Tour de France 2024 Begins June 29th

                                                              

2024 Tour de France.

In 2024, the Tour de France will begin on June 29th-July 21st. This year's Tour de France begins in Florence, Italy and include three stages in Italy before traveling into France. The end of the race takes place in the city of Nice, France. This is be the first time the race does not conclude in Paris, along the Champs Elysees, one of the most famous streets in Paris. This is due to the 2024 Summer Paris Olympics. It’s considered the world's biggest and most exciting bicycling race. Athletes competing in the race will travel approximately 3328 km ( 2057.9 miles) during the 23 day race. Each day(calledstages),aleader willbeawardedayellowjersey(orMaillotJaune in French). In addition to the yellow jersey, there is a polka dot jersey awarded to the best climber(king of the mountains), a white jersey( the best youngest rider) and a green jersey(best sprinter).The Tour de France began in 1903.This year, there are 22 teams of eight riders competing in the Tour de France.

See a map with the 2024 route: https://www.letour.fr/en/overall-route

*Download the free resource here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/TOUR-DE-FRANCE-2023-Interactive-Notebook-Activity-3894291?st=937a613aee7ad4834dc387479518d989

Fun Facts:

Only men compete in the Tour de France.

Approximately, 123,900 calories are burned by each rider in the Tour de France.

42000 water bottles will be used by the racers!

Someone figured out that enough sweat is created from racers competing in the 22 day race, to flush a toilet 39 times!

Riders from France have won the most races!(36 as of 2015)

The Tour de France is also known as "La Grande Boucle". 

Vocabulary word: Peloton, the term for the "pack" of riders.

History of Bicycles...Did You Know? 

As of 2017, Copenhagen, Denmark, is the bike friendly capital of the world. Amsterdam, Netherlands, came in second, with Utrecht, Netherlands, third. Some sources say Utrecht is more bike friendly than Amsterdam.

Some sources say the  invention of the first “bicycle” is credited to Comte Medi De Sivrac, of France. His bike didn’t have any pedals! The year was 1792 and it was called a hobby horse(or celerifere). To move you needed your feet!

Other sources credit Baron Karl von Drais, of Germany, with the Draisine meaning “running machine”.The 1917 human-propelled vehicle didn’t have any pedals.

A bike similar to today’s bike was created by Kirkpatrick Macmillan, from Scotland. The year was 1839. His bicycle had pedals!

The word “bicycle” comes from the French word “bicyclette”. The term became popular in 1868. Previous to this, bicycles were called “velocipedes” meaning “fast foot”.

The Penny-Farthing was a British bicycle that had a large front wheel and a much smaller wheel in the back. The name represented two British coins, the Farthing and the British Penny.

Early bicycles (velocipede) were known as bone shakers by their riders. With wooden wheels inside an iron rim and an iron frame, it was a very bumpy ride!

In 1887, Thomas Stevens became the first person to ride a Penny Farthing around the world!

In 1867, father and son, Pierre and Ernest Michaux, invented the modern bicycle.

Did you know that suffragette, Susan B.Anthony made a comment on the bicycle? She said that the mode of transportation “has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.” She called the bicycle the “freedom machine.”

In 1896, Margaret Valentine Le Long rode a bicycle from Chicago to San Francisco!

Did you know that before Orville and Wilbur Wright became famous for their flying machine, they owned a bicycle repair shop? It was in their shop, in 1903, that they made their first airplane! It was called the Wright Flyer!

YOUR TURN!

1. Write a diary pretending to be one of the cyclists in the Tour de France. What do you see? Feel? Hear?

2. Do you think women should be allowed to compete with the men's Tour de France? Why or why not?

3. What are 2 character traits of a person that would participate in the Tour de France? 

4. After reading the History of Bicycle facts, why do you think Susan B. Anthony called the bicycle, the “freedom machine”?

5. What are two positive things about riding a bicycle?

6. Learn more about the country of France: https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/geography/countries/facts-about-france/

7. How the bicycle changed the world: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/how-bicycles-transformed-world

8. How bicycles changed the world for women(for teachers): https://jalopnik.com/how-the-bicycle-changed-the-world-for-women-1834087720

9. The impact on women and the bicycle: https://www.womenshistory.org/articles/pedaling-path-freedom

Teacher Page:

Ask students if they have heard of the Tour de France and share any information they may have on the famous race.  Have students locate the country of France on a world map.  

Give the students the handout pages. Have students do one or more of the following activities.

Extension Activities:

1. Try this FREE crossword puzzle on France: http://gailhennessey.com/index.shtml?francepuzzler.html

2. Draw/color a picture of a bicycle. Write a fact learned about the Tour de France on your drawing.

3. Read about the Eiffel Tower, one of France's most famous landmarks: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Eiffel-Tower-Explore-World-Landmarks-773097

4. Learn some fun facts about France: http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/countries/france.html

5.Timeline on the history of the bicycle: https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/courses/13things/7083.html. 

Illustration from:Wpclipart

Juneteenth 2023

Today is Juneteenth. In 1865, the last enslaved people(in Texas) learned that they were free people. Actually, the Emancipation Proclamation, of 1863, freed the enslaved people in southern states, but those in Texas didn’t learn about their freedom for TWO more years. June and the date, 19th, were joined to create the word,Juneteenth. In 2021, President Biden signed the legislation into law making Juneteenth a federal holiday.

 Photograph from TpT

Check out these resources to learn more about Juneteenth:

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/celebrating-juneteenth

https://historyforkids.org/juneteenth-facts-information-for-kids/

https://www.timeforkids.com/g56/a-juneteenth-celebration/

https://www.kidsplayandcreate.com/juneteenth-facts-for-kids/

Fun Facts for FLAG DAY!

 

FREE DOWNLOAD: Click Here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Flag-Factoids-8156239

If you check out the 195 world flags, there is a color not found except on TWO world country flags. Did you guess the color purple?  The reason dates back to ancient history when the color purple was very rare and very expensive. The people known as the Phoenicians (present day Lebanon) were credited with making the first purple dye.  The dye, called Tyrian purple, was made by squeezing the gland of a tiny sea creature called the Murex snail , to obtain some of its secretions. It was estimated that over 10,000 snails had to be squeezed just to get a tiny amount of the coloring. For a time, the dye was worth more than a similar amount of gold!  Purple became  highly valued and becoming the color of royalty. In case you wish to check, the two countries with some purple on their flags are Dominica, a tiny island country and Nicaragua. The most popular flag colors include red, white and blue. 

Fun Flag Facts:

1. A vexillologist is someone that studies flags! 

2. Most flags have the colors red and white. 

3. Only Vatican City and the country of Switzerland have square flags.

4. Most world flags are rectangle in shape. The flag of the country of Nepal is the only one which is not rectangular or square in shape.

5. When Sir Edmond Hillary and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, summited Mt. Everest, the Union Jack, the flag of Great Britain, was placed.

6.The idea of a National Flag Day,a day to honor our flag, was started by Bernard J. Cigrand, in 1885.  

7. There are currently 6 American flags on the moon.  

8. The country of Bhutan has a white dragon on its flag.

9. “From Old Saxon," Fflaken" , meaning “to fly or to float in the air”, is where the word FLAG originated.

10.The largest American Flag is called the Superflag. It weighs 3000 pounds and is the size of 2.8 football fields.

11. A WHITE flag is the symbol of a truce or ceasefire.

12.The last of the 50 stars represents the state of Hawaii.

Extension Activities:

1. https://www.factmonster.com/take-quiz/usflag
Take this Flag quiz

2. Pretend you are an American flag on the moon or in a town, or on a mountain top. What do you hear, see, feel, etc. as you wave in the air? Remember...on the moon, there is no atmosphere so the flag wouldn’t wave!

3. Write a haiku to describe the American flag. A haiku has 3 lines(5-7-5 syllables per line). Use descriptive words. Sentence structure isn’t necessary. To check syllables, place your hand under your chin. Each time the chin drops is a syllable. For example: elephant. Three drops = 3 syllables.

4. Illustrate one of the factoids. Write a sentence to go with your drawing.

5. Read about the history of Flag Day: https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/flag-day. Write a paragraph explaining the history of Flag Day, including 3 facts learned from the reading.

Check out my Flag Webquest!  

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Our-American-Flag-A-Webquest-Extension-Activities-726295

Learn about the History of the Star Spangled Banner and Francis Scott Key:  https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Francis-Scott-KeyThe-Star-Spangled-BannerA-Webquest-1401231

Gail

Check out Scipi's Recent Blog Posting!

Vicki, AKA Scipi, on Teachers Pay Teachers, highlighted me in her latest blog posting. Take a look at the lovely write up as well as her very informative blog, especially for MATH.

https://gofigurewithscipi.blogspot.com/2023/05/a-go-figure-debut-for-author-and.html