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Science
Iditarod Mushers are naturally Design Thinkers. They are constantly thinking and looking for ways to make things more efficient, more cost-effective, more comfortable… safer, faster, easier. So why not give your students real life design challenges centered around problems that mushers face daily in their training and racing? The lesson plan features a challenge centered …
Mushers are constantly tinkering – working on ways to build better sleds, harnesses, cookers, dog jackets, etc… Your students are also natural tinkers too – always playing and fiddling around with found objects…. Why not mesh the two together with these Iditarod Inspired Tinker Tubs? Students will be provided materials to try to build various …
Essential Question: “Who is best adapted to stay on top of the snow in an arctic environment?” (Adaptation) by Sid Lucas Students use scientific media to determine the average weight and average surface area of the paws/hooves of various arctic animals. The surface area to mass ratios are compared to quantify and rank how well …
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 …
Essential Question: How do cells function? (Cell Structure and Function) By Sid Lucas Students will use the components of an Iditarod racing kennel and the functional role they play in building an Iditarod dog team, to create a metaphorical model of a cell and the functional role its organelles play in creating proteins. Students will …
Essential Question: What does it take to build a dog team? (Genetics/Selective Breeding/Inheritance) By Sid Lucas Students learn about the history and selective breeding of the Alaskan Husky sled dog by applying specific rules of inheritance and simulating a musher’s breeding program to achieve a lead dog with superior traits. Prior Knowledge: Students should have …
Whatever Pulls Your Sled by Jeanine Wolf Students will test determine if the surface of an object will effect how much force it takes to pull that object. They will then determine the most efficient way to attach the string to the object to reduce the necessary force and finally they will adjust the take …
Take the Iditarod Science Fair Challenge! Submit an entry for the Virtual Iditarod Science Fair. Get your thinking caps on and start planning! Challenge your students to create their science project around discovery about the concepts of mushing and sled dogs. Submit Iditarod based Science Fair Project to be included in our Online Iditarod …
The 2016 Iditarod class has been learning about informational text and graphic features in my language arts class. We used the Scholastic book Mush! Sled Dogs of the Iditarod by Joe Funk and the Iditarod.com site to help us learn all about the history and fascinating trivia and facts of the Last Great Race on …
Trent Herbst, Iditarod veteran musher and Idaho teacher, shares a unique program with audiences focusing on a very hands-on experience for his 4th graders. The students choose a project to build and it’s ranged from rolling to floating to sliding vehicles. The sliding ones, the sleds they build, get pulled by a couple of Trent’s …