Category Archives: Science

Hello Texas!

Posted on February 26, 2013 by | Comments Off

DSC_2031The 2013 Winter Conference for Educators is now officially underway.  Teachers and presenters are gathered here from Alaska and the Lower 48 states.  New for the conference this year is presenter Barbara Cargill who is the chair of the State Board of Education in Texas.  Barbara is committed to Science curriculum in her state, and what better way to incorporate Science but by using the Iditarod.

Screen Shot 2013-02-26 at 2.37.01 PM

Temperature in Alaska on Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 2:45 PM

So Texas students, let’s do a quick weather comparison.  Right now in Anchorage, Alaska the temperature is 36  degrees.  In Nome it is -10 degrees.  Let’s get some comparisons.  What is the temperature in Texas?  What is the difference?  Please let me know at emailtheteacher@iditarod.com.

How about other states?  A great activity is to track the weather in your town and a checkpoint during the race.  Make a graph to show your comparisons.  No matter where you are – I hope you are having good weather.

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Posted in Curriculum, Math, Messages from Linda, Science

4 Forces of Flight

Posted on January 30, 2013 by | Comments Off

DSC_0768I’m looking forward to so many things with my upcoming adventure:  Talking with mushers, presenting to schools in Alaska, seeing the dogs and on and on.  Another top thing on my list is flying with the Iditarod Air Force.  In a previous blog, I shared a simple lesson on surface area.  Attached here are a few more lessons covering the 4 forces of flight – lift, weight, thrust and drag.  Students made the discovery that Dogsleds use 3 of the 4 forces while racing – see if your students can also figure it out :-) .

DSC_0769Once again, you can get as complicated as you want with the lessons depending on how how deep you want to go in the classroom with your students.  Using flight in the classroom, like the Iditarod, is a great motivator.  Enjoy!

Parachutes & Drag

Wing Shape & Lift

Air Pressure & Lift

Illuminations Rescue Mission Game

Illuminations Rescue Mission Game.2

Illuminations Rescue Mission Game.3

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Posted in Elementary, Messages from Linda, Science

Senses of Snow

Posted on January 22, 2013 by | Comments Off

DSC_1118

Students from Wisconsin and the northern states that have snow, know snow.  But until we talked about the physical properties of snow, they took it for granted as simply snow.  Snow can be very different.  The snow I chose for our investigation in a recent Science lesson on matter was light, fluffy snow.  The snow on the ground right now (in this -35 degree F weather) resembles ice chunks.  It is said that Eskimos have 50 words for snow – this has been disputed as urban legend, but then came this recent article from the Washington Post titled “There Really Are 50 Eskimo Words For Snow“.  Personally, I can see how there can be 50 or more words for snow because of all the differences.

DSC_1119Senses of Snow  The lesson has to do with describing snow using the 5 senses.  Middle School and High School students could do research on the 50 words for snow.  Whether there are 50 words for snow or just one, I have three words – bring it on.

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Posted in Curriculum, Elementary, Messages from Linda, Science

Flying With The Iditarod Air Force

Posted on January 9, 2013 by | Comments Off

When some people think of me being the Teacher on the Trail, they think of me on a dog sled racing along.  Now I have an adventurous spirit – but not that adventurous.  I will actually be flying to different checkpoints along the trail with the Iditarod Air Force, a group of pilot volunteers who help make the race happen.  According to front_page2the IAF Statistics Page on their website, “Our 31 volunteer pilots collectively bring 743 years and 420,000 hours of flying experience to the table.“  Click on the picture at the left to check out their website for more stats, information and beautiful pictures.  I’m very excited about flying with this group of dedicated volunteers in remote Alaska and know I’ll be in good hands.

In my school district, part of the 3rd grade Science Curriculum is Flight.  Third Graders learn the history and science of flight in a comprehensive unit.  We are fortunate to live near Oshkosh, Wisconsin and the home of the Experimental Aircraft Association Museum and yearly fly-in.  Our unit culminates in a field trip to the museum – a highlight of our Third Grade year.  Many of the flight lessons I will be sharing originate from their Education Department.

One of our first activities is to learn about surface area.  I’ve attached a simple lesson plan that teaches the concept of gliding and dropping.  It’s time to Take Flight!  Surface Area

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Posted in Curriculum, Elementary, Messages from Linda, Science

Aurora Borealis

Posted on January 5, 2013 by | Comments Off

DSC_1087

I love it when on that rare occasion I start a project with my class, finish it, and actually get a bulletin board up on the same day.  That happened Friday with my DSC_1067lesson on the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights.  Explaining the Aurora can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it.  There are several websites in the Lesson Plan with explanations of how they appear in the night sky.  Students loved the art project that went with the lesson and we have chalk handprints on dark surfaces around the classroom to prove it.  I found the art project portion of the lesson on the Iditarod website years ago.  I don’t have the name of the creator, but thank you.    Aurora Borealis

In Wisconsin we have an occasional glimpse of the Aurora Borealis in the night sky.  I’m looking forward to many things during my time on the Iditarod Trail and something on the top of my list is to experience the Northern Lights in Alaska.  Hopefully the sun and sky will cooperate.

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Posted in Art, Elementary, Messages from Linda, Science

What’s Up With the Weather?

Posted on January 2, 2013 by | Comments Off

I was looking for results for the Top Of The World 350 – Lance Mackey won by the way – and came across an article from the Alaska Dispatch about the Knik 200 being cancelled due to weather.  http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/knik-200-becomes-latest-sled-dog-race-bite-dust

mushOur friend, Angie Taggart, has been training with a sled instead of a 4-wheeler so I thought the snow was fine.  Apparently it has still been unseasonably warm in some areas and they are trying to work around melting, mushy snow.

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My class has been tracking the weather in Nome, but I guess it’s time to track in other places and make comparisons.

Last year my students compared the weather in Anchorage with the weather in Waupaca.  Attached is a lesson plan for comparing temperature, as well as a short video of some of the results from their comparisons last year.  Let it snow!!

What’s The Temperature

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Posted in Elementary, Math, Messages from Linda, Science

Dog Traits

Posted on November 11, 2012 by | Comments Off

I have this mantra about lesson plans – steal . . . ahem . . . borrow and tweak.  This lesson is an example of my mantra.  At the Winter Conference for Educators last year, Sid Lucas, a High School teacher from Kiel, Wisconsin, presented a lesson about genetics.  Seeing the value of the lesson and realizing it was too advanced for 3rd graders, I stole . . . ahem . . . borrowed Sid’s lesson and tweaked it for 8 year olds.  In class, we discussed the traits of sled dogs as we looked through the book Dogs of the Iditarod by Jeff Schultz.  The next step was creating our own sled dog.

With the shake of the dice, students had a 50/50 chance of getting a male or female dog.  After that the odds changed for different traits.  Once they had their traits and shaded in the Trait Wheel, we compared dogs.  Were there any dogs exactly the same?  Exactly opposite?  It was a fun discussion.  Next their creative juices kicked in.  They had to draw their dogs with the traits they had.  It was a great activity and, without realizing it, students learned many things about the traits of sled dogs.

Dog Traits Lesson Plan

Also look for Sid Lucas’s lesson in the Science section at Iditarod.com.  It’s not posted yet, but will be there soon.

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Posted in Messages from Linda, Science

Finding What Works in the Classroom 2.24.11

Posted on February 24, 2011 by | Comments Off

Temperature in Wasilla, late morning, 20°F, little wind

Teachers want to know what works in the classroom to facilitate student learning and to achieve growth in their learning. The research-based document,What Works in Classroom Instruction by Robert Marzano, Barbara Gaddy, and Ceri Dean (http://www.leigh.cuhsd.org/teachers/pdf/Marzano_Strategies.pdf),  is a good resource which explains the research behind classroom strategies and their effect. The effect sizes of various strategies range from .59 to 1.61. An effect size of 1.0 is roughly equivalent to one year’s growth in achievement. Please refer to the above article for a table of strategies and effect sizes.

Strategies that were found to strongly affect student achievement include homework and practice, setting goals and providing feedback, non-linguistic representation, summarizing and note-taking, identifying similarities and differences, cooperative learning, reinforcing effort and providing recognition, generating and testing hypotheses, and activating prior knowledge. The two highest effect sizes fell in the strategies of summarizing and note-taking and identifying similarities and differences. This site has helpful information about using these strategies.

http://www.tltguide.ccsd.k12.co.us/instructional_tools/Strategies/Strategies.html

Part of my job as the Target® 2011 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail™ is giving presentations to students in Alaska schools. I started those today.  The presentation gives students a chance to learn aboutsome  similarities and differences of Alaska and North Carolina. Letting students use a Venn diagram, Thinking Maps (double bubble or bubble maps) or write about the differences and similarities of the two states would be methods to carry out a strategy with a high effect size.

The Iditarod Race is a tool to use to create a lesson on note-taking and summarizing or on identifying similarities and differences. Perhaps your area has a sport or race which could be compared and contrasted with the Iditarod, or watch Iditarod Insider video clips to practice taking notes and then organizing those notes into categories. Maybe those categories could be more easily remembered by using non-linguistic representation, another strategy which can positively affect student learning.     

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Posted in Art, Art, Art, Curriculum, Elementary, Environmental Education, Environmental Education, Environmental Education, Geography, Geography, Geography, High School, Language Arts, Language Arts, Language Arts, Math, Math, Math, Math, Messages from Martha, Middle School, PreSchool & Kindergarten, Reading, Science, Science, Science, Social Studies, Social Studies, Social Studies, Technology, Technology, Technology

Something to Do While You Follow Me!

Posted on January 1, 2011 by | Comments Off

When I arrive in Alaska around February 22, I’ll post often to keep you in the loop about what I am doing and what is going on with the race. And, when the race starts March 6, I’ll post daily about the race and teachable moments.

The NUMBER ONE question I’m asked is: “Don’t you get cold in Alaska?”   To help others Outside of Alaska understand the cold, I’ll post the temperature and wind speed daily on my site while I’m in Alaska. By the way, Outside refers to anywhere not in Alaska, and usually to  the other states of the U.S. Use this information for the following activities to figure out if I’m getting cold! (Don’t worry. I’ve got all the right gear to keep from getting cold!)

  • Elementary–Color a paper thermometer which shows your area’s temperature and another one showing the temperature I posted. Write the temperatures correctly.
  • Elementary–Make a chart or graph showing the temperatures I post.
  • Middle School—Use the lesson plan I posted in Coordinates for Your Sled-The Math Trail to make a 2 or 3 line graph plotting and comparing the temperatures I post and your area’s temperatures.
  • Middle School—Relate positive and negative numbers to the temperatures I post and the temperatures in your area.
  • Secondary—Convert the Fahrenheit temperatures I post to Celsius, and then back again. It’s a great workout for your brain! (Don’t use the converter program, use brain power.) http://www.albireo.ch/temperatureconverter/formula.htm Accessed 12.27.201    

 Fahrenheit to Celsius  

    Celsius to Fahrenheit  

     

  • Secondary—Calculate windchill and use those algebra skills. I’ll post the temperature and the windspeed daily during the race. You calculate the wind chill for a REAL brain workout. http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/basics/windchill/wind-chill-formulas.htm Accessed 12.26.2010
  • Any age level—Research and learn about Fahrenheit and Celsius temperatures. Write a paragraph or paper or create a power point show about the history of how these different ways of measuring temperatures came to exist, why scientists use Celsius more than Fahrenheit, which countries use Fahrenheit more than Celsius, what Celsius used to be called, etc.
  • Read Sanka’s postings on Zuma’s Paw Prints. This K-9 reporter includes weather and climate information in his postings.  http://iditarodblogs.com/zuma/

Mushing on,

Martha

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Posted in Elementary, Environmental Education, Environmental Education, Environmental Education, High School, Language Arts, Language Arts, Language Arts, Math, Math, Math, Messages from Martha, Middle School, Science, Science, Science

Iditarod is Coming! Fill Your Sled Now!

Posted on January 1, 2011 by | Comments Off

(Keep on reading to find some ideas of activities for your students to do.)

Mushers carry the following mandatory items in their sleds during the race. I bet you can make this list relevant to what students need to be prepared for their job of school.

  •  Proper cold weather sleeping bag weighing a minimum of 5 lbs.
  • Ax, to weigh a minimum of 1-3/4 lbs., handle to be at least 22” long.
  • One operational pair of snowshoes with bindings, each snowshoe to be at least 252 square inches in size.
  • Any promotional material provided by the ITC.
  • Eight booties for each dog in the sled or in use.
  • One operational cooker and pot capable of boiling at least three (3) gallons of water at one time.
  • Veterinarian notebook, to be presented to the veterinarian at each checkpoint.
  • An adequate amount of fuel to bring three (3) gallons of water to a boil.
  • Cable gang line or cable tie out capable of securing dog team.
  • When leaving a checkpoint adequate emergency dog food must be on the sled. (This will be carried in addition to what you carry for routine feeding and snacking.)
  • http://iditarod.com/pdfs/2011/rules.pdf

Right now, mushers are preparing for the race by freezing and bagging their dogs’ food for the race, planning and preparing their people food and supply bags, running their teams on daily training runs and in races like the Copper Basin, the Sheep Mountain 150, or the Gin Gin 200. I am always curious about names, so I researched how the Gin Gin 200 got its name.

Who was Gin Gin?
The Gin Gin 200 is named after a remarkable dog who dominated a dog kennel for over 10 years. She was an inspiration both on the trail and in the dog yard. She was a dog with unswerving loyalty and stubbornness. She did not know” quit”. Her ability, drive and attitude should serve as an example to dog drivers everywhere.  http://www.gingin200.com/ accessed 1.1.11

Fill your classroom sled with some of these ideas to get your class prepared for the Iditarod.  Choose one way or several ways, or think of your own way to connect your students, your curriculum and the race.

  • Start now visiting www.iditarod.com and  http://iditarodblogs.com/teachers/ , the For Teachers section of that site for ideas to use. There is an exciting lesson plan idea using the Blabberize website on the For Teachers section. http://iditarodblogs.com/teachers/
  • Read Zuma’s Paw Prints at the For Teachers page. Zuma and other K-9 reporters give you information about the race. http://iditarodblogs.com/teachers/
  • Adopt a musher(s) and use this form to chart his/her race progress. http://iditarod.com/pdfs/teacher/MusherDataSheets.pdf Scroll down to find the southern route chart. The southern route is run in odd-numbered years. The race data is free and is found on www.iditarod.com.
  • Create a race route map along your classroom’s walls or down your hallway and move your adopted musher(s) along the map. This link takes you to the race map and access to a list of the mileage between each checkpoint for the southern and northern race routes. http://iditarodblogs.com/teachers/2009/11/21/maps-of-the-iditarod-trail/
  •  Teach a novel or read books about the race or related topics. Find books to choose from on these lists.  http://iditarodblogs.com/teachers/iditarod-books/
  • Math problems for elementary and middle school are in December’s posting on this site.
  • Teach students to convert the 24 hour clock time, used to report race times, to 12 hour clock times. Great mental exercise!
  • Temperature charting, wind chill calculation, converting temperatures from Fahrenheit to Celsius and back again. (See my posting on this site titled Something to Do While You Follow Me! for details)
  • Watch the free Iditarod Insider videos or sign up for this special video view of the race. You and your class can see what’s happening in the race via these clips. http://insider.iditarod.com/

Mushing on,

Martha

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Posted in Environmental Education, Environmental Education, Environmental Education, High School, Language Arts, Language Arts, Language Arts, Math, Math, Math, Math, Messages from Martha, Middle School, PreSchool & Kindergarten, Reading, Science, Science, Science, Technology, Technology, Technology

Snow!

Posted on December 16, 2010 by | Comments Off

North Carolina, my home, is a state with very different regions—the Appalachian Mountains in the western part of the state; the rolling land of the Piedmont where I live; the flat coastal farmland edging to the Atlantic Ocean. Snow frequently visits the mountains of NC, but not so often elsewhere in the state.

Snow fell the first two weekends of December in the Piedmont, not much at all, but considering I can’t remember the last time snow fell here in December, the snowfall was remarkable for that fact alone.

Usually the snow that falls here is fluffy flakes; last week the snow looked like tiny balls of Styrofoam. Take a look at the pictures to see it.

Whether you live where snow falls or not, enjoy these books about snow. By Cynthia Rylant, the book titled Snow; Snow Show by Carolyn Fisher which explains scientific process regarding snow; Recess at 20 Below by Alaskan teacher Cindy Lou Aillaud about playing outside in cold weather conditions; The Snowflake-Winter’s Secret Beauty by Kenneth Libbrecht and Patricia Rasmussen; The Truth About Snow People by Blue Lantern Studio, available at Target®; and, of course, The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.

What books do you already enjoy about snow? Enjoy them again with hot chocolate or apple cider. Happy Winter to you!

Mushing on,

Martha

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Posted in Elementary, Language Arts, Messages from Martha, PreSchool & Kindergarten, Reading, Science

More Lessons & Ideas to Fill Your Sled!

Posted on August 7, 2010 by | Comments Off

August is upon us, and we teachers know the clock is ticking towards that first day of school. In July, I posted clip art to help you with bulletin boards, room decorations, and more. You got a great start with reading Big-Enough Anna by Pam Flowers, too. The lessons this month will show you how to apply an article in almost any subject and how to take a seemingly unrelated lesson and use it in your subject area. The first lesson, Using The Story of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, takes an article from The Learning Works, Inc. and shows you how to use it not only for reading and language arts, but for subjects such as science and history, and that it can be used with all ages, including adults. I use the article to introduce the race and its history to my classes each year, and I share it with adults and staff as a quick way to familiarize them with the race. Here are two sets of questions to use with the article, too. One focuses on reading for detail, and the other set is multiple choice informational text questions.

The second lesson is a physical education lesson plan by Terrie Hanke, the Wells Fargo 2006 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail™, and shows how I adapted it for my English/language arts classes several years ago. This scavenger hunt got us running around outdoors, but it also taught cooperation and problem solving. We put the checkpoint names on the cards under the cones for student teams to find. When we finished the physical education part of the lesson, students wrote a summary of the activity’s procedures and an evaluation of the successes and challenges of the activity. The writing portion of the activity was completed over several days. One modification I made to Terrie’s lesson was to only have one team running the hunt at a time. We played our scavenger, or checkpoint, hunt outdoors on the softball field’s outfield to avoid conflict with PE classes in the gym or on other fields. This hunt is also a good way for students to become familiar with the names of the race’s checkpoints. Younger students can focus on writing directions for playing the activity. Secondary students should write clear, varied sentences with correct mechanics and show insight regarding the activity in their writings.

The photo of Togo was taken at the Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla, Alaska. He is “stuffed”, having been preserved by a taxidermist. The statue of Balto is also at headquarters. It is identical to the one in New York’s Central Park. Read the article The Story of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race to find out more about these dogs.

Fill your sled this year with your variations on my plans. Let us know what you do and how you do it!

Mushing on,

Martha

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Posted in Elementary, High School, Language Arts, Language Arts, Language Arts, Messages from Martha, Middle School, Science, Science, Science, Social Studies, Social Studies, Social Studies

Lessons From Herb Brambley

Posted on November 29, 2009 by | Leave a comment

(Under construction.  Links to be added soon.)

Lesson 1: Introduction to the Iditarod Sled Dog Race; Grades 2-8; Geography, Social Studies, and Science; This lesson introduces how climate relates to lifestyle and culture.

Lesson 2: The Alaskan Husky; Grades 4-8; Technology, Science; This lesson uses computer skills such as cutting, pasting, and saving a Word document as a vehicle to learn the unique characteristics of the Alaskan Husky. 

Lesson 3: Making Electricity from the Sun; Grades 4-12; Science, Technology, Geography, Environmental Education; In this hands on lesson students see how the angle of a solar panel in relationship to the sun’s rays directly effects voltage output.  The Internet is used to research the average hours of sunlight per day for locations across the globe.    

Lesson 4: Wilderness Survival; Grades 4-8; Social Studies, Environmental Education; Students actually build a debris shelter(or model) as they study the hierarchy of survival priorities.  Read Iditarod stories of survival from the book More Iditarod Classics.

Lesson 5:The Reason for the Seasons; Grades 2 -6;  Science, Environmental Education; Students learn about the tilt of the earth and the angle of incidents of the sun’s rays and explain the causes of seasonal change.

Lesson 6: Are We There Yet; Grades 5-12; Technology, Geography; Find out how far it is from your house to Alaska and how long it will take to get there driving, walking, or using public transportation.

Lesson 7: Why is Iditarod a Ghost Town ; Grades 4-12; Environmental Education, Social Studies; Students determine the best place to locate a village by evaluating several locations for available water resources, type of soil, signs of wildlife, and ease of travel.

Lesson 8: The Cold Hard Facts; Grades 4 and above; Technology, Science, Math;In this lesson students use an Excel spreadsheet to record temperature data from their local area and a location in Alaska.  They also use the graphing capability of Excel to create a graph that compares the 2 locations.

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Posted in Curriculum, Elementary, Environmental Education, Environmental Education, Environmental Education, High School, Math, Math, Math, Middle School, Science, Science, Science, Social Studies, Social Studies, Social Studies, Technology, Technology, Technology