Some say it takes a village to raise a child—but at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, building the village for the athletes takes…well, a village.
Already billed as the largest in Olympic history, the athletes’ home-away-from-home in Brazil will rival a five-star hotel. Boasting 31 new buildings, each up to 17 floors high, the village will host 10,000 athletes, plus their delegation of coaches, doctors and psychologists, bringing the total number of residents to about 18,000.
So, what does it take to give these athletes the comforts of home? In addition to a large recreation area brimming with video games, musical instruments and more, the village will host a state-of-the-art gym and a beauty salon. Not to mention approximately:
- 80,000 chairs
- 70,000 tables
- 29,000 mattresses
- 60,000 clothes hangers
- 6,000 TV sets
- 10,000 smartphones
Impressive, right?
But what happens after the Olympics are over? According to the developers, the village will be turned into a private condominium complex, with more than 3,600 apartments.
Using these mind-boggling statistics, consider working through these mathematical problems with your class:
- Assuming that each athlete is allocated an equal amount of hangers, how many “hanging” clothes items should each athlete pack?
- If there are 31 buildings, each having 17 floors, and a total of 3,604 apartments, approximately how many apartments are on each floor in each building,?
- If there are 80,000 chairs and 70,000 tables, what is the ratio of chairs to tables? Why do you think there are so many tables?
- There are 207 nations competing in the Olympics, including the Refugee Olympic athletes. If there are approximately 10,000 athletes competing, about how many athletes is that per country?
Design it!
As an athlete, you get to design your living space in the village. A two-bedroom apartment will have a table with two chairs, television, two desks with two chairs, two beds, and two dressers for clothes.
Using the grid templates, design your living space to maximize space. Add other items that you may have brought with you from home.
Teachers: You can design your living space using grid paper or an online grid chart. Have students design their own shapes.
What other number questions can you come up with? How else could you use statistical information about the Olympics for cross-curricular activities? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Have a great weekend!
~ The Teachers Media Team
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