Iditarod

The Last Great Race on Earth officially starts tomorrow, March 2 at 10am Alaska time. This race is a wonderful learning opportunity for our children. Subjects that can be covered through the race include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Geography - Alaska, where it is in relation to the state in which we live, time zones, the size of Alaska compared to the rest of the US, how is it possible that parts of the race are actually run on rivers


• Math - Ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, etc), adding and subtracting time, comparisons of temperatures of Alaska and where you live


• History - The serum run that inspired the race, the history of the native people who live in the region


• Science - Meterology (weather in a polar region), Northern Lights, Biology (why huskies and malamutes are "built" for this type of activity, the care and feeding of the sled dogs)


• Writing - Write letters to your favorite mushers, write a narrative of the daily activities in the race


• Reading - There are several books that could be found at the local library about the Iditarod, both fiction and nonfiction


• Ministry - We pray for the mushers and their safety

We studied the Iditarod for the first time last year and can't wait for the start of the race tomorrow afternoon (our time). We will be following Dee Dee Jonrowe (a cancer survivor), Zoya DeNure (a fashion model), Cim Smyth (firefighter), and Jessie Royer (long-time musher).

Some helpful websites:
The Official Site of the Iditarod
Cabela's Iditarod
Scholastic's Iditarod