Surfing the Net with Kids: Iditarod

March 11, 2001 Dear Readers, Welcome back. Today I have the pleasure of introducing a new sponsor, Box-4-Blox, with a unique product for LEGO families. We’ve been a LEGO family for twelve years, so I am quite familiar with the problem of picking up, sorting and storing those little blocks (“Ouch! Get these LEGOs off the floor!”) This sorting-and-storing product (invented by a mom) has been quite successful in New Zealand, and now is available (via the Internet) for the rest of us! Today’s Iditarod topic is accompanied by the following games: Iditarod Word Search Iditarod Quiz Iditarod Jigsaw Today’s newsletter is made possible by: St. Patrick’s Day Celebrate the wearing of the green with your kids! Enjoy St. Patrick’s Day quizzes and activities. You can do a little family research of your own this year, too! Visit FamilyEducation.com today! SICK AND TIRED OF PICKING UP THE KIDS’ LEGOS? Then you will absolutely love BOX-4-BLOX!!! Devised by a mother of four, BOX-4-BLOX is the ultimate storage container that not only STORES but also SORTS Legos. At long last, no more blocks spread all over the floor! CLICK HERE to see for yourself! Now available in the U.S., exclusively on the Internet. Davidson’s Learning Center: First Grade Regular: $38.99 FREE after rebate! Bicycle Complete Card Games Collection Regular: $42.95 Just $7.95 after rebate!

Iditarod

https://www.surfnetkids.com/iditarod.htm

Mush! On March 3, at 9:30 am, sixty-eight mushers (dog sled drivers) and more than a thousand dogs began the 1149 mile Alaskan Iditarod dog sled race from Anchorage to Nome. In addition to the hundreds of volunteers and fans that show up in person to support the event, classrooms all over the world participate by watching the race enfold over the Internet. Here are five sites that can offer you a virtual front-row seat to this year’s event.

http://discovery.com/area/exploration/iditarod/iditarod.html

Relive musher Billy Snodgrass’ first Iditarod race (from 1998) though this daily dairy written by Kari Grady Grossman and by published by Discovery.com. “Billy is a Wyoming musher preparing to run his first Iditarod Sled Dog Race from Anchorage to Nome. I’m preparing to follow him and the dogs all the way across Alaska — 1,151 miles through the frozen interior on a snowmobile — to bring you the experience first hand. And the dogs are anxious to run; it’s what they were born and bred to do.” Don’t miss the Dog Gallery (click on “Meet the Dogs.”)

http://www.iditarod.com/

“The official site of the last great race.” Come here for the latest in Iditarod news and photos, as well as a treasure trove of classroom ideas for teachers and students. Students can follow the reports “written” by Zuma, a canine correspondent with his own email address and discussion forum. Teachers can follow the dispatches written by Diane Nye, the official “Teacher on the Trail.” For Iditarod history, a mushing glossary, FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and the
meaning of the Widow’s Lamp, click on “General Information.”

http://www.inalaska.com/iditarod2001/

“The origins of the race can be traced to 1966, when Alaskans Dorothy Page and Joe Redington Sr. had a conversation that helped revive and re-energize the sport of sled dog racing. Page, a self-described history buff, wanted to stage ‘a spectacular sled dog race, to wake Alaskans up to what mushers and their dogs had done for Alaska . . . to pay them a tribute.’ But she couldn’t find a musher who’d support her idea. Until she met Joe.” In addition to Iditarod history, inAlaska.com presents news from the trail and email Q&A with Libby Riddles (the first woman to win the Iditarod, see Women of the Iditarod below.)

http://teacher.scholastic.com/iditarod/

This Scholastic.com special report is chock full of interactive features such as a March 20th chat with three generations of mushers (Dan, Mitch and Danny Seavey,) and the opportunity to become an Iditarod reporter. To get your story published, pick one of three topics (The Dogs, The Mushers, or The Race) and follow the instructions for online submission. Other great clicks are the musher interviews, a self-scoring quiz, and an article (with an online vote) about why animal activists oppose the race. So far, with more than 99,000 kids polled, 68% believe the sled dogs are treated fairly.

http://library.thinkquest.org/11313/Iditarod/

“In 1985 nobody noticed as a woman, slight of frame, left Anchorage in the Iditarod. She was a nobody from somewhere. But when she was the first one to check into Safety – the last checkpoint before Nome – five hours ahead of the nearest competitor, everyone cheered in surprise. At 9 am on Wednesday, March 20th, Libby Riddles became the very first woman to ever win the Iditarod.” Women of the Iditarod is just one section of the larger Women in Alaska site, written by two high school students for the 1997 ThinkQuest Internet Competition.

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