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Health & Physical Fitness
Next month is Thanksgiving here in the US. The holiday focuses on gratitude but, if I am being completely honest, it is really all about the food. I will definitely get back to the thankfulness component in my November posts, but for now let’s talk turkey…and mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. There is something about …
We’re off to a great start with our “All Sass September,” so let’s look at one of the factors that contributed to Brent Sass winning the 2022 Iditarod – physical fitness. As Sass states, “The physical ability of the musher has become a much larger factor in the race over the last 10 years.” Many …
Our first Iditarod Certified Educator’s cohort is off and running down the trail! Their first challenge was to develop a quick lesson idea based on the theme of Debski’s Diner. Debski is the amazing cook for all of the volunteers in Nome. She serves as a kind of den mom for all of the volunteers …
Iditarod PE Challenge Hey amazing teachers, check out this PE unit that was designed for virtual education by Alaska teacher and prior Iditarod Teacher on the Trail Finalist Lisa Wiley. Let the enthusiasm of the mushers and sled dogs inspire your students to complete all the Iditarod PE Challenges while they learn about the trail …
Lesson Summary: Students run, jog or walk for a predetermined amount of time and intensity around the gym. When time is up, students choose a checkpoint to go to. A student rolls the die to determine what exercise the group will do. All students perform the exercise. Repeat. Procedural Activities: The instructor selects 6 activities …
Lesson Summary: Cover the distance to Nome by counting laps jogged for warm-up as miles. Students decide how many days it will take the class to finish the race. They create a strategy to reach their goal much that same as the mushers do for the race. The class keeps track of their progress on …
Essential Question: What role does nutrition play in an athletes performance? (Energy/Nutrition/Metabolism/Cellular Respiration) By Sid Lucas Students use problem-based learning strategies to calculate dog food quantities necessary to supply the calories required for each food drop along the Iditarod Trail according to a race plan and run/rest schedule determined by an Iditarod musher. This lesson …
Lesson Summary: Not only are the dogs in top notch physical condition for Iditarod, the mushers are too. Mushers need to have upper body strength, lower body strength, core strength, cardio-vascular endurance, flexibility and mental stamina. Students will create stations for a circuit-training course aimed at helping mushers improve strength, endurance and flexibility. Procedural …
Lesson Summary: Cover the distance to Nome by counting laps jogged for warm-up as miles. Students decide how many days it will take the class to finish the race. They create a strategy to reach their goal much that same as the mushers do for the race. The class keeps track of their progress on …
Lesson Summary: Create checkpoints in a large outdoor area. Each checkpoint will have a team oriented or relay type activity that will advance the team to the next checkpoint or must be completed before the team can move to the next checkpoint. Iditarod Trail can be scaled to take only 1 period of Physical Education …