HAVE YOU HEARD _ Friday February 28th was the final day of the Iditarod EDU Winter Educators Conference. Here are a few highlights from Day 4:
Jenn Campbell- Smith: Jenn shared engagement strategies for teachers and ways to turn subjects into an adventure that students of all grade levels can’t resist. She went through the subjects to highlight major content areas (especially for high school) that can be directly tied to the Iditarod. For example- dog physiology, dog genetics, nutrition, atmospheric science, physics of weight and friction, and first aid can all be tied to science.
Lucas Chandler- Lucas is a junior in high school who shared his research on improving dog sled efficiency and the application of automotive aerodynamics. He is a dog lover with an extreme interest in the Iditarod. He created a miniature dog sled, made specific modifications, experimented under a controlled setting using a wind tunnel, and collected tons of data. This is a great example of how high school students can achieve unique results while covering the standards and using the race in the classroom!
Rob Urbach- Rob is the current CEO of the Iditarod. He explained some of the necessary preparations with changing the re-start to Fairbanks. Challenges often arise when putting on such a great race. In 2021, there was only one building along the Gold Loop Trail that anyone could enter due to COVID precautions.
The conference wrapped up with one thing teachers are best at- collaboration! Attendees shared many various ways to get students excited about the race, including a watch party, using V/R headsets so that students can experience a dog sled ride, ways to make “adopting” a rookie fun for all, etc. Overall, the conference was a fantastic experience for educators. Keep an eye out for the next one!
PUPDATES_ On Friday night, several streets in Anchorage transformed into a winter wonderland… with a lot of help from the city department. Over 350 dump trucks filled to the brim with snow, dumped snow in large piles throughout the staging area for the teams and along the route of the Ceremonial Start. Then the snow is smoothed out along the street. Most years, the route is 11 miles covering a path between Anchorage and Campbell Airstrip; however, this year the teams only went about a mile and a half to the Sullivan Arena due to lack of snow. Ask your students if they think that the same amount of snow (around 350 dump trucks loads) was used this year compared to last year… the answer is yes! Every year, the amount of snow that is dumped on to the streets of Anchorage is the same, because the route that requires snow is the same! Normally Anchorage has enough snow for the rest of the trail and only the streets need to be covered. Crews work over night to make sure that the streets are ready to go early Saturday morning!
I love hearing from teachers and how you are using the race in your classroom this year. Send me a message at emailtheteacher@iditarod.com
