The Olympic Games have been taking place for several centuries.  In ancient Greece, the games were held every four years between August 6 and September 19.  Records reach back as far as 776 B.C., however, it is generally thought that the games began years before this date.

    The Olympic Games were held in honor of the Greek God, Zeus.  Running events were originally the only events that took place during the games.  Later on other events, such as wrestling, were added.  However, in 394 A.D., a Roman Emperor Theodosius I abolished the games as a way of stopping the reformed pagan practices.

    There are many other interesting facts that go along with the history of the Olympic Games.  One of these factors is the attendance of the games over time.  Just like any sporting event, the number of people that attend the games go up and down throughout the years.  As a part of your task, you are going to research the attendance of the Olympic Games.  Here are a few things you will need to do research on:

1.  What are some different areas of the Olympics that the attendance of the games can affect?  Make a list of the different areas and tell why you believe these areas are affected.  (Hint: This can be the number of countries attending, the number of athletes attending, or the number of overall people attending.)

2.  How were the original Olympic Games divided?  How many areas were involved in the games?

3.  Were women allowed to participate in the original Olympic Games?  Why or why not?

4.  How many time have the Olympic Games been cancelled?  When were the games cancelled and why?

5.  What has been the attendance of the athletes or countries of the past five Summer Olympic Games?  (Note:  Be sure to mark the locations, years, and attendance number.  You will need this later on in the activity.)


    Along with the games attendance rate you fill need to figure the percentage increase or decrease for the summer games attendance for the past five games you were to find in your research.  How do you figure the percentage increase or decrease for the attendance?  Well, here are some things to think about first:

1.  How do you figure a percent?

2.  Can you figure a percent change based on the information you know on the Olympic attendance?

3.  Would your math textbook be a good resource to use to help with any questions?


      Based on the information you found in question #5 above, figure the percentage increase or decrease for each year of the Summer Olympic Games for the past five years.  You will be presenting this information to other people in your group, so you may want to find the percentage increase or decrease and then put that information in a graph or chart.  This will make it easier to share the information with others as well as give you a visual aid to use in your final presentation.


    Here are some Internet resources that you may want to look at to help you find the information you will need.  If you are unable to find the information you are looking for on these sites, try doing a general search using Google, Yahoo, or any other search engine that you are comfortable using.

http://www.factmonster.com/spot/olympicstimeline.html

http://www.factmonster.com/spot/ol-funfacts.html

http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/sports/A0860127.html

http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/olympics/olympicintro.shtml

http://agones.fhw.gr/

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/