Materials:
Specific equipment for each Olympic event is listed below.
- Potatoes
- Pens to draw on potatoes
Instructions:
- Each student is to choose a potato each, then name it and draw a face on it.
- Estimate and then measure the potatoes (height, weight, and girth).
- Choose from some of the following Olympic events.
Olympic events:
Distance
Materials:
- Small stool
- 600 mm x 900 mm pieces of mdf board
- 3 m tape measure
Instructions:
Let the potato down a ramp and measure the distance it rolls. In this event, you are measuring length.
Weightlifting
Materials:
- Stackable weights
Instructions:
How many weights will stack on your potato? In this event you are measuring mass.
Diving
Materials:
- Metre ruler
- Ice-cream container
- Tub
- Water
- Capacity measures
Instructions:
Put a small bucket or ice-cream container full to the brim of water inside an empty tub. Drop your potato from a height of 1 metre into the water. Measure the amount of water that splashes into the tub. Any out of the tub doesn’t count. In this event, you are measuring capacity.
Velodrome
Materials:
- Larger circular tub, marked in quarters
Instructions:
Flick your potato around the inside edge of a large circular tub. Count how many laps it can do. In this event, you are counting fractions.
Gymnastics
Materials:
- Books
- Chopsticks
Instructions:
Line up six chopsticks closely together so that they create a bridge across two books. Balance your potato on the chopsticks. Slowly take one chopstick away, one at a time and see how long before your potato falls.
Spinning
Materials:
- Stopwatches
Instructions:
Place your potato on a flat surface and spin it. Time how long your potato can spin for (spins per second).
