Olympics Data Handling Project
Helen Smith, NGfL Adviser

Introduction
The project took place during the 2000 Olympics fortnight but can be adapted for the 2008 Olympics. Details of past winners were taken from the database of track and field events, published by the Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching at Exeter University. The data was entered into a spreadsheet, then graphed to show trends in performance over the years. Graphs were also used to predict this year's results.

Classes in Years 4, 5 and 6 used an Excel workbook, with sheets for different events. The official Sydney Olympics site (now taken down) enabled background research, as well as providing the latest results.

Project aims and background, with example spreadsheet Children using Excel - practical issues Links with Mathematics: interpreting and using graphs· Teaching in the ICT Suite Summary of outcomes
Download the Excel 5.0/95 workbook Download the Information Workshop file with some of the Olympics data Ideas for using the Information Workshop file (Word 6)
Children at St Mary's Primary school in Folkestone took part in the series of lessons using data collected during the Olympic games. Click on the links below to read about one teacher's experiences using the Olympic Data. Creating the database Entering and checking the data Understanding the Olympic Spreadsheet Asking and answering questions using the data Questions to ask about the Olympic data (Word 97 format)