Library Sparks Magazine February, 2007 The Iditarod—A Race to Learning By Suzanne Driscoll The Iditarod is truly the Last Great Race. A 1,150 mile trek through the Alaskan wilderness on a dogsled can teach us all important lessons of determination, tenacity and preparedness. The race also provides excellent learning opportunities that can be integrated into all areas of the curriculum. From studying the history and geography of Alaska to calculating the progress of mushers and their dogs online, students can almost feel like they are part of the race. The Iditarod owes its origin to efforts to preserve the colorful history of Alaska and its dependence on dog teams for transportation. The trail started as a route used in the late1880s by gold diggers, who would travel by boat from Seward to Knik and then by land to the goldfields. The trail they used is now designated as a National Historic Trail by the U.S. Congress. This route later became a major thoroughfare for mail and supply deliveries, as travel by dog teams was the only option during the winter months when frozen waterways were impassable by boat. But when gold mining tapered off and airplanes came into common use in the 1920s, the trail was used less and less. The final blow came with the invention of the snowmobile. Sled dog teams did have a last great achievement. Students can read books about the dog Balto, who helped save the entire town of Nome from a diphtheria outbreak in the winter of 1925. The closest town with the life-saving serum was Anchorage, 700 miles away, and the only pilot capable of flying in treacherous conditions was not available. So a tag team of dog sleds was formed with each town along the way providing their best dogs and musher. Balto was the lead dog in the final two legs of the journey, going through 80 mile per hour winds and temperatures of minus forty degrees. The serum arrived in time to save many lives, and today there still stands a statue of Balto in New York’s Central Park. In 1967, the late Dorothy G. Page was put in charge of the Wasilla-Knik centennial celebration and was looking for ways to commemorate Alaska’s history. Known as the ―Mother of the Iditarod,‖ she came up with the idea of sponsoring a dogsled race following the original trail leading to the goldfields and towns along the way. Ms. Page received enthusiastic support from local mushers’ groups led by Joe Reddington, Sr. and Norman Vaughan, who in 1928 had been in charge of Admiral Byrd’s sled dogs in Antarctica. After shorter races in 1967 and 1969, the first race running the entire 1,150 miles from Anchorage to Nome took place in 1973. Dick Wilmarth, the winner of this memorable Iditarod, took almost three weeks to complete the race, while today’s winners can make it in less than ten days. In even-numbered years racers use a northern route to include more villages, and in odd- numbered years they take a southern route. The race always starts on the first Saturday in March, and for those between ages 14 and 17 there is even a Junior Iditarod that begins the week before the official adult race. Students at all grade levels may become so engrossed in Iditarod activities they will hardly realize they are learning new skills. With the beginning task of choosing a musher to follow, students will study the towns the race runs through, read biographies, write letters, and practice their math skills by calculating their musher’s daily progress. Here is a complete listing of suggested activities, and with your added ideas the possibilities are as limitless as the Alaskan wilderness: Language Arts To give students a general background of the Iditarod, read Akiak: A Tale from the Iditarod for primary grades or Racing the Iditarod Trail for upper elementary classes. Announce that everyone is going to adopt a musher and dog team to watch during the entire race. First go to www.iditarod.com to get a list of the mushers who have signed up for this year’s race, and do some quick research to select those that have their own web site or contact information. Write each name on a small piece of paper and put the names in a large boot. Each child draws one name from the boot, and this is the musher he or she will be tracking. Ask students to research books or web sites to find out as much as possible about their musher. They should write down facts they learn and make a list of any pieces of information they would like to know. Then ask students to write a letter to their musher to find out the missing facts. If the musher has a web site the letter can be sent to his or her email address. Otherwise, a hard copy letter can be written and sent along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Each student can then write a brief biography about his adopted musher. Read the book Kiana’s Iditarod, that describes the race from a sled dog’s point of view. Then ask students to write a page from a daily journal that a sled dog might have written during the race. Set a goal to have each student read a total of 1,150 minutes for the month of March, which is about four hours per week. With one minute of reading equal to one mile in the actual race, students can track their own progress toward the reading goal on a map of the Iditarod and try to keep up with their musher. Math After each student has drawn the name of his or her musher and the race has begun, they should track the musher’s daily progress by checking www.iditarod.com. Create a chart with the suggested headings shown in the example below. Each day students compute the number of miles completed and the number of miles left in the race. Make up word problems relating to the Iditarod such as: What is the average number of dogs used by the first 10 mushers on a particular date? Choose two checkpoints and find the distance between them in miles and kilometers. Convert the daily temperature to Celsius for one week. Provide a shopping list with prices of several items needed for the race such as food, tools and equipment. Ask students to compute the total cost of the trip. How much change would the musher receive if he or she had $500 to spend? Compute the percent of mushers who are not from the United States from the total number of mushers. Social Studies Ask students to draw their own map of the Iditarod trail, labeling the towns it passes through. See www.iditarod.com for an example. Also, keep a large map of the trail on a bulletin board or chalkboard so it will be visible throughout the race. As students track the progress of their musher, they can color in the location each day on their own map with a magic marker, crayon or colored pencil. Assign a town located on the Iditarod trail for each student to research. Students can look up the latitude and longitude, history of the town, population, weather, occupations, interesting facts, etc. Ask students to write a brief report about the town to present to the class. Form teams of 2-3 students each, making sure to mix ability levels. Make up a list of trivia questions about Alaska and the Iditarod race for an online scavenger hunt such as: In what year did the first Iditarod take place? What is the capital of Alaska? What is the state bird? State flower? Who won the first Iditarod race? Name the two most common occupations in Alaska. In what year did Alaska become a state? The first team to complete their list of questions wins a handmade medal, homework pass, or a snack such as energy bars. Study the native people of Alaska such as the Inupiaq and the Aleuts. The book Indians of the Arctic and Subarctic gives a good overview of different tribes. Ask students to work in groups to research a particular tribe and write a brief report, or make a PowerPoint presentation on what life was like for these Native Americans during the time period of 1850-1920. Science On the daily checkpoint chart where each student will be tracking the progress of his or her musher, they will also be noting the local weather in Alaska. How does the temperature and snowfall affect the progress of the musher? Each day students should write the temperature at the checkpoint and also the temperature in their town. At the end of each week students can make a bar graph comparing the two temperatures. Read about Arctic plants and animals in Arctic Lands, or for younger children, Welcome to the Icehouse. Ask how they compare with the plants and animals in your area. How have Arctic animals adapted to their environment? For example, discuss why polar bears and snowy owls are white, or why other animals have thick fur. Alaska is a great location to see the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis. Read the book Northern Lights (Nature in Action) or go to the Web site www.northern-lights.no to see amazing color photos from all over the world. Discuss why the lights are more visible the farther north you go. Then ask students to draw or paint their own interpretation of what the Northern Lights look like to them, showing vivid colors and waves of light.