American Women in the Olympics

Introduction

Introduction

Content Area/Online Exhibit:American Women in the Olympics

Grade Level: Secondary Grades

At one time there was a belief that "Men are more naturally aggressive and competitive and women are emotional and passive, making men better suited for strenuous exercise and sport." While this opinion has changed, there was a period of time when this bellief was commonly held. It was a belief that kept women from being allowed to compete in the Olympics. As you move forward in this webquest you will review your own feelings about the contributions that women have made to the Olympics.

Task

Task

With this webquest you will take a long hard look at the many contributions women have made to the Olympics. You wil learn about the struggles that many of them had to overcome in order to compete at the highest level in sports. You will teach yourselves about these women and learn about the contributions they have made to the history of sports. This lesson will give you an opportunity to highlight some of those contributions and achievements.

Instructions

Identify and research one female Olympian who competed in the are of track and field who was influential and made a contribution to the U.S. Olympics.
Keep a composition notebook in which to record your findings. You should include you notes, letters and photos.
Consolidate all of you notes into an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper to include in the final timeline presentation.
Use technology to research your individual and create a power point presentation about her for your final project that you will share with the class.

***Note to students: You will be assigned computer lab time to work on this project so please use your time wisely.

Process

Process

1. Choose the woman Olympian that you found the most interesting but that you knew very little about in the track and field category.

2. Use your notebook to capture the persons basic biographical information and begin to fill in this information i.e. birthdate, birthplace, family, education, etc. When you are finished with the Character Bio you will turn it in to me.

3. After the basic information has been gathered, it is time to start browsing the internet. Two class periods will be dedicated to this research, so use the time on the computers to your best advantage. Do not leave anything out as you complete your journal as it will be difficult to recall much of this information as we move forward in the project. I have included some websites at the bottom of this page for you to use however you will also be required to do internet research of your own.

Create a timeline poster of the woman Olympian of your choice
Identify the contributions that these women made to the Olympics
Use technology to acquire new information about the subject matter
Identify one women and create a presentation about her using electronic media

https://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/olympics/olympics1.htm

http://www.teamusa.org/athletes

Your Olympians biography should answer the following questions:

Who are you?
When were you born?
Where were you born?
What was your family life like?
Do you have education of any kind?
What were some of your big accomplishments in life?
What made you different and unique from other women in your time period?
When did you die?

Evaluation

	1-2	3-4	5	Score
Character Biography (Pictures, diary entries, excerpts)	Provided limited information about the woman researched	Provided an adequate amount of information but left out key parts of the biography	Provided every piece of information required about woman researched
Your timeline poster (this is the bulk of the project)	Did not look presentable; pages were ripped; pictures were taped	Looked presentable though did not look as if enough time was spent on the research	Excellent presentation of timeline; really captured the idea of the project
Use of Classtime	Had to be reminded constantly to stay on task	Was often reminded to work quietly and efficiently without disrupting classmates	Stayed on track and used all time on the computers wisely
Powerpoint Presentation	Did not at all look presentable; poor use of images and information	Looked presentable though did not look as if enough time was spent on the research	Excellent presentation captured the essence of the project
COMMENTS AND TOTAL (score will be doubled and out of 40 to be a quiz grade):

Conclusion

You will turn in your completed timeline poster and your powerpoint presentation after we meet in the computer lab. You will have 2 days in the lab and 2 additional days to look over the finished project to make any corrections to it before we meet again. I am hoping that all of you come up with some great research on the women that you have chosen and also that you have used your time in the computer lab wisely and efficiently. The timeline posters will be hung in the schools main hallway. I will review the powerpoint presentations and select a few of them to watch with the class so that we might all learn someting new.

Assessment Rubric

Points	1	2	3	4	Total
Timeline Poster	Nothing of real substance on the poster	Did a fair job ontheir poster	Did a good job on their poster	Great poster on subject
Notebook	Took very few notes	Made some effort at taking notes	Made a good effort at taking notes	Made a great effort to keep noted on the subject
Use of Computer Time	Played around and surfed the web on unassociated topics	Made some effort at researching topic	Made a good effort at researching topic	Made great use of their computer time
Total Points

Credits

Author Biography

My name is Chris Jordan and I am a graduate student at The University of San Francisco. This was a very exciting project to work on for me as it gave me an opportunity to merge technology and lesson plans into a format that can be very beneficial to students. Although I am not yet a teacher, I tried to approach this project as if these were my students who would be viewing this assignment. In my limited experience as a middle school instructional assistant I have noted that some kids work better on computers than they do with pen and pencil. I thought that a project like this would be a great opportunity for kids like that to try a new approach to learning.

Resources

Original Lesson Prepared by: Kïrsten Blake

NWHM Female Olympians Lesson Plan

https://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/resources/lesson-plans-home/ol…

Teacher Page

Standard(s):

NCSS—

I-d Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture and cultural diversity, so that the learner cancompare and analyze societal patterns for preserving and transmitting culture while adapting to environmental or social change.

II-b Time, Continuity and Change: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the ways human beings view themselves in and over time, so that the learner can identify and use key concepts such as chronology, causality, change, conflict, and complexity to explain, analyze, and show connections among patterns of historical change and continuity.

IV-e Individual Development and Identity: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity, so that the learner can examine the interactions of ethnic, national, or cultural influences in specific situations or events.

V-f Individuals, Groups and Institutions: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups, and institutions, so that the learner can identify and analyze examples of tensions between expressions of individuality and group or institutional efforts to promote social conformity

IX-g Global Connections: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of global connections and interdependence, so that the learner can describe and evaluate the role of international and multinational organizations in the global arena.