High School

Checkpoint and Trivia Tuesday: Grayling to Eagle Island – Why do mushers put coats on their dogs?

It is time to say good-bye to our young students of Grayling and head up the Yukon river to Eagle Island. This leg of our journey will be approximately 62 miles and will take mushers between 6-9 hours to complete. This section of the trail can be pretty wretched with the blustery wind and bitter …

Alaska HSTRY Timeline

Alaska has a rich history, starting when it was settled by the Russians to the beginning of the Iditarod sled dog race. My students just finished studying the history of Alaska. After class discussion and additional research the students were assigned to create an interactive timeline. We used a new, free learning tool called HSTRY. …

Jr. Insider Crew

If you do not have an Iditarod Insider subscription yet, now is the time for you to subscribe. You and your class will have the opportunity to view videos, follow mushers through GPS tracking, watch live broadcasts, and view the live finish in Nome. Having an Insider subscription is not required for this lesson, but it …

Checkpoint Checkup: Iditarod to Shageluk

We last left Lance Mackey with his dogs in Iditarod. This week we will be continuing our journey and meeting up with 2011 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail™, Martha Dobson, in Shageluk. Before we meet up with Martha we have about 65 miles of hilly ground to cover. This journey will take mushers between 7-10 …

Iditarod Trivia Tuesday: Which 2015 Iditarod musher is a former Jr. Iditarod champion?

The Jr. Iditarod was started in 1978 to give young mushers an opportunity to race a longer distance. The first race in 1978 had two divisions, the junior division, ages 11-4, and the senior division, ages 15-17. Today there is only one division for kids ages 14-17. The Jr. is a 150-mile race that usually …

“Jamaica, We Have a Dogsled Team!”

The Iditarod has an impressive historic value that it brings to the state of Alaska. Not only does it have historic value, but it also shares rich culture among all the countries that participate in the race each year. Including the United States, there are 8 countries represented in this year’s Iditarod. One country not …

Iditarod Trivia Tuesday: Meet the Mushers

Can you believe there are only 67 days left until the start of the 2015 Iditarod race? The last Iditarod Trivia Tuesday led you on a scavenger hunt of the rule book. This week you will use the Iditarod website to familiarize yourself with the 2015 mushers. This is a great time for you and your students …

Checkpoint Checkup: Takotna to Ophir

The last leg of our journey took us from McGrath to Takotna. This week we will ride with Charley Bejna and his team 23 miles to Ophir. When Charley arrived in Takotna with 14 dogs on the line and 1 in the bag, he planned on taking his 24-hour mandatory stop there but for a …

Iditarod Trivia Tuesday: Scavenger Hunt

Last weekend the journey to the Iditarod became even more real for Iditarod rookies. The weekend of December 6-7 was the Iditarod Rookie Meeting. All rookies attend this mandatory meeting. A rookie is a musher who is running the race for the first time or who has never completed the race. Several topics are covered …

Finding Percentages with Cindy Abbott’s Budget

The 2015 Iditarod champion will win $70,000 and a brand new Dodge pickup truck. The amount of money mushers will spend on training, dogs, food, entry fees, supplies, or anything associated with sled dog racing easily surpasses that amount. It’s apparent that dog mushers don’t get into the sport for money. These athletes are in …