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Life as an Ancient Greek Olympian
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A WebQuest for 3rd Grades on Ancient Greek Olympics.

Introduction

This lesson was developed to provide students with background knowledge and experiences with the Ancient Greek Olympics. As students construct their knowledge of the history of the Olympics, they will be able to experience the historical perspectives in which individuals of the past competed and got ready for the Olympic events.

This lesson will incorporate group participation and cooperation, as students work together to complete either a video or newspaper article about the Ancient Greek Olympics and research background information on the people of Ancient Greece.

Learners

This WebQuest is designed for 3rd graders and involves social studies and the use of technology. The students will need to have prior knowledge of collecting data and observations in their notebooks so that they will be able to carry out the end product. They will also need to have experience with using Word documents if they choose to create a newspaper for their project. If they are making a video/movie, they will need to have experience using a video camera, or have someone (assistant teacher, parents, volunteers) in the room to assist the students if they need it and also need to have experience using a movie editing program so that they will be able to edit their movie. Programs that are recommended for editing are Movie Maker (for PC users) or iMovie (for Mac users). If no one in the classroom is familiar with these programs, the teacher should seek help before starting this project.

Curriculum Standards

Social Studies Standards Addressed

SS.03.SA.02 Gather information relating to an issue or problem.
SS.05.SA.02 Gather, use, and document information from multiple sources (e.g. print, electronic, human, primary, secondary).
SS.03.HS.01 Understand calendar time sequences and chronological sequences within narratives.

This lesson also encourages students to use their critical thinking, creative problem-solving, teamwork, as well as research and organizational skills. The end project also helps them to develop their technology skills whether it be using a computer to create a newspaper article, or using a video camera and video editing program to create a video.

Process

On this quest of getting to know an Ancient Greek Olympian and seeing the similarities and differences between then and now,

1. First, you will be assigned to pick either a team of 4 students (if you are creating a video) or a team of 2 (if you are creating a newspaper article).
Teachers need to figure out how many students want to make a video and how many students want to make a newspaper article. Teachers should also familiarize themselves with iMovie or Movie Maker in order to help students edit their videos and also be able to help students working on newspaper articles create a template design on Word to use for their newspaper articles.

2. Once you've picked your group members, figure out what roles you will take part of.
Teachers may want to assign students their groups or allow them to pick their own groups.

Here are some suggestions for those of you making a video:
-Camera person (can be alternated between group members)
-Olympic Athletes (can be more than one person)
-News Reporter
-Movie Editor
*Each person must be in the movie at least once, so make sure that this is incorporated into your plan.

Here are some suggestions for those that are writing a newspaper article:
-Writer
-Editor
-Newspaper Layout Designer
*Each member must write a section of the newspaper, so think about what you want to write about and split up the writing parts with your partner. Both members also have to edit the other's section of the newspaper to make sure that both parts flow well together and correct any errors.

These projects may take a couple of days or weeks to create. Provide students ample time to edit and create their products before presenting it to the class.

3. After you are done figuring out what each group member is doing, grab a notebook so that you can record everything you observe in Greece! Then explore the websites listed below and explore the Ancient Greek Olympics as much as you need to. Collect as much data and observation notes as possible. Don't forget to take notes on the 4 essential questions that were mentioned in the Task section. These questions will be a guide in obtaining all of your important data and observations.
Teachers may want to walk around and observe whether students are using their computer time researching or doing things that are unrelated to this project.

4. When you feel that you have collected enough information to create your movie or newspaper article, find your group members and get started!

Variations

If there is not enough computers for the students to research on, teachers may need to schedule a time to take all of the students to the computer lab or create a schedule for students to work on the computers available in the classroom. Also, teachers should have a couple of video cameras available for students to use to create their movies.

Resources Needed

Materials that will be needed for this Webquest:

Computers available for each group
Notebooks to take notes
iMovie or Movie Maker to edit videos
Video cameras available for each group
Microsoft Word or any other program that students can use to create a newspaper article

Here are the websites that students should use to collect notes and data for their projects:

Daily Life of Athenian and Spartan This will help students to understand what life would have been life if they were born during this time. It also allows students to compare the lifestyle of two different people at a time.
Games of Olympia This site allows students to follow the Olympic events over the five days of the festival. It will help them to see what it would be life if they were an Olympic athlete and what they would have to prepare for.
Olympic Games Here students will be able to find out more about the Olympic games such as which event was the nastiest and who was allowed to watch these games.
Olympic Events This websites will guide students through the different types of Olympic events that they had in the Ancient Greek Olympics.
Games Click on: "The Olympics- visit the ancient games!" under the activities section to play a game on the Olympics.
Ancient Greek Olympics & Ancient Greek Olympics 2 These 2 websites will give students additional informations about the Ancient Greek Olympics!

Teacher should have as many adults available to students as possible. If there is a "tech savvy" person in the school, it may be helpful to have them in the classroom to help students use the video cameras and editing programs to create their movies.

Evaluation

Teachers will be observing students throughout the entire process both individually and group participation. Since this is a student-centered project/activity, teachers should be available to help guide and support students, but not intervene or direct much instructions for the students. Students will be evaluated based on group and individual participation throughout the entire process of the project and class discussions. The rubric below will be used to assess student work and participation.

	Beginning 1	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 5	Score
Process	Groups researched and answered one of the essential questions and rarely spent computer time on task.	Groups researched and answered most of the essential questions and spend most of the computer time on task.	Groups researched and successfully answered all of the essential questions and spent all of the computer time on task.
Product	The video or newspaper article does not adequately reflect the Ancient Greek Olympics. The elements of the product do not suggest understanding of the ancient Greek Olympics.	The video or newspaper article reflects some of the elements of the Ancient Greek Olympics. The elements of the product suggest some understanding of the Ancient Greek Olympics.	The video or newspaper article is detailed and reflects the Ancient Greek Olympics. The elements of the products suggest a deep understanding of the Ancient Greek Olympics.
Understanding	Student shows little understanding of the Ancient Greek Olympics during class discussions and is hardly able to address the essential questions.	Student shows some understanding of the Ancient Greek Olympics during class discussions and is able to address most of the essential questions.	Students shows great understanding of the Ancient Greek Olympics during class discussions and is able to address all of the essential questions.
Group Participation	Only one of the group members were featured in and participated in the video or newspaper article.	Most of the group members were featured in and participated in the video or newspaper article.	All of the group members were featured in and participated in the video or newspaper article.

Conclusion

This lesson can be used at the beginning of studying Ancient Greece and also when learning about the Olympics during Olympic season. This webquest allows students to take a historical perspective of the Olympics as well as Ancient Greece and their people.

Credits & References

Photos provided by:
http://www.cybertraveltips.com/europe/greece/index.html
http://www.glogster.com/media/1/4/43/9/4430972.jpg

Resources provided by:
http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/dailylife/story/sto_set.html
http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/festivals/story/sto_set.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/the_olympic_games/
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/sports.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/greek_world/teachers_resources.shtml
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/games/index.htm
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/olympics/

Thanks to Mark Bailey for providing the layout for this webquest.

Last updated on August 15, 1999. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page