2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing Webquest

This web activity will help you learn about the sports competitions at the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing. In addition, you'll learn about the participating countries and find some information about traveling in Beijing.

This web activity has three parts.

I. Below is a list of Olympic sports. Pick one sport you know very little about and one sport you know something about. For each sport, describe:

1. The origin of the sport.
2. The Olympic history of the sport.
3. Equipment used.
4. Anything else you think is interesting.

Archery
Athletics (this is another name for "track and field")
Badminton
Baseball
Basketball
Beach Volleyball
Boxing
Canoe/Kayak Flatwater
Canoe/Kayak Slalom
Cycling BMX
Cycling Mountain Bike
Cycling Road
Cycling Track

Diving
Equestrian
Fencing
Football
Gymnastics Artistic
Gymnastics Rhythmic
Trampoline
Handball
Hockey
Judo
Modern Pentathlon
Rowing
Sailing

Shooting
Softball
Swimming
Synchronized Swimming
Table Tennis
Taekwondo
Tennis
Triathlon
Volleyball
Water Polo
Weightlifting
Wrestling

II. Go to the Athletes and Teams section of the official Olympic website. On the right side of the page, you will see a box that says "Search NOC." This box allows you to search for atheltes and teams by country. Pick two countries--one country that you know something about and one country that you know almost nothing about. For each country, note anything of general interest.

III. Go to the Beijing section of the Lonely Planet website and read about Beijing. Your teacher will assign you one of the following categories to research.

1. When to go
2. Activities
3. Events (pick two or three months and describe the events)
4. Sights (search by keyword and pick two or three types of sights to describe)
5. Shopping (search by keyword and pick two or three kinds of items to focus your search)
6. Entertainment (pick two or three places to describe)
7. History (focus on modern history, but be sure to read some about ancient history, too)