Sochi or research an athlete to discover the culture and geography of their
country. There are lots of links for
the History of the Games, Olympic Games and Politics, and Ancient Olympic Games
on the TeacherVision
site.
Looking for more STEM
Activities?
Matt Davis provides some quality links
and ideas incorporating STEM into Olympics in the student engagement blog
on Edutopia. Highlights include mapping
the Olympic Torch Relay, math activities from Scholastic and great hands on
activities from Science
Buddies.
The Olympic Games are an excellent opportunity to connect
the interdisciplinary dots in an engaging way!
How will you take advantage?
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