How are the Beijing Olympics similar to, and different from, past Olympics Games?

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, is an international multi-sport event that will be held in Beijing beginning on August 8. More than 10,500 athletes are expected to compete in 302 events in 28 sports. This will be followed by the 2008 Summer Paralympics from September 6 to September 18 in which about 4,000 athletes from 145 countries are expected to take part.

The modern Olympic Games are named for athletic contests held in ancient Greece beginning in 776 BCE and made international in 1896 in Athens. The Winter Games were added in 1928. World War I and World War II forced cancellation of the Olympics in 1916, 1940, and 1944, but they resumed in 1948 and are held every four years. The purposes of the Olympic Games are to foster the ideal of a "sound mind in a sound body" and to promote friendship among nations.

Our ProQuest editors have created a new BookCart to help your students get great information on the Olympic Games. This BookCart has more than 30 articles and websites that provide a history of the Olympics as well as information on the current Olympics in Beijing. The BookCart also includes five models of essential questions for critical thinking along with space for you to create additional questions and to type student directions for this activity.

You can copy this BookCart and almost 800 other models from the ProQuest Carts collection. (Learn more.)

• Logon to the eLibrary Teacher Edition.
• Click the BookCart Admin link at the top right of the Teacher Edition.
• Click the ProQuest Carts tab.
• Scroll down list of Folders, then click "SS--World History."
• Scroll to page 3, then click the Copy icon in the Actions column for: "Olympic Games--History and Lore (HS & MS)"
• Return to My Local Carts.

To edit the BookCart for your students to use:

• Click the new BookCart Title with the prefix "Copy of".
• Delete "Copy of" and then type your first and last name in the Author boxes.
• Type any brief and specific directions for your students to use in the Description box.
• Scroll down and click Save.

Pathfinder: Type History of the Olympic Games in the Search box, and insert the word Olympic in the Document Title box under Advanced Search Options. Click Search.

Students should cite at least three articles and one website in a report of about 200 words or a PowerPoint of at least two minutes spanning seven slides. Each report should address at least four of the following examples of essential questions for critical thinking (you can create others):

• What are the two most significant political problems encountered in the past Olympics?
• What are the two most significant problems encountered with athletic performance?
• What reforms would you recommend for the next Olympics and why?
• What two new athletic events would you recommend adding and why?
• What event would you consider removing from competition and why?
• Should non-athletic competitions be added? Why or why not?
• Do the Olympics contribute to world peace? Why or why not?

Don't miss our custom ProQuest models for written and PowerPoint-style reports.




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