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Geography Fun with the Winter Olympics!
- Patria Lincoln Posted On Feb 8, 2018 | STEM
Who doesn’t have an Olympic memory from childhood? For the two weeks of the Olympics’ lit torch, young and old are captivated by the sport of it all. The Olympics provide the opportunity to peek into countries that typically feel like worlds away.
Why learn about geography now?
The Olympics itself is a two-week geography lesson. Of course the Opening Ceremonies are filled with pomp and circumstance, but it so proudly displays the host country’s deep history. Invite your kids to watch it with you. The Opening Ceremonies are a feast for the eyes, as well as for young minds.
After the show is concludes, the “Parade of Nations” will take place. This is where athletes from each country process around the stadium. The “Parade of Nations” is rich in tradition and ritual. No matter where the Games are being held, the athletic delegation from Greece will always enter the Olympic stadium first, in honor of the country originating the spirit of the games thousands of years ago.
Each nation to follow will be announced in French, then in English, and lastly in the host nation’s language – this year in Korean. The office language of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is French, but the nations will march out in order of the Korean alphabet.
Each country designates a flag bearer to represent their nation, whether they have 9 or 99 athletes. For this Games’ Opening Ceremonies, the host nation of South Korea will be joined with North Korea under the Korean unification flag. Their delegation will be the last to parade around Pyeonchang Olympic Stadium.
Watching the Parade of Nations with your children offers up an organic teaching opportunity. Countries they have never heard of will have athletes that march, and now is the time to break out your globe (hopefully your Learning Resources Puzzle Globe) to figure out where everyone is from.
In previous broadcasts, the network now provides a graphic for where the country can be found, which does provide for a visual reference. Make post-its of the nations and place on your globe.
Things to ask your kids:
- For these Olympics, do the countries come from continents that are cold or warm?
- Which countries seem to have lots of athletes? Fewer?
- Do you think a country’s population is related to the number of athletes they send?
- Look closely at each country’s flag. Does it represent something about the nation?
Enjoy the two weeks with your kids. Watch as much as you can. Chances are good you yourself will learn new geography facts during these Winter Games!
DIY Curling with Botley!
Slide the stone, brush the ice, and try to hit the target! Curling is one of the most iconic winter sports in the world; it’s even on TV these days! Usually, a round of curling requires too much equipment to play at home, but you can play your own version of this famous sport with the help of Botley the Coding Robot!
Check out our step-by-step guide below:
1. Set up a starting line at one end of the room. At the other end, set up Botley’s orange goal piece.
2. Put Botley behind the starting line, making sure that he’s aimed straight at the goal piece.
3. Before you start coding, have each player estimate the number of FORWARD coding steps it will take Botley to reach the goal without going past it. (Here’s a hint: Botley moves 8 inches with each FORWARD step).
4. After everyone has their guesses, have the first player code Botley to move forward.
5. When Botley stops, place one of his flags at the spot on the floor where he stopped. If you have lots of players, you can even write each person’s name on their flag with some masking tape and a marker.
6. Repeat until everyone has gone. The person closest to the goal is the winner!
If you want to add an extra element of challenge, snap on Botley’s detachable robot arms and make this rule: on each turn, players can choose to code their way towards the goal, or knock a previous player’s flag off the course. In this version of the game, the first person to land Botley in the goal wins.
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