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The Iditarod Dog Sled Race


Prepared by Judy Bernard
Learning Center Divison; Edgewood School
Woodbridge, IL Dist. 68

Overall Intent:

The overall intent of this unit is to help the students learn about the current Iditarod Dog Sled Race and it's history through a variety of activities. This annual race calls attention to Alaska's past and the sport of dog sled racing. A portion of the race follows part of the trail used during Alaska's Gold Rush in the 1880s. Another portion follows part of the trail used by dog sleds to deliver serum to Nome during the diphtheria epidemic of 1925. As culminating activities, students will role play the part of a musher and create free-verse poems or historical fiction stories about their role. Students will also debate some of the issues that surround the race.

Objectives:

Information will be presented through a variety of different media and activities, to give the students an opportunity:

  1. to learn basic facts about the Iditarod Dog Sled Race and the dog sled relay which delivered diphtheria serum to Nome, Alaska during the epidemic of 1925,
  2. to review and build upon previous knowledge about the climate and terrain of Alaska and the role these physical conditions play in the race, and
  3. to develop an understanding for and an appreciation of the dedication and endurance the mushers and dogs must have to train for and participate in this race.

Format:

This unit of study will last between four and five weeks and is intended for use with fourth and fifth grade students.

The teacher's background work will reveal that the Iditarod is held annually during the first week of March. Some of the work in the unit must begin during the last two weeks of February in preparation for the race itself.

During this learning experience, students will have the option to work on projects individually, with a partner, or in small groups of three or four students.

Background information can be obtained through printed sources, video and audio materials. Online services are also very rich resources providing text and graphics.

Once the race begins, local newspaper and television coverage is virtually nonexistent. However, "Scholastic Network", a division of America Online (AOL) provides daily coverage of the race. There are also online chats before, during, and after the ra ce with some of the mushers, race officials, and AOL reporters. After the race, AOL provides a complete listing of the mushers who completed the race and their finishing times. AOL also provides an online chat in which any and all questions asked are indi vidually answered by someone who has the knowledge to provide an authoritative answer.

Teaching the unit:

Begin the unit by introducing the word "Iditarod" to the children, asking if they have ever heard of the term or know what it means. After hearing the students' responses, an accurate explanation of the term and the race is given by the teacher. Studen ts then participate in a basic "KWL" activity; brainstorming what they know about the race and what they want to learn about the race and its participants. The results of this KWL activity are written down for further reference. These KWL questions and th eir answers will be reviewed to determine what students have learned. The questions students have not been able to answer can be asked of online experts for correct responses.

This unit was planned according to Bloom's Taxonomy of educational objectives. The activities suggested in this unit allow for the students to use cognitive, emotional, physical, and intuitive methods of learning. Visual, auditory, and kinesthetic reso urces are suggested for students to use to acquire knowledge of the Iditarod race. Students are asked to use higher level thinking skills and creative problem solving as they participate in the activities proposed in this unit.

Knowledge:

The questions generated in KWL activity are written down, randomly divided into groups of nine or ten questions each, and each group of questions is duplicated as a worksheet for students to use in finding information.

Students and teachers bring in newspaper and magazine articles to share. Other written reference materials such as encyclopedias and non-fiction books are also researched. Video clips from television broadcasts are recorded and viewed. The music teache r is also a resource person for any music about the race or Alaska's history that would pertain to the lesson. Other teachers are also petitioned in case they have any posters or other pictures to bring the race to life for the children.

Telecommunication sources are also searched for information. The division of America Online called "Scholastic Network" supplies up-to-the-minute data about activities throughout the world and how they can be part of the classroom curriculum. "Scholast ic Network" supplies background information about the history of the race, eligibility requirements, the race route, rules and the governing committee.

There are about half a dozen web sites on the Internet to search for information. One Internet web page for 1996 is located at http://www.polarnet.com/Users/Mushing/. This web site has biographicali nformation about each of the mushers registered for the race. Each student, pair of students, or group of students working on the Iditarod will review the biographies of the mushers and choose a racer to follow during the race. Most racers give daily upda tes online about their progress.

Other web sites include:

Some "KWL" Questions asked by 4th & 5th graders

  1. How long is the race?
  2. How many days does the race take?
  3. Is there a special diet for the dogs?
  4. What are the natural geographic features of the land that must be crossed?
  5. Why participate in the race? Is there a prize?
  6. Do people sponsor the racers?
  7. How do racers learn to handle the dogs?
  8. How do racers survive the cold?
  9. Do racers wear special clothing?
  10. What happens if a dog is injured during the race?
  11. Are there shortcuts the racers can take?
  12. How many dogs can a racer use?
  13. What supplies do racers bring with them?
  14. How much water does a racer bring?
  15. What happens if a dog gets sick or dies during the race?
  16. What happens if there is bad weather during the race?
  17. What happens if someone sabotages a racer?
  18. What is the route of the race like?

Comprehension:

After working with the information resources available, students will summarize the information they found that will answer their KWL questions and share their findings with the group.

Students will also identify the racer they have chosen to follow and tell why they chose that individual and what they have learned about him/her.

Students will also brainstorm and compile a list of books and videos that use the theme of dog sled racing in the Alaskan and Arctic wilderness. Students choose one of the books to read or videos to watch and share what they learned with the rest of the class.

A partial book list would include:

A list of videos would include:

Application:

Using a physical map of Alaska, students will trace the race route identifying the various checkpoints. They must trace the correct route for the race they are studying since racers follow the Northern route in even-numbered years and the Southern rout e in odd-numbered years.

Drawing upon previous knowledge and new information recently learned, students should be able to list wildlife and physical conditions of the land that could pose problems for the racers.

Using a computer and a hypercard-type of program, the children could develop self-directed stacks of information other students could use to learn about the race. These programs could include:

  1. brief bibliographic information on past race winners or
  2. population and geographic information on each of the checkpoints along the Iditarod route

Analysis:

Children will research the average climate and snowfall along the route using print, audio-visual, television, and online sources. Throughout the race, they can compare the current weather conditions in Alaska to the average conditions and note any cha nges and how they may effect the contestants.

Children can keep track of the weather conditions and snowfall in their school community and compare it to the conditions along the race route. Daily information is available through cable news and weath er channels and online sites.

After researching the route of the diphtheria serum run in 1925, students can compare the current race map to the route of the diphtheria serum run. If the route has changed, children could discuss why the route might have changed over the years.

After the 1925 sled relay to Nome, Alaska, Balto, the sled dog who finished the run during a blinding snowstorm and delivered the diphtheria antitoxin, was hailed as a hero. A monument to Balto was erected in Central Park in New York City, New York. An other lead dog, Togo, was also very brave during the first portion of the drive to deliver the serum. Students must research and compare the contribution of each dog to determine if both dogs are equally important to Alaska's history.

Students could read about Balto in the book The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto or they could view the animated video Balto. Children would then discuss whether or not the book or the video accurately portrayed the story of Balto based upon the information they have learned about the dog from other sources.

Synthesis:

Students will create a free-verse poem or write a story of historical fiction about themselves in the role of a musher. Poems and stories could include their thoughts and feelings before during, and after the race. They could be written from the perspe ctive of a racer, one of the dogs, an animal in the wild, part of the terrain, or some other element of the Iditarod.

Children will design a monument to Togo, the other sled dog recognized for his help during the diphtheria epidemic. Students should draw a picture of their monument, indicate what city it will be placed in, why that place was chosen, and what materials the monument will be made out of. Students must also state whether their monument to Togo will be placed indoors or outdoors because this decision will have some influence on the materials used for the monument.

Evaluation:

Using creative problem solving strategies, students will debate the issue of whether or not there should be a monument erected in memory of Togo, the other sled dog who helped get the diphtheria serum delivered to Nome in 1925.

Creative problem solving strategies will also help students research and debate another issue that came out during the 1996 Iditarod. Rick Swenson was disqualified from the race after the first day. Rick had been an Iditarod musher for 20 years and had won the Iditarod five times. He was well known for his humane treatment of his sled dogs. After the 1995 Iditarod, the rules committee made a new rule stating that if a sled dog died during the race, the dog's musher would be ejected from the race. Stude nts should debate whether or not the new rule should be followed verbatim? Or should Rick Swenson be allowed to continue racing because of his past record of caring for his dogs? Or should there be qualifications to this new rule?

Evaluation criteria for students work:

Students will be individually evaluated on the work they do. They will be able to pick and choose projects from those suggested in each area.

While working on this unit, children should learn a great deal about the Iditarod and its history. Students who do a free verse poem or who write a story of historical fiction will have their work judged on their creativity and the accuracy of the fact s they incorporate into their writing. Children's writing will also be evaluated on the realism and emotions they portray in their work.

Children who design a monument to Togo will be evaluated on their creativity and the appropriateness of their design. Merit will also be given in terms of whether or not the materials chosen for the monument will be practical for a statue in the locati on the child chooses.

Students who participate in a debate on erecting a monument to Togo or on the issue of allowing Rick Swenson to remain in the race will be evaluated on their logic as they present their argument. They will also be judged on the accuracy of the facts th ey use in their debate.

Bibliography:

Balto. Dir. Steve Hickman. Universal Studio, 1996.

Frender, Gloria. "Learning To Learn: Learning Modalities, Make Sense of Your Learning." Understanding Our Gifted 7 (January/February 1995): 6-7.

George, Jean Craighead. Julie. New York: Harper Collins, 1994.

George, Jean Craighead. Julie of the Wolves. New York: Harper & Row, 1972.

"Iditarod." Scholastic Network. Online. America Online. Feb./Mar. 1996.

"Iditarod." Online. Netscape. Feb./Mar. 1996.

Iron Will. Dir. Patrick Palmer and Robert Schwartz. Walt Disney Studio, 1994.

Paulsen, Gary. Dogsong. New York: Scholastic, 1990.

Smutny, Joan Franklin and Rita Haynes Blocksom. Education of the Gifted: Programs and Perspectives. Bloomington, Ind.: Phi Delta Kappa, 1990.

Standiford, Natalie. The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto. New York: Random House, 1989.
For comments or questions about this curriculum project, contact jbernard@kiwi.dep.anl.gov


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Last updated: 9/7/96
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