Sochi, host of the 2014 Winter Olympics

From February 6 to 23, 2014, the Russian city of Sochi vibrates to the rhythm of the Winter Olympics. These vibrations are being felt even in the participating countries, while support for amateur athletes is at its highest level!
“The city was chosen to be the host city of 2014 Winter Olympics. Sochi overtook the cities of Salzburg (eliminated in the first round) and Pyeongchang in South Korea. These games are the first winter games to take place in a Mediterranean climate with snow-capped mountains within sight. The city's official flag symbolizes this situation with a palm tree, a sun, snow-capped mountains, the sea and a cloud releasing rain. "
Source: Wikipedia
The following activities are a collection of various ideas for working on academic notions while making connections with the current Olympic Games.

Goals

At the end of the activities, the student will be able to:
- Know the geographical and human characteristics of the city of Sochi;
- Say in which time zone Sochi is located and compare it with where it is itself;
- Know some sports where Russia has high hopes of medals;
- Know some sports where his own country has high hopes of medals;
- Use social media, especially Twitter, to encourage an athlete.

Suggested Activities

ACTIVITY 1: An overview of the Sochi Games

Sochi is a city located in Russia. Everyone knows that! However, here are some challenges for your students so that they have a broader picture of the context in which the Olympic Winter Games are being experienced this year.
In teams of 4, students will be assigned a challenge that they will complete. Afterwards, each team will be invited to present their findings to the rest of the group.
Please note, each team must use at least one technological means of their choice to support their final presentation! (Don't hesitate to leave them free to experiment, especially if you're less comfortable on your own. You'll be surprised at the results!)
Challenge 1: Where is Sochi?
The pupils have the task of showing as clearly as possible where the city is located, using maps of different scales or illustrations, and using the appropriate geographical vocabulary (continent, country, region, etc.).
Challenge 2: A portrait of Sochi
These students have the task of comparing the data available about Sochi while comparing them with that of the city where the school is located. The comparison should include the following elements: date of foundation, population, population density, area, climate (average temperatures). In the course of their research, students are encouraged to write down other amazing facts that they might discover.
Challenge 3: The landscape of Sochi
This mission consists of looking for and identifying photos of the city showing the geographical particularities. What type of relief do we find there? What are the rivers bordering the city? Mountains? Etc.
Challenge 4: The attractions of Sochi
Apart from the Olympics, is the city of Sochi very busy? What are its main attractions? What is she famous for? What is the main industry in this city?
Challenge 5: Time zones
Sochi is located in a different time zone from ours. What is he? And what is ours? What does this imply? What are the hours differences compared to the “0” time zone? What is the Greenwich Meridian? What time is it in Sochi when we listen to the Olympic Day retrospective around 7pm?
Challenge 6: Russian sports hopes
This mission is to learn about the sports in which Russia has the most hopes for medals and to present them, while explaining where these hopes come from.
Challenge 7: National sporting hopes
The team assigned to this challenge will be invited to present a Canadian Olympic medalist (or French, if you are in France) whose performance has impressed them. The presentation must include the name of the athlete, his origin, a presentation of his sport (or specific event) and the main rules, the date of his performance and his result. The team will also have to explain what they find impressive about this accomplishment.
 

ACTIVITY 2: Such a small planet!

One of the most interesting educational uses of social media is the closeness it provides to people who otherwise seem out of reach.
Many classes use Twitter, for example, to carry out educational projects. Here is an example: via the # tagchoice book, students are invited to comment in a short sentence on a recent reading, while indicating the name of the author and the publishing house. When posting the "tweet", it is not uncommon for the authors to reply to them, which gives a great feeling of relevance of the educational activity for the pupils.
Why not try the same with the athletic achievements of the athletes in Sochi? As a class, identify an athlete you admire and prepare encouraging or congratulatory “tweets”. Do not forget to indicate the name of the athlete's account following the message so that he or she can find it more easily. For example, freestyle skier Alexandre Bilodeau, gold medalist in moguls, can be found under the account " @ABilodeau_ski ".
 

For further

The Government of Canada has issued several recommendations and warnings for travelers to Sochi. What are these warnings? What do you think? Discuss this in class with the students.
Traveling to Sochi
http://voyage.gc.ca/voyager/sante-securite/sotchi
 

More about the magazine

Sochi Games official website
Olympic coverage by Radio-Canada.ca
Olympic blanket by Canoe
Olympic coverage by La Presse
Olympic coverage by RDS