Name: Kathleen Gomes
School District: Margate School District
Categoty: Pre-K to 2
Title of Plan: Alaska's Iditarod

• Develop awareness of the location, size and topography of Alaska
  
• Develop basic mapping skills by charting and mapping their musher's progress along the trail
  
• Develop awareness of native Alaskan people and their cultures
  
• Learn about Alaskan culture today
  
• Connect geographical location to climate and culture
  
• Learn about the history of the Iditarod beginning with the 1925 serum run to Nome
  
• Become aware of the rules and procedures followed for the race

Science

• Study the tundra climate and weather
  
• Study various animal adaptations to the climate
  
• Develop understanding of animal training
  
• Develop understanding of how athletes train for this race
  
• Understand the vital role diet and health play in dog performance
  
• Read about necessary supplies and survival techniques employed by the mushers and their dogs
  
• Explore the dangers of frostbite and hypothermia

Whole Language

• Create informational articles for the classroom newsletter to be sent home
  
• Develop oral language skills while presenting reports on their musher's progress or race related information
  
• Practice identification of main idea and supporting detail while reading informational articles and books
  
• Read connected literature
  
• Read and summarize biographical information about their musher

Math

• Calculate distances between checkpoints
  
• Calculate the remaining miles in the race, distances traveled and remaining miles
  
• Keep track of their musher's sled dog count
  
• Chart their musher's progress and time spent at checkpoints
  
• Graph Alaska's temperature along the race route

New Jersey Core Curriculum Standards
The New Jersey Core Curriculum Standards addressed are:

Social Studies

• Standard 6.4- All students will acquire historical understanding of varying cultures throughout New Jersey, the United States, and the world.
  
• Standard 6.7- All students will acquire a geographical understanding by studying the world in spatial terms.
  
• Standard 6.8- All students will acquire geographical understanding by studying human systems in geography.

Science

• Standard 5.7-All students will investigate the diversity of life.
• Standard 5.10-All students will gain an understanding of the structure, dynamics, and geophysical systems of the earth.

Math

• Standard 4.1-All students will develop the ability to pose and solve mathematical problems in mathematics, other disciplines, and everyday experiences.
  
• Standard 4.3-All students will connect mathematics to other learning by understanding the interrelationships of mathematical ideas and the roles that mathematics and mathematical modeling play in other disciplines and in life.
• Standard 4.6-All students will develop number sense and an ability to represent numbers in a variety of forms and use numbers in diverse situations.
  
• Standard 4.10-All students will use a variety of estimation strategies and recognize situations in which estimation is appropriate

Whole Language

• Standard 3.1-All students will speak for a variety of real purposes and audiences.
  
• Standard 3.2-All students will listen actively in a variety of situations to informationfrom a variety of sources.
  
• Standard 3.3-All students will write in clear, concise, organized language that varies in content and form for different audiences and purposes.
  
• Standard 3.4-All students will read various materials and texts with comprehensionand critical analysis.
  
• Standard 3.5-All students will view, understand, and use contextual and visual information.

Equipment

• IBM-compatible PC's
  
• Internet access software (AOL),
  
• Microsoft works
  
• Printers
  
• Speakers
  
• Headphones

Internet Web Sites
www.dogsled.com
www.adn.com/iditarod
www.alaska.net/-Idftarod/
www.workingdog.com/lditarod.htm
www.iditarod.com.
http://scholasticnet.com/iditarod

Summary of the Lessons

The Iditarod is a dogsled race that crosses about 1,000 miles of Alaskan wilderness between Anchorage and Nome each March. It provides a great opportunity to teach students about the state of Alaska - the geography, history, climate and dogsled racing as a sport.These lessons are for a two to three week unit which begins before the race, and ends after the first mushers finish (within about 10 days).

A teaching packet can be ordered in advance from the Iditarod Trail Committee. It would be very helpful for anyone becoming familiar with the race for the first time. (See listings included - these are comprehensive and very useful. The packets seem to vary according to teacher need and the amount of money available). It is actually very easy to print out many helpful teaching tools via the Internet sites listed above.

Some of them are musher biographies, history of the race, maps of Alaska and the race routes descriptions of the towns, or "checkpoints" along the trail, daffy log sheets for students to use to record their musher's progress, rules and prizes, and human interest stories. The race standings are updated several times a day, and race photos are available. News and daily weather reports are available.

• At least three to five lessons are needed to provide background before the race.This is crucial if the
  students are to be able to follow the race with any appreciation or
  understanding of what is happening and where.

Students need to understand:

• Geography and Climate of Alaska.
  
• History of the race. (This is available via internet or in the reordered
  
• Some of the techniques of dog sledding and rules of the race.
  
• Personal history and previous performance of participating mushers
  
• How to efficiently log navigate the Internet through the web sites (with teacher supervision).

II.Students will need to:
Select musher to follow (students also enjoy working in pairs), and mark the beginning of the race in Anchorage with personal markers. Using an enlarged wall map of Alaska with the route clearly marked helps. (Each child can use a miniature dogsled with their racer's name on it).

III. There are many interesting articles on the web about how the mushers raise and train the dogs in their own kennels.
Reading some of these with the class helps pull students in. Last year, there was a very detailed story about Martin Buser and his two school age sons and how they work with the dogs at their kennel. Martin Buser is wellknown for his
humanitarian approach to animal care.

IV. There are some children's picture books available as well.

• These can be readaloud and can be made available for the students to reread independently:

Literature

Picture books:
Akiak by Robert Blake
This is a beautifully illustrated book which tells about the Iditarod from a dog's point of view. The dog becomes injured and must drop out.

The Bravest Dog Ever: the true story of Balto by Natalie Standiford
This book tells the story of the first race to Nome during the diphtheria epidemic in 1925.
Balto was a sled dog who led the race from the town of Iditarod to Nome.
Short chapter books (Appropriate for reading aloud):

Stone Fox by John Gardiner
This is the story of a young boy who competes in a local race to win tax money to help his
Grandfather. Very sad ending!

Silver by Gloria Whelan A young girl trains a sled dog.

V. Students will need to be instructed in how to log in and out on the Internet.
This can be done individually or in small groups using several computers. Iditarod sites can be used as resources one at a time. The teacher can guide the students in finding answers to questions about the Iditarod, and make available favorite web sites for gathering update information and pictures, etc. Students can also be taught how to print. It is a good idea not to allow printing until a teacher looks it over to avoid waste. Once the race starts, the students can check their musher's progress independently or print out updates to share with classmates.

B. During the Race

I. The race begins the first Saturday in March.
By Monday, several teams begin to pull out front. Students will begin logging their musher's progress from checkpoint to checkpoint, their place in the race, the number of dogs each has remaining on the team, how miles they have traveled, and how many miles are left to travel. Each students marks the progress on an individual map kept in a folder, and moves their marker on the big map.
II. As the race progresses, students can be shown how to get their standings from the Internet.
Daily reports and updates of mishaps and events along the trail add interest. There are also radio reports and current photos available. Some of the articles are interesting to particular age groups. Students can take turns finding the standings, printing them out and posting them in the classroom.

III. Discuss the checkpoint stations and towns along the way as the mushers pass through. Information about population and location can generate a lot of discussion about geography and culture.

C. After the Race

I. As the race draws to a close, have the students analyze their musher's progress.
Have them look for successful or unsuccessful strategies the musher may have used. Usually, the first musher wins in about 9 days. The race is usually complete within 15 days.

II. Make the students aware of the money won by the mushers (if any - the top 20receive varying amounts of $50,000 on down).

Student Feedback and Assessment

Students will be evaluated throughout the following criteria:
1. Can student access the web sites on the Internet?
2. Can the student print out the needed information?
3. Has the student been able to track the race on the data sheet and map?
4. Does the student communicate an understanding of dog sledding and the race?
5. Is the student able to summarize and assess the progress their musher made during the race?

Additional Comments and Suggestions

Other extension activities
• Various videos are available from the Iditarod Trail Committee (see attached), and can be viewed at any time during the unit.
• Community members may be available to discuss dog care or training. Either an individual with a northern breed dog (husky, Samoyed, nialamute) or a veterinarian might be willing.

Appendix Contents

• Teacher Resources - Look here for a description of the types of available teaching packets. Be sure to order well in advance.
  
• The Race for Life - This is the story of the historical use of the Iditarod trail.
  
• Alaska Fact Sheet
  
• Musher story - Martin Buser, former champion
  
• Musher story - Libby Riddles, first female winner
  
• Map showing southern checkpoints and route
  
• Race standings update
  
• Race photos
  
• Musher tracking