May 28-June 10, 2015 Current Events Lesson Plan
Current Event: However You Spell It, He’s a Winner
American Pharoah, a three-year-old thoroughbred horse, won horse racing’s 2015 Triple Crown. He became the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed accomplished the feat in 1978. To win the Triple Crown, a horse must win three races in the same year: the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky; the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, Maryland; and the Belmont Stakes, in Elmont, New York. It is difficult for a horse to win all three races. The three races are held in a five-week period. Often, a horse that wins the first two races will lose the third to a horse that sat out the earlier races and was better rested. Including Sir Barton, who won the first Triple Crown in 1919, only 12 horses have ever accomplished the feat.
Victor Espinoza reacts after guiding American Pharoah across the finish line to win the 147th running of the Belmont Stakes horse race. American Pharoah is the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed won it in 1978. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Objective:
Horse racing is an internationally popular sport based on the speed of horses. Horse racing is also a major form of gambling, with billions of dollars wagered annually. There are four major forms of horse racing. In thoroughbred racing, quarter horse racing, and steeplechase racing, jockeys ride the horse. In harness racing, the horse pulls a driver in a two-wheeled carriage. Thoroughbred races are usually held on a flat, oval track, though European tracks differ widely in layout. The typical quarter horse race is conducted on a straight flat track and is a short sprint, with a quarter mile (0.4 kilometer) the most common distance. In a steeplechase, jockeys ride horses over obstacles. Horse racing may have begun shortly after horses were domesticated. Evidence suggests that chariot races were held in Eastern Europe and northern Africa soon after the chariot was introduced in those regions about 1500 B.C. The Behind the Headlines news story and related World Book articles explore horse racing and other sports.
Words to know:
Discussion Topics:
1. Ask your students to name some famous real and fictional horses. [Students might say Black Beauty (titular character in Anna Sewell’s book), Bucephalus (Alexander the Great’s horse), Citation (1948 Triple Crown winner), Man o’ War (racehorse), Pegasus (winged horse in Greek mythology), Seabiscuit (famous racehorse), Secretariat (1973 Triple Crown Winner), Silver (Lone Ranger’s horse), Traveller (Robert E. Lee’s horse).]
2. Have your students debate the topic, “Sports are a waste of time and money.”
3. Ask your students what their favorite sport is and why.
4. Ask your students to use World Book’s Timelines feature to create a timeline of the history of horse racing. (Students may wish to use World Book’s “Horse racing” article for help.)
