The year was 1924. From January 25th through February 5th, 10,004 paying spectators gathered in Chamonix, France to witness the first Winter Olympic Games. Two hundred and fifty eight athletes participated in 16 events, ranging from ice hockey to bobsleigh. Norway walked away as the victors, with 17 overall medals. The host country, France, placed ninth (just ahead of Belgium) with three bronze medals.
Fast forward to 2018, where the 23rd Winter Olympic Games are set to take place in PyeongChang, South Korea from February 9th through the 25th. Athletes from 90 nations, including the United States, will compete in 102 snow-filled events!
To celebrate the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, Annenberg Learner has resources available to get you and your students in an Olympic state of mind. Who knows – a future Olympian could be sitting right in your classroom! Ignite the (Olympic) flame in your students with these resources.
For those who use winter break to hit the slopes, Economics U$A’s Graphing Lab follows four friends who want to plan a ski trip, but haven’t assessed the risks or the cost. The lab uses a demand and market supply curve to figure out if the friends can afford the trip.

Consider Pascal’s Triangle for the hockey enthusiasts who love a little math with their pucks. In Mathematics Illuminated, learn about a curious occurrence, a “hockey-stick” number pattern, which lives in Pascal’s Triangle.
In order for there to be a Winter Olympics, one crucial thing must be present: snow! In session six of Physical Science, take a closer look at why snowflakes have six sides and walk through the process of how snow forms on the molecular level.
Under the Chinese and German languages programs in Teaching Foreign Languages K-12: A Library of Classroom Practices, students talk sports, with a focus on vocabulary around the Olympics. Denise Tanner, who teaches German I in high school, leads her students in warm-up activities, followed by activities that have students make cultural comparisons between Germany and the U.S. Jie Gao, a middle school teacher of Mandarin Chinese, has her students learn the names and characters of eight sports.
The Olympics began as an ancient Greek tradition; it has since evolved into an international display of sportsmanship, honor and pride. In unit 25 of Bridging World History, see how the Olympics often reflect the social and political struggles of the time.