Max gets distracted by sticks. He will not be running in any races.

Earlier this morning Dallas Seavey won the Iditarod dog sled race. As I followed this news on Twitter I saw a couple of teachers Tweet pictures and comments about their students’ reactions to the end of the race. That reminded me that I have previously shared some resources for teaching and learning about the Iditarod and dogs in general. A few of those resources are highlighted below.

For students who are interested in learning about the dogs used to pull the sleds over the 1100 mile Iditarod course, the American Kennel Club is a good place to find information about Alaskan Malamutes and Siberian Huskies. I should note that most of the dogs that run in the race aren’t pure-bred dogs. I’ve met many mushers and one of my former colleagues is a musher (not in the Iditarod) whose teams aren’t what you might expect to see when you think of sled dogs. To learn about genetics and breeding of dogs I recommend National Geographic’s article How to Build a Dog.

On the Iditarod Education Portal you will many lesson plans about the race. The Iditarod Education Portal includes lessons for math, science, social studies, and language arts. Take a look at this lesson (link opens a PDF) about friction to get a sense of the kind of lesson plans that you will find through the Iditarod Education Portal.

The Scholastic Iditarod resources include some pieces on the history of the race and history of Alaska in general.