Sports of the Western Hemisphere Football
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Grade 5 Integrated Social Studies/ ELA: The Western Hemisphere Unit 6: Hands across the Hemisphere Lesson 2: Introduction to the Cultural Garden SPORTS OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE SOCCER Soccer, known as football, in most of the Western Hemisphere outside of the United States and Canada, is the Western Hemisphere’s favorite spectator sport. Soccer is bigger than baseball, American football, and basketball combined. Every four years when their national team is playing in the World Cup everything else stops in the countries of Latin America. Two teams wearing differently colored shirts, using a round ball, play a soccer game. Each team consists of no more than eleven players, one of whom is the goalkeeper. The duration of an official match is 90 minutes played in two halves. The aim of the game is for one team to score more goals than the opposing team. A goal is scored when a player succeeds in moving the ball over the opposing team's goal line, between the goalposts and under the crossbar. While having a ball is important to the sport, Diego Maradona —one of the greatest players ever — grew up in Argentina playing with a clump of rags. The Brazilian national team often practices with tennis balls. Putnam /Northern Westchester BOCES Grade 5 Integrated Social Studies/ELA Curriculum Page 1 Revised November 2014 Grade 5 Integrated Social Studies/ ELA: The Western Hemisphere Unit 6: Hands across the Hemisphere Lesson 2: Introduction to the Cultural Garden SPORTS OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE CURLING Curling is a winter sport in which two teams of four players each, slide granite stones on ice using marksmanship and strategy. Each player slides two stones, alternately with an opponent, from one end of the playing area to a target. The placement of 16 stones by the teams completes an end. One point is counted for each stone of one side that lies nearer the target center, or tee, than any rival stone. A game is 10 or 12 ends. You need some special equipment for curling: shoes, a broom, and curling stones. The round, polished stone weighs 40 to 44 pounds. It is about 12 inches in diameter and 4 to 5 inches high, and has a metal handle on top. Only the rim of the rounded bottom touches the ice, and the stone moves in an arc, or curl, as it slides down the ice. Each player has a broom for sweeping in front of a stone moved by a teammate. Sweeping clears away small particles and smoothes the ice, making it easier for the stone to slide. In Canada, sweepers use corn brooms, some of which have a leather or plastic tongue placed among the straws. When curling, players need to wear specially designed shoes. The sole of one shoe has a thin strip of Teflon or another type of smooth surface, called a slider. Inexpensive sliders can be purchased and attached to any shoes by means of an elastic strap. This enables curlers to slide when delivering a stone. Left-handed curlers wear this shoe on their right foot, while right- handed curlers wear it on their left. The other shoe has a thin layer of rubber to maximize traction on the ice. Another piece of footwear is the gripper, which can slide on and off the shoe with the slippery surface. This is also usually made of rubber. This piece of equipment is needed when a player is sweeping, and needs traction with both feet. The curling arena itself is a sheet of ice 146 feet (45.5 m) in length by 14 feet 2 inches (4.318 m) to 15 feet 7 inches (4.75 m) in width, carefully prepared to be absolutely level so as to allow the rocks to glide with as little friction as possible. A key part of the preparation is the spraying of fine water droplets onto the ice, called pebble. Due to the friction between the stone and pebble, the stone turns to the inside or outside, causing the stone's path to 'curl'. The curl changes during a game as the pebble wears out. To see a “How to Curl” flash demonstration. click on The Sport of Curling. Canadian Curling Association. http://www.curling.ca/learn_to_curl/how_to_curl/flash.asp 11 June 2006. Putnam /Northern Westchester BOCES Grade 5 Integrated Social Studies/ELA Curriculum Page 2 Revised November 2014 Grade 5 Integrated Social Studies/ ELA: The Western Hemisphere Unit 6: Hands across the Hemisphere Lesson 2: Introduction to the Cultural Garden SPORTS OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE FOOTBALL Football is one of the most popular team sport played in the United States. During the fall and winter months, professional and amateur players play the game using skill, speed, strength, and teamwork. American football was first played in the late 1800's. It developed from the sports of soccer and rugby. It has its own set of rules. In many nations, the word football refers to soccer. In other countries, it refers to certain related sports: Canadian football is very much like American football; Australian football is similar to rugby; and Gaelic (Irish) football is similar to soccer. American football is played on a large field between two teams of eleven players each. The object of the game is to score more points than the opponent by advancing a ball past the opposing team's goal. Players can move the football either by running with it or by passing it. During a game, possession of the football switches back and forth between the two opposing teams. If a team can move the ball across the goal line or can kick the ball over the goalpost, it can score points. To see an interview with Steve McNair and football being played click Video Features Back in the Day: Steve McNair. NFL Network. www.nlf.com Putnam /Northern Westchester BOCES Grade 5 Integrated Social Studies/ELA Curriculum Page 3 Revised November 2014 Grade 5 Integrated Social Studies/ ELA: The Western Hemisphere Unit 6: Hands across the Hemisphere Lesson 2: Introduction to the Cultural Garden SPORTS OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE SNOWSHOEING Snowshoes have been used for at least the past 6000 years in most all snow regions of the world. They were most widely used by the North American natives. Each tribe often developed a snowshoe design that best fitted the topography and snow conditions in their area. Snowshoes were made in many shapes and sizes. Today snowshoeing is the fastest growing outdoor winter activity. Snowshoe racing is accessible to anyone who can hike and its popularity is on the rise. Snowshoe running is the "Ultimate Winter Cross-Train." If you wear regular waterproof ski gloves, your hands soon will feel like small ovens. All you really need is a pair of thin liners topped by waterproof shells. When you fall, these liners will keep your hands from getting wet and frostbitten. Most snowshoe racers wear regular running shoes. While there are some waterproof trail shoes on the market, they tend to hold in the sweat, resulting in icy feet the moment you take a break. To avoid feeling waterlogged, try a slightly larger shoe, a thick ski sock and a waterproof liner. That way, even though your shoes get wet, your feet will remain relatively dry Snowshoeing is walking on the snow. You place one snowshoe to the front and to the side of the other (not on top of the other!) and you're snowshoeing! There is no sliding with snowshoes, so it's much easier to learn than cross-country skiing. A ski pole (an adjustable one is preferable) can be helpful for balance on your first steps, and later on for climbing. A slight rolling motion develops as you step in the fresh snow with first one snowshoe, and then the other. Snowshoeing. The Mountineers. http://www.mountaineers.org/snowshoe/ Click on photographs to see this sport. Putnam /Northern Westchester BOCES Grade 5 Integrated Social Studies/ELA Curriculum Page 4 Revised November 2014 .