"I Am The Greatest" (Authors, Artists, Explorers, Scientists & Sporting Heroes)
- Simon O'Donovan
- Jul 11, 2021
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 12, 2021
This CST activities page is about people who stand out in their field of endeavour. It is arranged in five parts
- Great works of art
- Great authors
- Groundbreaking scientific discoveries
- Great explorers
- & Sporting heroes.
Your group may have other nominations. Please let me know and I'll add to the list.
As usual, take your time. Spread over a couple of sessions if you need or want to.
Allow time for discussion and reminiscence.
Help members get answers right by giving loads of clues, for example first names. This REALLY helps with recall.
These CST activities pages should be all about inclusion and enjoyment, NOT competition.
Focus on the music. Have members choose which songs to play. There's an eclectic mix here.
Please do let me know how the materials work in practice. This blog thrives on feedback!
INTRODUCTIONS
Begin by asking members if they have a favourite artist, author, scientist, explorer or sporting hero.
Try and get a list of several in each category.
Ask what in the house, or out and about, is the most important discovery or development that members use daily and couldn't be without. It could be the TV, radio, phone or camera. Or something more fundamental, like the wheel, electricity, tea or running water,
Do members remember the children's TV show 'The Record Breakers'?
Who was it presented by? He is pictured below ...
Roy Castle (lived 1932-1994)
What instrument did he play?
What did he die of?
He was an accomplished trumpet player.
He died of lung cancer, from passive smoking.
Did people used to get given 'The Guinness Book Of Records' every Christmas?
What were these twins, who wrote the book and appeared on the TV show with their stopwatches called?
Ross & Norris McWhirter
Here's the TV theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QFt1ZeDftk
IDIOMS
Idioms about books, art, exploring, science and sports (5 each)
The oldest trick in the BOOK
You can't judge a book by it's COVER
Read between the LINES
Take a leaf out of someone's BOOK
Take something as READ
Work of ART
Con ARTIST
He's no oil PAINTING
Back to the drawing BOARD
A picture paints a thousand WORDS
It's not rocket SCIENCE
Be on the same waveLENGTH
Blow a FUSE
A small cog in a big MACHINE
Reinvent the WHEEL
Brave new WORLD
Reach for the STARS
Climb every MOUNTAIN
First man on the MOON
There's a first time for EVERYTHING
Get the ball ROLLING
Ready set GO
Four minute MILE
Hit your TARGET
Win something by a hair's BREADTH
MUSIC & PICTURE QUIZ
Round 1. Name The Great Artists
'The Creation Of Adam', 1512
'Mona Lisa', 1506
'The Fighting Temeraire', 1839
'Water Lily Pond', 1899
'The Starry Night', 1889
'The Hay Wain', 1821
'Persistence Of Memory', 1931
'Snow', 2018
'The Dream', 1932
'Coming From The Mill', 1930
Where do all of LS Lowry's paintings depict life?
What was his first top ten hit in 1972?
VIDEO BREAK. There's a great 'Doctor Who' clip here of the artist being taken to the future to see his own artwork on display in an art gallery - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jjWtUpqV9w
ROUND 2. Name The Great Authors
Published in 1954
Published in 1838
Published in 1949
Published in 1997
Published in 1847
Published in 1937
Published in 1902
Published in 1982
Published in 1895
Published in 1960
For which James Bond movie did Carly Simon sing 'Nobody Does It Better'?
Name the album from which this song came?
(Kate Bush broke a record with this song. It was the first to reach number one in 1978 written by a British female artist)
ROUND 3. Great Scientists
Known for his pioneering work on long-distance radio transmission.
Renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization.
Known as the founder of modern nursing in the Crimean war.
Conducted pioneering research on radioactivity.
Invented the television in 1926.
Published 'Origin Of The Species' in 1859.
Came up with 'The Theory Of Relativity' in 1905.
Broke 'The Enigma Code' in 1943.
In 1971, he proposed the 'Area Theorem', which set off a series of fundamental insights about black hole mechanics.
In 2007 he announced the iPhone to the world.
What is the lead singer from 'Blondie's' name?
What year was the last ever VCR (video cassette recorder) made in Japan?
ROUND 4. Great Explorers
He discovered 'The Americas' in 1492.
He circumnavigated the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580.
He is credited for the arrival of tobacco in England on 27th July 1586.
He undertook three expeditions to Africa in the Victorian era. In 1855 he was the first European to see the 'Victoria Falls' on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. His name has become an idiom - "Dr ........... I presume?"
He led the ill fated 'Terra Nova' expedition to Antartica in 1910–1913.
On 29 May 1953, they became the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest.
In 1932 she became the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
He was the first man to walk on the moon on 20 July 1969.
He was a French undersea explorer who lived 1910-1977. He co-developed the 'AquaLung'.
This natural historian continues to educate us about our planet and all the species living on it. His best work, probably, was the 1970s TV series 'Life On Earth'.
Which northern author wrote the 'Talking Heads' books and plays?
'Climb Every Mountain', The Sound Of Music - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvDFoF9sfQA
What was the family's name?
ROUND 5. Great Sporting Heroes
He 'floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee'!
He was the first to run the sub 4 minute mile in 1954.
He raised the 'World Cup' in 1966.
His nickname was 'Beefy'.
She is a Welsh Dame.
He is now in prison, for murdering his girlfriend in 2013.
He won Wimbledon in 2013 & 2016.
He is the fastest man alive.
They won Olympic Gold at Sarajevo 1984.
VIDEO BREAK - Their ice dance to Ravels 'Bolero' -
He is the Welsh rugby captain.
And our National Anthem - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW8iIVYQcUY
What year was 'Live Aid'?
EXTRA SONGS
What is Sting's real name?
What was her only top ten UK hit single?
Here it is - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oag3I4VRXyM
Which group was Annie Lennox in with Dave Stewart?
What was the name of the Irish group Enya was in before going solo?
1.5 billion people watched his live “Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite” performance on January 4, 1973. ... Therefore, Elvis's is the most watched performance ever.
What was Elvis's nickname?
The biggest selling band of all time (183 million units). And their best selling single.
What was their nickname, as a group?
PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES
Paint or draw your greatest skill or talent 😉
It could be being a great mum or dad, being a good friend, being a good swimmer, being a good cook or being able to sing.
Whatever it is, try to convey your skill or talent in pictures and without using words.
PS several talents are fine too 🙂
ANSWERS
A. ARTISTS
1. Michelangelo, Lived 1475-1564
2. Leonardo Da Vinci, Lived 1452-1519
3. J.M.W. Turner, Lived 1775-1851
4. Claude Monet, Lived 1840-1926
5. Vicent Van Gogh, Lived 1853-1890
6. John Constable, Lived 1776-1837
7. Salvador Dali, Lived 1904-1989
8. Banksy, Details unknown
9. Pablo Picasso, Lived 1881-1973
10. L.S. Lowry, Lived 1887-1976
LS Lowry's drawings and paintings depict Pendlebury, Lancashire, where he lived and worked for more than 40 years. Also Salford and its vicinity.
'American Pie'
B. AUTHORS
1. J.R. Tolkien
2. Charles Dickens
3. George Orwell
4. J.K. Rowling
5. Emily Bronte
6. Agatha Christie
7. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
8. Roald Dahl
9. H.G. Wells
10. Harper Lee
'The Spy Who Loved Me'
'The Kick Inside'
C. SCIENTISTS
1. Guglielmo Marconi
2. Louis Pasteur
3. Florence Nightingale
4. Marie Curie
5. Logi Baird
6. Charles Darwin
7. Albert Einstein
8. Alan Turing
9. Stephen Hawking
10. Steve Jobs
Debbie Harry
Last VCR was 2016
D. Explorers
1. Christopher Columbus
2. Walter Raleigh
3. Francis Drake
4. David Livingstone
5. Robert Falcon Scott
6. Edmund Hilary & Sherpa Tensing
7. Amelia Earhart
8. Neil Armstrong
9. Jaques Cousteau
10. David Attenborough
Alan Bennett
Von Trapp
E. Sporting Heroes
1. Muhammad Ali
2. Roger Bannister
3. Bobby Moore
4. Ian Botham
5. Tanni Grey Thompson
6. Oscar Pistorious
7. Andy Murray
8. Usain Bolt
9. Jane Torvill & Christopher Dean
10. Alun Wyn Jones
1985
Gordon Sumner
'Love And Affection'
'The Eurythmics'
'Clannad'
'Elvis The Pelvis' or 'The King Of Rock And Roll'
'The Fab Four'
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