Going Global – The New Seven Wonders of the

World

Kathy WagnerWichita Collegiate School

9115 E. 13th St., Wichita Ks 67206

E-mail: kathywagner@wcsks.comSchool web page address: www.wcsks.com/wagner.htm

Sandy NoelHatch Elementary School

1000 N. Ridgeland, Oak Park, Il 60302

E-mail: snoel@op97.org

A Visit to the “New Seven Wonders of

the World” in Physical Education

Chichen Itza, Mexico Christ Redeemer, Brazil Machu Picchu, Peru Taj Mahal, India Petra, Jordan

Great Wall of China, China The Colosseum, Italy

Also on the tour: The 14 Finalists

Chichén ItzaYucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Before 800 A.D.

The most recognizable building at Chichen Itza is the Pyramid of Kukulhan. This pyramid has 4 sides with 91 steps on each side, totaling 364 steps. The final step to the temple at the top makes it 365 steps. This appears to be linked to the Mayan’s interest in astronomy and the calendar year. In P.E. we combined our visit to Mexico with our annual Mom’s Day celebration. Students held a Cinco de Mayo party and danced with their mothers. They did the Mexican Hat Dance and the Macarena. Students also learned about “cascarones,” the confetti filled eggs that people crack on each other’s heads on special occasions. Children and their mothers cracked eggs over each other and laughed about the confetti on

their heads.

Machu Picchu Peru

1460-1470

Machu Picchu is a city high in the Andes Mountains of Peru. Machu Picchu was originally inhabited by the Incas, who are thought to have lived there for about 100 years. Because of its location, high in the Andes mountains, this ancient city went undiscovered for almost 300 years, when in 1913 an archeology professor from Yale University was led to Machu Picchu by a native boy. Many of the caves and buildings in the city were discovered to have been mausoleums for what is thought to be people of importance in the Incan community. For our activity, we played soccer, a favorite sport among the people of Peru. We had to play inside due to rain but it was still fun!

Christ Redeemer StatueRio de Janeiro, Brazil

1931

Students learned that the Amazon River and rain forest run through Brazil. They participated in a rain forest obstacle course. They caught tree frogs in scoops, jumped like jaguars, walked across a balance beam to avoid snakes, crawled through caves, swung out over caiman crocodiles, climbed like monkeys, walked across stepping stones to avoid quicksand, flew like butterflies, and navigated their way around the piranha in the Amazon River.

The Roman ColosseumRome, Italy 70-82 A.D.

The Roman Colosseum is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World winners. Students enjoyed being gladiators. They used a foam noodle to knock a ball off of a cone held by their opponent.

PetraJordan

(9 B.C. - 40 A.D.)

Students learned that Petra is built into a mountain with beautiful rock carvings. It was a very wealthy place at one time. The early inhabitants of Petra controlled much of the water supply through the area and people paid for the use of water. Students participated in a water relay and passed water from one cup to another until a jar was overflowing.

Taj MahalAgra, India

1630 A.D.

The history of the Taj Mahal is very interesting and students enjoyed learning how the palace was built for a queen who died before it was completed. What was once meant to be a beautiful palace was converted to a mausoleum in her honor. Students worked on fine motor skills and used a spoon to place “semi-precious” stones onto the white marble floor of our Taj Mahal. We did this as a scooter relay with each person in line using a section of the Taj Mahal floor. Later students counted their many stones.

The Great Wall of China220 BC and 1368-1644 AD

Students did balance activities on a floor beam to signify the Great Wall of China. The finale was a Chinese New Year parade, complete with dragons, lanterns, noise makers and sparklers. To follow Chinese tradition, students received a red envelope for good luck. It was filled with gold chocolate coins and a fortune cookie.

The Statue of LibertyNew York City, United States

1886

This famous landmark, in the harbor of New York City, is one of the most recognizable statues in the world. Students participated in a Statue of Liberty relay, complete with torch and tablet. We used an inverted cone with a red foam ball for the torch and a book for the tablet. It was fun to watch students try to move quickly and still balance the ball in the cone.

StonehengeAmesbury, United Kingdom

3000 – 1600 B.C.

Students learned that the construction of Stonehenge is a mystery. It is unknown how the massive stones were placed high upon one another. Students worked together to build their own Stonehenge from wooden blocks. There were some amazing architectural creations!

The Eiffel TowerParis, France

1887-1889

This structure has become synonymous with Paris and the entire country of France. Students did step aerobics to ascend the 704 steps to the second level observation deck of the Eiffel Tower. Music was played and students voted on whether or not the distance could be achieved before the end of the song. The teacher wore a step counter throughout the song and students gave their opinions as to whether the 704 steps had been reached. If the distance was not reached, students continued stepping. They learned that 704 steps takes some time to accumulate.

Neuschwanstein CastleSchwangau, Germany

1869-1884

It was fun doing a children’s dance called the Kinder Polka, as students learned aboutthe Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. Their favorite part of the dance is when they got to shake their index finger at their partner and say, “Now you be good!” Did you know that this famous castle was the model for the castle at Disneyland?

AlhambraGranada, Spain

12th Century

Our travels took us to Spain where we learned about one of the finalists, Alhambra, which means “The Red Fortress.” We played a Spanish game called “Las Cuatro Esquinas” (Four Corners). Students tried to run to hula hoops in the four corners before a person in the middle could run to beat them to the hoop. We also played a rope jumping game called “El Relojito” (The Little Clock).

The Acropolis of AthensAthens, Greece450-330 B.C.

Students enjoyed learning the history of the Acropolis and imagining what it must have been like to feel protected within this citadel. We played a tag game from Greece called “Oyster Shell.” Two teams faced each other, with one team being the white team and other the black team. The teacher stood in the middle and threw the “oyster shell” into the air. One team chased another, depending upon which color of the oyster shell landed facing up - the white or the black. We used a folded paper plate for our oyster shell. One side was painted black and the other side remained white.

The Kremlin and Red SquareMoscow, Russia

1156-1850

The Kremlin is actually a city within a city and is the current site of many political offices, churches, and museums, as well as a few residences. Students learned a popular Russian dance called the Troika. It moves very quickly and has lots of running, twists, and turns. Students were tired when this dance was over. Many teachers came to physical education to take part in this dance because it is so fun!

The Hagia SophiaIstanbul, Turkey

532-537

Hagia Sophia was originally a beautiful Christian church that was later transformed to a mosque. It is now a museum. Students played a Turkish game called “Run Rabbit Run.” One person was a rabbit in the middle of the circle and another person was a dog on the outside of the circle. People forming the circle kept the rabbit safe by moving around and lowering and raising their arms to let the rabbit move in and out of the circle in an effort to stay away from the dog. It was a fun game!

AngkorCambodia

12th Century

Angkor is a beautiful palace surrounded by forest on three sides and a moat. The architecture is truly amazing. Students enjoyed studying this culture. They learned various hand positions (bud, flower, leaf and fruit) for a Cambodian dance and also participated in a children’s game called “ptat kao sou.” In this game, opponents attempt to push rubber bands into a square marked on the floor or dirt. Any rubber band landing on a line or outside the square is not counted. Students had fun working on this fine motor skill and counting their number of rubber bands that landed in the square.

Kiyomizu TempleKyoto, Japan

749-1855

Students learned that emperors and shoguns once lived at Kiyomizu. Three streams of water from a waterfall run off one of the temple buildings. They signify wisdom, good health, and long life. Drinking from two of the streams is considered lucky, but the people of Japan believe that drinking from all three is greedy, and bad luck will come to that person. Students also learned about the Jishu Shrine dedicated to Okuninushi, a god of love. At the shrine, there are two stones that one can walk through with eyes closed. If this is accomplished, even with a helper, then the person will find true love. Students did this activity in PE and also had a chopstick relay using real chopsticks and cotton balls for rice.

Sydney Opera HouseSydney, Australia

1954-1973

The Sydney Opera House is the youngest of all the candidates, having opened in 1973. The structure sits next to the water and the roof of the building looks like the sails of a boat. The architecture is beautiful. We learned other things about Australia, as well, including boomerangs, koala bears, and kangaroos. We had kangaroo races while sitting on the hippity hops. Students sang “Waltzing Matilda” as they bounded across the gym floor.

The Pyramids of GizaEgypt

2600-2500 B.C.

This site was not really eligible for the 2007 vote because it is the only remaining ancient wonder of the world. Because of this, it was given the title of “honorary” new seven wonder of the world. The pyramids are truly remarkable. Students learned that special people like pharaohs were entombed there. How the pyramids were constructed is certainly a mystery. There are theories that the huge stones were moved through a process of rolling them on cylinder shaped stones. We did a fun, cooperative activity that let students build their own pyramid by moving stones via the rolling method. They used a swim kick board to sit on, swim noodles for the transport cylinders, and carried cardboard bricks to construct a 3-2-1 pyramid.

TimbuktuMali

12th Century

During the 12th century, Timbuktu was a very wealthy place because it was at the crossroads of a trade route to Spain. Due to its great wealth, Timbuktu became one of the first locations to establish a university for higher education. We had a balance relay using gold coins. Students accumulated gold coins on top of a book and tried to balance them as they walked. Later, the game was modified to balance the coins on the back of the hand.

Statues of Easter IslandEaster Island, Chile10th – 16th Century

The carved stone statues of Easter Island are called “Moai.” Many of them once stood upon huge stone platforms called “ahu.” These massive statues are found around the perimeter of the island, while others are scattered about in various locations. The average statue is over 14 feet tall and weighs 14 tons. In PE, we played a game called “Statues.” Students were paired up and one partner selected a sports card. Without talking, he had to position his partner’s body in the same way as the figure on the card. The statue then got to guess what sport he was imitating. There were lots of different statues like running, and swimming.