![](https://iditarod.com/wp-content/themes/iditarod/images/icon-instagram.png"){kind=icon}
Teach and Learn
Engaging lessons based on Insider video clips.
Our four-legged correspondents write for all ages..
Collection of all things Iditarod.
Latest Teach and Learn Posts
“Always striving to find ways to get the trail recognized, another idea was hatched at one of the many meetings. The Iditarod Trail was a mail trail, so why not have each musher carry mail? An arrangement was made with the U.S. Postal Service to carry cachets, packets of letters, over the Iditarod to Nome. …
Jon Van Zyle, Official Artist for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, shares a tutorial for your students to encourage your students to have fun and create their own masterpieces! In this first in our series of art tutorials, you’ll meet Jon Van Zyle, an artist who lives in Alaska. As the Official Artist for …
We learned from our Skype with Denali National Park (Denali Skype) that one of the adaptations that sled dogs have that allow them to survive in the arctic is their fur. Sled dogs actually have two coats of fur. The under layer is thick and dense and helps to keep the dogs warm. The outer layer, …
One of the big parts of our Social Studies curriculum in third grade is the study of our National Parks as a subtopic of our study of Fifty States. Alaska is the home to 15 national parks, preserves, monuments and historic parks. The Park Service in Alaska also oversees 49 National Historic Landmarks and 16 …
“How cold is it going to be in Alaska when you are there?” is the question I seem to be asked most often these days. I decided to get my students started on the task of tracking the weather in Alaska and comparing it to what is going on here in Baltimore. We are creating …
The story goes that a group of five to seven kids started the Junior Iditarod because they were less then eighteen years old and therefore couldn’t compete in the main race. The first race was held in 1978 and there were actually two divisions that year; a junior division for ages 11-14 and a senior …
Akiak A Tale from the Iditarod is realistic fiction by author and illustrator Robert J. Blake. Akiak (ACK-ee-ack) is a lead sled dog who hurts a paw during the Iditarod, causing her musher to drop her from the team at one of the race checkpoints. She is cared for by the race veterinarians, but …
When the weather turns colder and my kids start complaining about having to go outside for morning recess (yes, we need to have a talk about recess in Alaska in the winter), I know it’s time to start our MMM Challenges! We are starting ours a bit early this year so they are completed by …
Just a quick comparison: Baltimore time: 1:30pm Squid Acre time: 9:30am Baltimore temperature: 51⁰F Squid Acre temperature: 0⁰ It’s a distance of 4, 152 miles away from us and would take us 2 days and 23 hours to drive there. But with Skype, we could connect in a matter of minutes! Using Skype in the …
“Fifty Nifty United States, From thirteen original colonies, Fifty nifty stars in the flag, That billow so beautifully in the breeze, Each individual state contributes a quality that is great….” This song has been stuck in my head for nearly a month now as we have been working on our Fifty States unit. If you …