Math Olympics--Teacher Notes Back to Main Menu

[Time Table] / [Materials Needed] / [Form for Class Olympics] /

[WI 8th Grade Math Standards] / [Additional Site for Math Unit]

1. 1^st Day: Teacher will explain Math Olympics WebQuest and assign students to a group. Within each group, have students choose roles. Have students look at rubric to understand how they will be evaluated. Groups start collecting data from the Internet or other sources.
2. 2^nd Day: Classroom Olympics. Groups collect class data. Class members rotate through summer and winter games stations. "Most recent Olympic participant" from each group stays at their station to help explain their activity and to help measure and record data. Note: You will need to download the most recent version of Shockwave from the Olympic Games website in order to use the electronic games.
3. 3^rd Day: Continue collecting data. Put in spreadsheet and chart. (This may take 2 days if the class needs to be taught how to make electronic charts.) Spreadsheets and charts can be made in MicroSoft Works (Excel) or ClarisWorks (spreadsheet) and copied to the presentation software (PowerPoint, HyperStudio or Claris Slide Show). Team leader makes title page. Historian designs history page.
4. 4^th Day: Complete presentation "slides" or "pages". (If students aren't familiar with presentation software, this may take an extra day to explain.)
5. 5^th Day: Make class presentations. Vote on which sports remain in the Olympics. Everyone writes conclusion paragraph(s) as homework to summarize this activity.

Optional activity: Since you would like to encourage participation among young students and since students learn best when they have to teach others, have the students become the teachers in a younger class or in a special ed. class. Teach those students how to do this activity.

• Internet access
• Presentation software such as PowerPoint, HyperStudio, or Claris SlideShow
• Graphs preferably will be made electronically using spreadsheets, but they could be made on large charts if the teacher prefers.
• For the Summer Games, the discus will be a paper or styrofoam plate. The shot put will be a bean bag or ball of masking tape, and the javelin will be a straw. Students will measure in both metric and standard units, so measuring tapes will be needed. These activities can take place in the gym or in the hallway. Each student will rotate through the 3 summer game activities, recording their scores on a large sheet of paper taped on the wall or on the board with their initials next to the score. Each student will play each of the electronic winter games and record their scores too, asking for assistance from that team if necessary. If you are unable to access the electronic winter games, you may make a model of these events. Either make a snow model outside in the winter if possible, or build an indoor model with heavy duty aluminum foil. The luge sled could be a small toy car or ball, the skiier could be a marble, and use a small rubber ball for the ski jumper. You would need a stop watch for the luge and giant slolam ski events.
• Calculator to help with figuring percent increase or decrease.

Class Mean (Average):

Class Median:

Class Mode:

Class Range:

Gold Medalist:

Silver Medalist:

Bronze Medalist:

Comments on why medalists feel this sport is valuable:

The Math Olympics WebQuest Activity meets benchmarks in the following performance standards for Wisconsin 8^th Grade Math Standards. (Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction)

This activity uses 21 of the 34 standards: 62%

Additional Site for Math Olympic Activity: (interesting site with additional math activities, but some of the links don't work) Shereen Reaney-Olympic Unit

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