With the second quarter underway, AP Human Geography students are continuing their year-long assignment, the Olympic Bid Project.
“The project helps explain why certain things are the way they are in different countries,” AP Human Geography teacher Kassidy Scott said. “Different experiences among countries show why some might be happier or less happy, why some have higher population densities, and other variations.”
In this project, students are to argue why their assigned country should host a future Olympic Games, and it’s something students such as freshman Elizabeth Mullican are ready to work on.
“I’m actually really excited for the project, and I think it’s going to be a unique experience for all of us, getting to research and provide an argument as to why the country we were given should host the Olympics,” Mullican said. “It’s also a great way for us to take the knowledge we learn in [AP Human Geography] and place it into real-world scenarios.”
Students will complete a variety of activities and projects relating to their Olympic bid for their country, like making presentations and having mock conferences. However, around the midpoint of the year, the teachers will assign new countries to these students.
“I think it allows for students to have a shift of perspective in another country’s eyes, and lets them broaden their horizons,” sophomore Ishika Kongara said. “ It helps because they have been doing this singular country for so long.”
The project has become a crucial part of the class’s curriculum, designed to help students apply the information to real-world situations.
“The Olympic Bid project helps students to apply the abstract concepts they learn in class to a real-world problem,” AP Human Geography teacher Sarah Wiseman said. “These are the kinds of decisions that people use geographic skills for every day!”
