Finding Science in the Olympics

A great technique to motivate students to participate in the learning process is to put lessons into context with real world events and examples they can relate to. Sports offer many exciting opportunities for learning about math, science, biology, chemistry, energy, physics, and motion. With the Winter Olympics in full swing, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) has compiled a great resource for teachers desiring to bridge the gap between the classroom and real life. Using footage of actual Olympic events, NBC breaks down the actual science behind snowboarding, curling, and many other sports, as well as, details the internal workings of the athletes performing these activities. Students will be surprised to learn that science is an integral part of everyday life. Kelly Tenkely of The Apple suggests this resource becomes more dynamic when used in conjunction with Wallwisher, an online discussion board where students can post ideas and descriptions in one place, or Wordle, a free tool that can be used to build word "clouds" from science vocabulary. But of course, these same concepts can be accomplished without a computer. Creative bulletin boards and word webs will fulfill the same purpose.

NBC Olympics: Science of the Olympics - TheApple.com

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