Students will recognize how people use ideas from the past to enrich the present by comparing
the Ancient Olympic Games and the Modern Olympic Games.
Video - Olympism (Check school or district libraries for this resource.)
Internet Resources may include:
Ancient Olympic Games
Modern Olympic Winter Games
Venn Diagram
NBCOLYMPICS.com
Olympic Museum Gallery
Read a short story about the original Greek Olympic Games. List some of the events on the board (i.e.,
chariot racing, running, shot- put).
Discuss which events are still held during the Olympic Summer games.
Discuss the concept of adaption. In what ways have the ancient games been adapted to the modern
Olympic games we watch today?
Watch a short video clip of the Modern Olympic Winter Games. List the events on the board.
Brainstorm how the winter and summer games are the same, i.e. speed, strength, endurance.
Use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the Ancient summer Olympic games and the modern winter
Olympic games.
Share ideas from the Venn diagrams first in cooperative groups and then with the entire class. Discuss how
people adapted the events from the Ancient Olympic games to the Modern Olympic Summer Games and then to the
Modern Olympic Winter Games.
Brainstorm how Olympic events may change over the next twenty years. Predict how a sport might change and
adapt in the future. Draw a picture of the new sport, the clothing and equipment that might be designed to
go with the sport. Identify the present day sport that inspired the adaption.
