AUSTRALIAN TEAMS OVER TIME

Transcription

1 LEVEL Upper primary AUSTRALIAN TEAMS OVER TIME DESCRIPTION In these activities, students learn about the number of athletes who have represented Australia in the Olympics, with a focus on the previous London games in 1908 and They analyse data from a table, compare the number of athletes over the years, discuss the use of charts and graphs as a way to represent data and transfer data from a table to a graph. These cross-curriculum activities contribute to the achievement of the following: Studies of society and environment Identifies the types of data and sources required by the task and decides how they will be used to gain information Translates information from text to graphical form English Interprets and discusses some relationships between ideas, information and events in visual texts for general viewing. Mathematics Interprets tables of data in a table, asking and answering questions about the information. SUGGESTED TIME approximately minutes for each activity (this may be customised accordingly) WHAT YOU NEED class copies of Student handout examples of charts and graphs from newspapers etc Internet access to Australian Olympic Team website w ww.olympics.com.au (locate photos of Australian Olympians) Internet access to John Treloar s interview at

2 ACTIVITIES The following activities may be completed independently or combined as part of a more comprehensive learning sequence, lesson or educational program. Please refer to your own state or territory syllabus for more explicit guidelines. Australian Olympic Team 1. Ask the class to guess how many people go to your school. Expand the discussion to estimate the number of student who are part of sub-groups within the school, such as the number of students who play handball or the number of students who represent the school in competition with other schools. 2. Discuss previous Olympic games and ask students to guess how many athletes were sent to represent Australia. Explain that the size of the Australian Olympic Team has increased over the years. Mention the two previous London games in 1908 and 1948 when 27 and 77 Olympians represented Australia (respectively). 3. Watch John Treloar s interview Explain that John Treloar was a member of the Australian Olympic Team in London in Discuss the sports and events in which he competed as well as his life achievements. 4. Explain that in Sydney 2000, the size of the Australian Olympic Team was over 600 athletes. Brainstorm guesses related to the size of the Australian Olympic Team in London 2012 as outlined in the following sample: Twenty five Three hundred seven size of the Australian Olympic Team London 2012 Thirty five

3 Distribute student handout. Discuss the data in the graph with students and ask them to complete the questions. Graphing data 1. Review the size of the Australian Olympic Team from the previous activity (if needed), pointing out the numbers in the table. Ask the class to think about numbers, data and information they might have seen in their everyday life. Introduce the basic idea of using a chart or a graph to represent numbers and data. Expand the discussion by using an example from a newspaper or television news report featuring populations or other large numbers. Brainstorm the features of a chart or graph as outlined in the following sample: little pictures squares grid horizontal axis title Graph features labels numbers at the side years scale numbers Distribute student handout. Discuss each of the features of the graph, explaining the importance of each. Work with the class to finish labelling the graph by adding numbers to the horizontal axis (year) and vertical axis (number of athletes) of the graph. Analyse the data in the table. Work with the class to translate the data to the graph, using a small cross for each point. Join the points together with a line and discuss. Use art materials to add colour to the graph.

4 REFLECT ON a.s.p.i.r.e. VALUES Discuss how the a.s.p.i.r.e. values relate to other contexts and situations, such as various Olympic sporting situations. How and why do you think the Australian Olympic Team might have come up with this particular list of values? What are some emotions felt by the Australian Olympic Team when they see the final list of the London 2012 team? EXPLORE A LITTLE FURTHER Draw some pictures of the Australian Olympic Team over the years and display on the classroom wall. Write a short play where the characters travel back through time as members of the Australian Olympic Team in Athens Explore the values that might be the same and those that might be different. Collect photos and illustrations of people involved in Olympic games over the years. Research the methods used to collect data in Australia and in other parts of the world. Explore more about previous Olympic games at

5 STUDENT HANDOUT Australian Olympic Team - table Games Australian Team Size Athens Paris St Louis London Stockholm Antwerp Paris Amsterdam Los Angeles Berlin London Helsinki Melbourne Rome Tokyo Mexico City Munich Montreal Moscow Los Angeles Seoul Barcelona Atlanta Sydney Athens Beijing 2008 London 2012 Questions 1. What was the size of the Australian team at London 1948? 2. What was the size of the Australian team at Beijing 2008? 3. What was the size of the Australian team at Sydney 2000? 4. In which year was the Australian team the largest? 5. In which year was the Australian team the smallest?

6 STUDENT HANDOUT Australian Olympic Team - graph London 2012 Athens Year Number in team