Follow the Leaders

Brief Description

Objectives

• learn about the backgrounds of different mushers.
• learn what it takes to be a musher.
• track daily progress of a team by using race logs that are filed online.
• track progress on a map.
• keep a journal of his/her team's progress.

Keywords

Materials Needed

• computer with Internet access or printed pages from the Iditarod Web site and other Internet resources
• Checkpoint Sheet -- create a checkpoint sheet based on the checkpoints of this year's route

Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students follow the progress of Iditarod mushers and their dog teams. Each student follows a different team and updates that team's progress (daily, if possible) during the race.

This lesson might be used in conjunction with another of this week's activities, Mush! Tracking Travelers on the Trail. Students can use the map ideas in that lesson -- including a map bulletin board -- to track the progress of the selected mushers.

Before the Lesson
How much do your students know about the Iditarod? If their knowledge is minimal, before introducing the lesson you might want to provide them with some Iditarod background and history.

The Activity
More than 70 sled teams will participate in this year's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Brief biographies of those individuals are available on the official Iditarod Web site; see Musher Listing. (Click each musher's name to learn more about him or her.) To start the lesson, you might print out the biography pages, cut them into individual biographies, and provide each student with a musher bio.

Alternatively, students might choose mushers at random: Put all the bios in a hat or bowl and let students select. There are probably enough women mushers this year that each girl might be able to follow a different woman, if you feel that is appropriate. Older students might read through the biographies and select a musher whose background sounds interesting. (That might be difficult to do, however; all the bios are very interesting!)

During the race students can check each day for Race Updates. Students can track their musher and dog team on the Musher Checkpoint Sheet they created from the checkpoints of this year's race.

Note: The race takes a different route in odd- and even-numbered years; it follows the Southern Trail in odd-numbered years and the Northern Trail in even-numbered years. See the Mush! Tracking Travelers on the Trail lesson for more information about race routes.

Extension Activities

• Math. Have students "do the math" by figuring out exactly how much progress the mushers make each day and how much time they are on the trail.
• History. As the race progresses, students will be excited to learn more about the history of the Iditarod. Use the opportunity to share some of that history with them. Each day you might share another piece of history from Iditarod background and history.
• Language. Students might keep a journal during the race. That journal might be a personal journal in which they document their mushers' times and progress. Each day they can also add a new fact about the history of the race, their musher, or the dogs. Or students might keep a journal in which they write as if they are the musher, sharing their thoughts and feelings about the race, their dogs, and anything else that is appropriate.
• Geography. Students track daily progress on an Iditarod map. (See a larger version of a route map.)
• Spelling. Base the week's spelling words on mushing terminology.
• See additional lessons that are part of this article or view lessons from our archives in previous articles, The Iditarod: The Last Great Race and Iditarod Activities Across the Grades.

Additional Sources
Students in grade 4 and above can use a variety of online news sources to learn more about the race and track the progress of their assigned teams. Following are a handful of Internet sources that publish regular updates about this year's race:

• Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race: Official Site of the Last Great Race
• Anchorage Daily News Iditarod Page
• Cabela's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Coverage
• GoMush.com
• Ultimate Iditarod Info and Updates

Assessment

Assessment depends on which of the activities listed above are used.

Lesson Plan Source

Education World

Submitted By

Gary Hopkins

National Standards

LANGUAGE ARTS: English

GRADES K - 12
NL-ENG.K-12.1 Reading for Perspective
NL-ENG.K-12.2 Reading for Understanding
NL-ENG.K-12.4 Communication Skills
NL-ENG.K-12.6 Applying Knowledge
NL-ENG.K-12.7 Evaluating Data
NL-ENG.K-12.8 Developing Research Skills
NL-ENG.K-12.9 Multicultural Understanding
NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying Language Skills

• GRADES Pre-K - 2

NM-NUM.PK-2.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
NM-NUM.PK-2.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates

• GRADES 3 - 5

NM-NUM.3-5.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
NM-NUM.3-5.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates

GRADES 6 - 8
NM-NUM.6-8.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
NM-NUM.6-8.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates

GRADES 9 - 12
NM-NUM.9-12.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
NM-NUM.9-12.3 Compute Fluently and Make Reasonable Estimates

• GRADES 3 - 5

NM-MEA.3-5.1 Understand Measurable Attributes of Objects and the Units, Systems, and Processes of Measurement
NM-MEA.3-5.2 Apply Appropriate Techniques, Tools, and Formulas to Determine Measurements

GRADES 6 - 8
NM-MEA.6-8.1 Understand Measurable Attributes of Objects and the Units, Systems, and Processes of Measurement
NM-MEA.6-8.2 Apply Appropriate Techniques, Tools, and Formulas to Determine Measurements

GRADES 9 - 12
NM-MEA.9-12.1 Understand Measurable Attributes of Objects and the Units, Systems, and Processes of Measurement
NM-MEA.9-12.2 Apply Appropriate Techniques, Tools, and Formulas to Determine Measurements

• GRADES Pre-K - 2

NM-DATA.PK-2.2 Select and Use Appropriate Statistical Methods to Analyze Data

• GRADES 3 - 5

NM-DATA.3-5.2 Select and Use Appropriate Statistical Methods to Analyze Data

GRADES 6 - 8
NM-DATA.6-8.2 Select and Use Appropriate Statistical Methods to Analyze Data

GRADES 9 - 12
NM-DATA.9-12.2 Select and Use Appropriate Statistical Methods to Analyze Data

GRADES Pre-K - 12
NM-CONN.PK-12.1 Recognize and Use Connections Among Mathematical Ideas
NM-CONN.PK-12.2 Understand How Mathematical Ideas Interconnect and Build on One Another to Produce a Coherent Whole
NM-CONN.PK-12.3 Recognize and Apply Mathematics in Contexts Outside of Mathematics

GRADES Pre-K - 12
NM-REP.PK-12.1 Create and Use Representations to Organize, Record, and Communicate Mathematical Ideas

GRADES K - 12
NSS-G.K-12.1 The World in Spatial Terms
NSS-G.K-12.2 Places and Regions
NSS-G.K-12.5 Environment and Society

GRADES K - 12
NT.K-12.1 Basic Operations and Concepts
NT.K-12.5 Technology Research tools

See more lessons in this week's Lesson Planning article Iditarod Brrrreathes Life Into Tired Curriculum (Brrrr!).

View additional lesson plans in the following articles from our archives:
* The Iditarod: The Last Great Race
* Iditarod Activities Across the Grades