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Education

Resources for Educators

Unit 

World Olympics, p. 76

Lesson Name 

Understanding the Evolution of the Olympic Games

Grade Band 

Elementary (Grades 3-5)

Middle School (Grades 6-8)

 

Required Materials
  • Have copies of the handouts from the previous lesson on the Games’ symbols and traditions.
  • Have a deck of index cards on which are printed different facts about the Olympics. The deck must contain at least one card for every student in the group. Some students may pick two cards.
  • Have chart paper and markers.
  • Have masking tape cut into strips so students can use a strip to post their index card.
  • Pre-print two pieces of chart paper with the title Ancient Olympics and another two pieces of chart paper with the title Modern Olympics.

Standards / Competencies 

CASEL Core Competencies

  • Self-Awareness
  • Self-Management
  • Social Awareness
  • Relationship Skills

Common Core ELA-Literacy Standards

  • Listening and Speaking
  • Reading
  • Writing

NCSS Social Studies Themes

  • Individual Development and Identity 
  • Time, Continuity, and Change
  • Civic Ideals and Practices

Recommended Time 

1 hour

 

Essential Question 

Why is it important to know how the Olympic Games are similar to, and different from, the Ancient Games?

Learning Objectives 
  • Compare and contrast the Modern and Ancient Olympic Games
  • Describe ways in which the Olympic Games have changed over time
  • Give reasons why they think it is important to know why the Olympics have both held on to traditions and made changes to the Games

 

Activating Prior Knowledge 

Ask: By a show of hands, how many of you think you are a very different person from the person you were five years ago? Ask three or four students who have raised their hands to give one example of how they are different. Ask: Why don’t you want people to treat you the way you were five years ago? Get three or four answers. (For example, “I’m more mature or grown up,” “I’ve learned new things,” “I act differently,” etc.)

Now ask: What have you held on to that makes you still the same person? The teacher should model an answer such as: I have a lot of ways that I have changed, but one thing about me that has stayed the same is my ___ (sense of humor, or love of animals, or my thinking that it is wrong to cheat, etc.) Get responses from three or four students.

Ask: Why is it important for me or anyone who knows you to know how you’ve changed and how you’ve remained the same? Get answers from several different students and chart their responses on the board.

Core Instruction 

Tell the students: Today we are going to look at how the Olympics are like us: we all have changed over time, but we all have important things that we hold on to.

Post the two Ancient Olympics papers on one wall and the Modern Olympics papers on the opposite wall.

Walk around the room with the Olympic Card Deck face down and ask students to pick a card and put it face down on the desk. Continue to have students pick cards until all cards are taken. (Some students may get two cards.)

Ask students to read their card (or cards) and decide where it belongs, on one of the Ancient Olympics charts or one of the Modern Olympics charts. Tell students to go up by rows or small groups to take a piece of tape and post their card or cards on the charts.

When all cards are posted, read the cards on the Ancient Olympics charts aloud to the class. Ask the class if they think any of the cards should be moved to the Modern Olympics charts. Repeat this procedure for the Modern Olympics charts.

Post a new piece of chart paper titled Similarities and one titled Differences, or use the board to record student responses.

Ask students to identify the major differences they see between the Ancient and the Modern Games. (Be sure to elicit from the students that there was a ban on women in the Ancient Games; only Greeks could participate; the Games were part of a religious rite; only able-bodied men competed; married women could not attend; the men competed in the nude; and the Games were always held at Olympia. The Modern Games are held all over the world; there are now Para-Olympics and Special Olympics, Summer and Winter Games and many more sports; women athletes compete now, etc.)

Ask students to identify the important similarities they see between the Ancient and Modern Games. Chart responses. (Make sure to elicit similarities such as an oath is taken; a flame burns throughout the games; the games follow a four-year schedule; athletes still prepare for years to compete; the core belief of the games is still excellence, etc.)

Ask: Were there things that were unfair about the Ancient Games? Point out that the Modern Games are not perfect either. Point out that most Modern Olympic Games have been hosted in Europe and North America. As of 2020, no countries in Africa have ever hosted the Olympics, though Dakar is scheduled to host the 2022 Summer Youth Olympics, and no Olympic Games have ever been held in the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, the Middle East, Central America or the Carribean. Only a few Games have been hosted in Asia, South America or Oceania. Ask: Why do you think countries from these parts of the world have not been selected in the past? What do these countries have in common? What do the countries that have been selected have in common? Why might these countries want to be selected? Is there something unfair about the selection process? What do you think may happen in the future? Why? 

Wrap-up 

Ask students to look at the two lists they have made and sum up what kind of changes have been made over the years and what has been held onto.

Ask the students to remember how the class started with everyone thinking about how they have changed and how they have stayed the same. Ask: How do you think the Olympics are like us? What have the Games done that we have done? Why do you think that it is important for us to know about these changes?

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Facts About the Olympics Card Deck

(print one fact on each index card to create the class deck)

  • Only free-born men and boys (who are not criminals) from the Greek city-states and kingdoms that agree to honor the Olympic Games truce can compete in the Games.
  • The International Olympic Committee was founded by Baron Pierre de Courbertin in 1894. The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896.
  • The prize for winning the Olympics is the crown of olive leaves cut from the sacred tree at Olympia. What counts most is the fame and supreme glory of becoming an Olympic victor, embodying the concept of arête, or excellence.
  • A flame is lit to open the Olympic Games and kept burning in a cauldron throughout the Olympic Games and is put out to signify the closing of the Games.
  • Countries and territories all over the world participate in the Olympics. The fewest on record was 12, in the 1904 games in St. Louis, Missouri. More than 200 countries have participated in recent years.
  • The athletes take an oath at the beginning of the Games.
  • The Games are held in honor of Zeus.
  • The number of sports in each Olympics does not remain constant. Some sports are dropped while some are added in both the Summer and Winter games.
  • The Games are held at Olympia every four years.
  • The Winter Olympic Games take place every four years, as do the Summer Olympic Games. Their schedules are staggered so that there are Olympic Games every two years. 
  • Countries interested in hosting the Olympics choose a city and submit an application to the International Olympic Committee.
  • A flame is kept burning throughout the Olympic Games at the altar of the sanctuary of Hestia.
  • The athletes, their fathers and their brothers take an oath that they will not sin against the Olympic Games.
  • Most Olympic host cities so far have been in Europe and North America. As of 2020, no countries in Africa have ever hosted the Olympics, though Dakar is scheduled to host the 2022 Summer Youth Olympics. No Olympic Games have ever been held in the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, the Middle East, Central America or the Caribbean. Only a few Games have been hosted in Asia, South America or Oceania.
  • Once you enter, you cannot leave the Olympics.
  • The first International Special Olympics were held in 1968, and the first International Winter Special Olympics in 1977.
  • The male athletes prepare themselves for years to compete in all the games and are considered the best among all Greeks.
  • There are Summer Games and Winter Games.
  • There is one winner of the Olympic Games and he is considered the equal of the gods.
  • The International Olympics Committee (IOC) reviews the application of each city based on eleven categories and then makes its decision. The IOC considers factors such as the ability of the city to pay for the costs of the games, safety and security, past experience, transportation and accommodations (places where athletes and spectators will stay during the Games).
  • The core values of the Olympics are excellence, respect and friendship.
  • The Olympic Games are the largest sporting event in the world. Over half a million spectators are watching on each day of the events.
  • The Paralympic Games are held right after each Olympic Games, in the same host city. Athletes with physical disabilities, including mobility disabilities, amputees, visual disabilities and those with cerebral palsy compete in the Paralympic Games.
  • Married women are not allowed to watch the Games because the men are nude, and the women would be disgraced.
  • The host country creates a mascot for the Olympic Games it is hosting.
  • The flame begins in Olympia and is passed from torch to torch until it is carried to the host city where it lights the Olympic flame that burns throughout the Games.
  • The Olympic Oath is a solemn promise made by one athlete, judge or official, and one coach at the Opening Ceremony of each Olympic Games. Each oath taker is from the host nation and takes the oath on behalf of all athletes, officials, or coaches at the Games
  • The sports played in the Olympics are wrestling, boxing, discus throwing, pankration (a form of martial arts combining wrestling and boxing), chariot racing, running, jumping, javelin throwing, stadion (a sprint race of about 180 meters), equestrian events (horse racing), and pentathlon (wrestling, running, jumping, discus throwing and spear/javelin throwing).
  • The prize for winning an event in the Olympics is a gold, silver or bronze medal and a diploma.
  • At the height of the games, 20,000 to 40,000 people attend.
  • Women cannot compete in the Olympics but women chariot owners can enter their chariot and driver in the chariot races.
  • Athletes pray to the gods for victory and making offerings of animals, produce or small cakes in thanks for their success.
  • The Olympic flag represents the five continents/areas of the world from which countries send athletes to the Games.
  • The Special Olympics for people with intellectual disabilities was founded in 1962 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Many people believe her intellectually disabled sister Rosemary Kennedy was her inspiration.
  • The Olympic Games are a religious festival and on the middle day of the Games 100 oxen are sacrificed to Zeus, the king of the gods, to honor him.
  • Over 5.5 million athletes of all ages are involved in Special Olympics sports programs in more than 190 countries. There are 32 Summer and Winter sports in the Special Olympics. To make sure people with different ability levels can compete, Special Olympics events are adjusted to many levels of ability so that athletes can compete with others who have similar capabilities.