Students participating in our project will  research and learn about life in the Arctic by studying one of two well-known Alaska dog sled races.  Students will read literature associated with the Arctic.  They will prepare maps of the race.  They will have the opportunity to correspond with and follow mushers who are participating in the race.

Iditarod

In 1925, a diphtheria epidemic struck Nome, Alaska. The only way the village could be saved was for serum to be brought in by courageous dog mushers and their faithful dogs.  The famous Iditarod dog sled race follows much of the course of that life-saving journey (map).  The Iditarod covers over 1150 miles from Anchorage, Alaska, to Nome on the coast of the Bering Sea.  It is often called "The Last Great Race on Earth."

The Yukon Quest dog sled race is considered by some to be even more challenging than the Iditarod. It runs over 1,000 miles inland between Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada, and Fairbanks, Alaska (map).  The Yukon Quest takes racers over mountains and along the Yukon River through some of the toughest terrain in Alaska and Canada during the coldest days of the Arctic winter.   The trail follows historic  routes of the Alaska Gold Rush. It has been called the "Toughest Sled Dog Race in the World."