Iditarod

Walter McKenzie's 2006 Recommended Sites
http://surfaquarium.com/NEWSLETTER/iditarod2006.htm

About Alaska - http://www.dced.state.ak.us/oed/student_info/student.htm
Presented by the state of Alaska, this site has everything your
class will need to learn about state facts, economy, geography,
boroughs, population, public lands, the pipeline, and so much more.
I especially like the usefulness of sections on native peoples, the
gold rush days, wildlife and the aurora borealis.

Alaska - http://www.education-world.com/a_sites/sites071.shtml
This is a Great Sites piece I wrote for Education World on classroom
resources for the study of our 49th state. It's full of useful links
you can use for a study of the history and geography of Alaska.

Alaska History Toolbox -
http://www.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/akhistory/aktools.htm
Great material for the teacher who wants to dig deeper into the
history and culture of the land that gives us this enduring racing
tradition. And look at the depth of material here. If you're looking
to implement an Alaska unit in which the Iditarod is one component,
this is a great place to start.

Alaska Science Explained - http://www.alaskascience.com/
Neal Brown hosts this site, which includes a nice segment on the
Aurora Borealis and a good presentation of remote mapping to boot.
There's links for further study and an interesting section on
rockets that may be useful in other units you will cover this year.

Alaska Wildlife Notebook -
http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/notehome.php
Great site on all kinds of native animals presented by the Alaska
Department of Fish and Game; newly designed this year.

Alaskan Iditarod Sled Dog Race, An Interactive Unit Study -
http://www.oregontrail.net/~thesmiths/iditarod/idit.html
Sue Smith offers this unit that's ideal for teachers just learning
the race and needing some structure to find success.

Anchorage Daily News - http://www.adn.com/iditarod/
The ADN is a great source of information on the race as it happens -
even the Official Iditarod Website links to it. Here is an archive
of last year's race, including lots of information of recent
dominant musher Doug Swingley and plenty of material on other past
races. It is sure to be updated as this year's race gets underway.

Balto Statue -
http://www.centralparknyc.org/virtualpark/southend/balto/ and
http://fluke.theicecave.org/realbalto.shtml

Cabela's Iditarod Race Coverage - http://www.cabelasiditarod.com/
Cabela's became a new major online contender for race information
and updates last year. Cabela's is an outdoors outfitter that is now
an official sponsor of the race. The site is a combination of free
access to information and offers for all kinds of merchandise. If
you can't find it at the official race site, look here!

Dog Mushing and Iditarod Coverage - http://dogsled.com/
Dogsled.com has long been a first class home base for covering the
Iditarod. They tend to bend a little more towards the human interest
side of the race, so it's definitely designed for use with kids.
It's so full of information it can be kind of busy as you scroll
down the page, but it's 100% information with little or no filler!

Dream A Dream - Reach a Goal -
http://home.insightbb.com/~dbuccola/IDWbquest.htm
Dennis Buccola's Iditarod WebQuest that challenges students to take
on the roles of a television investigative news team. Links are
current and the scavenger hunt is an added bonus.

English Musher Max Hall - http://www.maxhall.com/
For a completely novel point of view, check out Max Hall and his
dogs as they travel across the pond to participate in the Iditarod
Sled Dog Race each year. Then focus is on Max and his team, with
data on past races and race history, as well.

Fascinating Facts -
http://www.bena.com/lucidcafe/library/iditarod2.html
Lots of trivia and historical facts you may not know yourself, or
you may want to use to stump and impress your students.

Gary Paulsen - http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/special/kay/paulsen.html
This Paulsen page covers all his books, many of which have to do
with dogs and sledding - never mind the fact that he's an awesome
writer. N.B. Woodsong, Dogsong and Dogteam.

Goose Lake Kennel - http://www.huskyhomestead.com/
Jeff and Cali King's home page dedicated to the sport and their
dogs, in particular. A nice up-close-and-personal look at the year-
round life of a team.

Iditarod - http://www2.grand-forks.k12.nd.us/ms/iditarod/iditarod.html
Jeanie Olsen's activities for implementing the race in the
classroom. A must see for middle school teachers!

Iditarod Air Force - http://www.iditarodairforce.com/
Get past the tiled backgrounds and you'll find one of the true human
interest stories of the race: the pilots who fly in and out of each
checkpoint with dogs and supplies.

Iditarod Art - http://www.jonvanzyle.com/iditarod.htm
I don't promote commercial products, so this link is not offered as
a sales pitch; but if you're looking for some beautiful Iditarod
images you may want to spend some time here.

Iditarod: Fact not Fiction - http://sunhusky.com/Facts/
June Price offers this rebuttal to those who allege that the
Iditarod is cruel to animals, including pictures, facts and
responses from Dr. John Bramante, Dr. Michael Davis and Janet Oates
of the Alaska Service Area branch of the Providian Health System.

Iditarod Jigsaw Puzzle - http://www.surfnetkids.com/games/iditarod-js.htm
Barbara Feldman offers this Flash-based puzzle of a dogsled team
crossing the open trail; just use your mouse to move each piece into
place. Just for fun.

Iditarod: The Last Great Race - http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson103.shtml
This is an article I wrote for Education World back in 1999 that
offers lots of curriculum connections for teachers wanting to make
their room come alive this Winter celebrating this unique race.

Iditarod 2000 Unit -
http://www.alexandriacentral.org/cove/iditarod.html
A group of fifth graders at Cove Kid Elementary in New York hosted
this unit on the race that is easily adaptable to any race year.
Links include history, rules, the dogs and sled gear.

Iditarod: Race Across Alaska -
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/iditarod/
Scholastic has put together this presentation on the Iditarod with
help from veteran mushers Martin Buser and Mitch Seavey. The
teacher's guide brings together Standards Correlations, Lesson Plans
and Skill sheets to boot. You'll have to ignore the commercial
pitches, but the content is fairly good.

Libby Riddles -
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/frontiers/riddles.html
Libby was the first woman to win the Iditarod, and this NASA feature
is part of their Female Frontiers presentation online.

Mathline: Iditarod -
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/mathline/concepts/iditarod.shtm
PBS TeacherSource presents this collection of ideas for integrating
the Iditarod into your Math instruction; many ideas easily adaptable
for the eIditarod project.

Mrs. O-VD'st Iditarod Adventure -
http://home.centurytel.net/vanopst/Iditarod/index.htm
OK so the page transitions are distracting, the instructional
information is useful and the links to offbeat resources like
Moosecam make it worth the stop.

Mushing - http://www.mushing.com/
Online version of the magazine devoted to sled dog racing; there's a
good bit of information available here without having to get tangled
up in subscription rates.

Peterson's Iditarod 2003 -
http://dpeterson1.homestead.com/iditarod.html
A nice approach to studying the race in the classroom, including the
Iditakid SledKid Race; includes several printable worksheets.

Ramy Brooks - http://www.ramybrooks.com/
Ramy is a regular in the Iditarod race and this page offers a
personal glimpse at the man and his dogs. This page not only offers
personal insights, but presents human interest stories you won't
find anywhere else about the dogs. Consider "Who are the favorite
dogs of the Iditarod?" and "How do the dogs get home from Nome?"

Schools from the Iditarod District -
http://www.iditarodsd.org/Pages/schoolwebpg.html
Want to learn more about the schools along the trail? Here's a great
collection of the school web sites.

Slide Show of the Iditarod -
http://www.iditarodtours.com/slideshow.htm
This fast-paced collection of images is presented by Alaska Iditarod
Tours; the slide show works on a Windows platform only. Mac photo
fans can see Bill Borden's gallery at
http://www.cooldreams.net/gallery/race.

Stephen R. Lee's Mushing Home Page - http://www.ooowoo.com/
Here's coverage of the basics of mushing in simple, easy to
understand format ! The Junior Mushers link is especially
fascinating for teachers who would like to allow their students to
immerse themselves in all it takes to become a musher on the trail.
Check out the detailed directions on how to build your own dog sled -
all from a musher who lives in New Mexico!

Support Your Musher -
http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/jefferson/science/idit.htm
Jill Olsen presents this WebQuest with multiple links for each
online source, so that even if one link is dead in a particular part
of the process you still have options. The assessment tools are a
nice addition.

Ten Math Work Sheets Teach About the Iditarod -
http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson302.shtml
Education World offers these ready-to-print Acrobat files that help
Math teachers integrate the race into instruction; includes
computation, averaging, percents, fractions and elapsed time.

Tilford on the Trail - http://www.vinton-shellsburg.k12.ia.us/tms/seventh/rdg7/iditarod/idit.html
Judy Mitschelen brings together a great collection of information
for anyone learning about the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. There's
history, fascinating facts, and in-depth information. The musher's
links need to be updated, but if Judy's true to form she'll have
them updated before the race is close. Definitely worth a look!

Ultimate Iditarod - http://www.ultimateiditarod.com/
This site touts itself as an inside look at the race and may be
worth your consideration in planning for this year's event.

Veterinary Educational Team - http://www.drsonny.com/Default.htm
Now dated, this site still contains valuable information "about the
sport of sled dog racing, including the humanitarian treatment of
the animals used in arctic life."

Who Wants to be a Millionaire? -
http://webhome.crk.umn.edu/~dlim/Flash/iditarod.html
Great use of Flash technology to create an interactive screen that
is modeled after the popular game show format. The questions get
tough, so make sure your kids have done their homework!

Women of the Iditarod -
http://library.thinkquest.org/11313/Iditarod/?tqskip1=1&tqtime=1206
The good news is ThinkQuest is getting their archive of entries back
up. The even better news is this site on Susan Butcher, Libby
Riddles, DeeDee Jonrowe and Mary Shields is available once again!

Working Dog Web - http://www.workingdogweb.com/Iditarod.htm
Lots of information here and some teacher links too. The nice child-
friendly design makes it easy to incorporate into your class
studies. Topics include Race History, the Iditarod Trail, Dogs &
Mushers, News Media Coverage, Equipment & Strategy and Iditarod in
the Classroom.

The Iditarod