From January 12th to the 22nd come check out the FISU World University Games!
The Winter World University Games is the largest winter multi-sport collegiate athletic event in the world. Carbon-free torch and cauldron lighting ceremonies kick off the 11-day international festival, followed by 1,500 athletes from 600 colleges and universities around the world competing in winter sporting events in Lake Placid and across the Adirondacks.
With 12 sports represented across 86 medal events there’s plenty of excitement ahead. Many former participants in the World University Games have even gone on to represent their nations at the Olympic Winter Games! This year’s events include hockey, figure skating, speed skating, ski jumping, snowboarding, Alpine skiing, biathlon, curling, and more. Tickets to individual events start at $10 with a full schedule of events available online.
Medals ceremonies on Main Street in Lake Placid begin at 6pm each evening, followed by free live music. Other festival activities include ice sculptures, stilt walkers, late night music sessions, snowball cornhole tournaments, and so much more!
While the games are about athleticism and competition, there is also a special focus on our environment with the “Save the Winter” campaign. The campaign highlights efforts to reduce the effects of climate change and promotes sustainability initiatives in hopes of keeping the winter season for generations to come.
Be sure to visit the games this month, but before you do keep scrolling for fun games, hands-on activities, and interesting videos from PBS LearningMedia and PBS KIDS for Parents celebrating winter sports and athleticism.
Explore the Science & Fun Behind Winter Sports
Grover’s Winter Games
Grades PreK-K
Get ready for skiing, snowboarding, and ice skating! To play Grover’s Winter Games, little learners practice their number and pattern recognition skills, then watch as the athletes perform their moves.
Science Friction: Physics | Compact Science
Grades 3-8
Curling is a mesmerizing sport filled with strategy, skill, surprise, a lot of yelling, and science—yes science! In this episode of Compact Science we’ll explore the role of friction, inertia, and momentum in curling.
Learn About Snowboards With Chris Fidler and Scott Keller
Grades 3-8
In this classic video from Design Squad Nation, Burton snowboard gurus, Scott Keller and Chris Fidler, explain how they design bindings that really click and boards that excel on any snowy terrain. It’s a process of ups and down, leaps and landings as the Burton boys carve up the slopes.
Speedskating | DragonflyTV
Grades 3-8
Eric, Lisa, Ned, and Sarah are short-track speedskaters who want to melt the competition! They know that every fraction of a second counts, so they can’t slow down at all while racing. That’s why they’re investigating how they should perform their turns: should they enter the turn in a tight, medium, or wide fashion to maintain speed?
Ski Jumping: Understanding Proportional Relationships
Grades 6-8
Investigate the slopes involved in ski jumping. This video focuses on defining slope, showing how to calculate slope on a graph, with an expression, and positive and negative slopes. MIT ARTEMiS takes math out of the classroom and into the real world.