Context

Throughout the years, sports have been an activity intrinsically linked to human beings, evolving from a simple leisure activity to a global phenomenon with significant sociocultural impact. Nonetheless, with this evolution and the increase in competitiveness, problems such as doping, corruption, and the relentless search to improve performance have emerged and spread in the sports world.

Doping is the use of substances or methods to artificially improve an athlete's sports performance, either through physical performance enhancement or by altering anti-doping test results, including, but not limited to the use of medications and hormones. Corruption, on the other hand, encompasses unethical and illegal practices, such as bribes, fraud, and result manipulation, harming the sportsmanship and fairness of the competition.

The use of medications to improve performance without a medical prescription is also a reality in sports. These medications may cause harm to health, leading to serious problems, since many are used without proper medical guidance or in inadequate ways.

Healthy, fair, and ethical sports activities should be valued and incentivized. To achieve this, it is fundamental for students to understand these problems and their consequences, both for the sport's integrity and for the athletes' health. Thus, this project aims to learn about, debate, and propose solutions related to doping, corruption, and the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sports.

Here are some Portuguese-language resources you can use to delve deeper into the subject:

1. TED-Ed video: "Why do some athletes dope?": This video explores the concept of doping, which substances are considered doping, and why athletes risk using them.
2. World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Report: This report details the methods and substances of doping, explains how they affect the human body, and how they are detected by anti-doping tests.
3. Article "Corruption in Sports": This article by the USP Business Magazine explores the different types of corruption that can occur in sports and its consequences.
4. Documentary "Icarus": This Netflix documentary shows an amateur cyclist's investigation into doping in sports, resulting in a major discovery about corruption in Russian sports.

Practical Activity

Activity title:

"Doping, Corruption, and Performance-Enhancing Drugs: A Critical View"

Project Goal:

To investigate, understand, and debate the issues of doping, corruption in sports, and the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Finally, to propose ethical and efficient solutions to fight these dilemmas.

Detailed Project Description:

Groups of students (3 to 5 students) must conduct a study on doping, corruption in sports, and the use of performance-enhancing drugs. The study must approach the concepts, practices, motivations, consequences, and possible solutions to these problems.

Materials required:

1. Internet access for research
2. Writing material (paper, pens, etc.) or text editing software
3. Presentation material (A3 paper, paintbrushes, etc.) or presentation software (PowerPoint, Prezi, etc.)

Detailed step-by-step instructions for the execution of the activity:

1. Research: Each group should research the three themes (doping, corruption in sports, and the use of performance-enhancing drugs). This research should include, but is not limited to, scientific articles, news, documentaries, and official sports organization reports;

2. Debate: After the research, each group should carry out internal debates to discuss their findings and form opinions about the topics;

3. Proposed solutions: Based on the research and debates, each group should propose solutions to combat doping, corruption in sports, and the use of performance-enhancing drugs;

4. Production of visual material: To make the discussed content clearer and more interesting, each group should create visual material (such as an infographic) to present their findings;

5. Document composition: Each group should write a report that gathers all of the information researched, the debates carried out, the proposed solutions, and the visual material.

Each week, the students will have one hour of teacher guidance and monitoring for discussions and clarification of doubts related to the project.

The total project duration should be four weeks (one month).

Project Deliverables:

Students should deliver a written report following the structure below:

• Introduction: Description of the problems of doping, corruption in sports, and the use of performance-enhancing drugs, as well as the relevance of these problems to sports and society;

• Development: Detailed presentation of the research findings, including the theory behind the problems, the associated practices, the motivations, and the consequences. Discussion of the debates carried out by the group and presentation of the visual material;

• Conclusions: Summary of the main points, description of the learnings, presentation of the proposed solutions, and conclusions drawn about the problems;

• Bibliography: References for the sources used in the research (books, web pages, videos, etc.).

In addition to the report, the students should present the visual material produced and lead a class debate about the problems and proposed solutions.