Olympic Study Links

I love the Olympics and so do the kids. Today is the Opening Ceremony and we are really excited about it.
This week we have spent most of our school time studying Canada. It has been a very fun study and we have learned so much. A few facts you may not know is that Lacrosse was invented in Canada, as was Ice Hockey (that one is a given). Ice hockey was invented in 1855 when some bored soldiers tied blades to their boots and hit an old lacrosse ball around with field hockey sticks, I find this so fascinating. Here is something you probably don't know, the all American sport of football was also invented in Canada. Who knew? And if that wasn't enough, basketball was created by a Canadian named James Naismith in 1891. Seriously, I had no idea that so many sports came from Canada. We read this and so much more in a book called Cultures of the World - Canada. During the next couple of weeks we are going to study the Olympics and all the fun that surrounds it. I thought I would share the very cool resources I have discovered online with you so that you can enjoy them with your kids or just do some research of your own.

Here is the official site of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. While exploring this site, I have found education materials, pictures, color pages of the mascots and so much more.

Here is the official site of the Olympic Movement.

The motto for the Olympics is "With Glowing Hearts" or “Des plus brillants exploits” in French. Here is an article about the motto.

The logo for the games is designed to look like an inukshuk which is a stone sculpture in Canada. Here is an article explaining the significance of the logo.

The medals for the games are really amazing. The are not flat like medals of previous games. Here is the direct link to pictures of the medals from the official site. You really should check these out.

The torch design reminds me of skis very sleek with smooth curves. Here is an article with great close ups of the torch. 

The torch relay began in Greece and then went straight to Canada, it is said to be the longest relay route that has stayed in one country. I think (but I could be wrong) that it is also the most north a torch has gone when it went through Alert, Nunavut. Here is a link to some pictures of the torch relay. These pictures are amazing. It shows how the flame was lit in Greece and follows it to Canada. There are more pictures on the official site also but I really like these pictures a lot.  

If you live in the USA, here is a useful link for the NBC Olympic Schedule along with athlete profiles.

Here is a site with videos that teach the science (read physics) behind the sports. It is called NBC Learn.

We are putting together a lapbook for the Olympics and I hope to be able to post pictures of it when we are done. I have been making all the mini books myself and catering it to the ages of the kids.

If you are interested in doing a lapbook, (and don't want to design your own) Currclick has a couple of lapbooks along some other Olympic curriculum for sale at some very reasonable prices. You can download them and instantly have what you need. 

Have fun enjoying the Olympic games.