Rounding Down the Trail

Rounding whole numbers can be a challenging concept for elementary students, but adding the Iditarod to it makes learning so much more enjoyable! This rounding lesson is one of my favorites! rounding-4

In this lesson the Iditarod Trail Committee invites students to become “math mushers” and they must race down the trail, including taking two mandatory rests, rounding numbers as they go. Students will learn about the population of checkpoints, distances between checkpoints, annual snowfall in Alaska, and so much more! The first math musher to the finish line is the “Honorary Math Musher Champion” and the last one in is the “Red Lantern Math Musher”.

Year after year, this lesson proves to be a fun and engaging way to have students practice and master rounding whole numbers. If a group of my students finish early, I have them pick books from my Iditarod book bin and find numbers in them to round. A few of my favorites for this activity are Snow Dogs: Racers of the North by Ian Whitelaw and Xtreme Races: Iditarod by S.L. Hamilton. And lastly, to monitor student mastery, I have included a simple exit slip for students to complete before they leave class.