Today we learned about musher characteristics for the Iditarod and what types of mushers run the race. This is an adapted lesson from several sources, including the Teacher on the Trail and a teacher named Paul Miller.
We have just started our fraction unit in math, so this really fit perfectly. This is a three part lesson. Yesterday, we used blue and pink notes with each musher photo to write down where they live and whether or not they are a rookie or a veteran. The qualities were:
gender, experience, and residency. We talked a little about what all these words meant! The Iditarod web site has all the information for each musher, and the students had a fun time researching each person. They already know some of the famous mushers, so they were excited!
Once we found that information, today, we used unifix cubes and color coding to make characteristic "towers" for each musher based on those qualities.
Color code:
male - blue
female - pink
veteran - black
rookie - white
Alaska resident - yellow
lower 48 state resident - red
foreign resident - green
It was clear to see that male veterans who live in Alaska race the Iditarod more than anyone else! See our groupings below.
Tomorrow we will use a graphing program online to find the fractions of each type of musher in the race, and the probability of who will win. Of course, there are other factors! We talked about weather, passion, practice and whether or not a rookie or veteran dog would make a difference in the outcome. Great analyzing going on!! Check out the bottom of the post for links and more photos!
We have just started our fraction unit in math, so this really fit perfectly. This is a three part lesson. Yesterday, we used blue and pink notes with each musher photo to write down where they live and whether or not they are a rookie or a veteran. The qualities were:
gender, experience, and residency. We talked a little about what all these words meant! The Iditarod web site has all the information for each musher, and the students had a fun time researching each person. They already know some of the famous mushers, so they were excited!
Once we found that information, today, we used unifix cubes and color coding to make characteristic "towers" for each musher based on those qualities.
Color code:
male - blue
female - pink
veteran - black
rookie - white
Alaska resident - yellow
lower 48 state resident - red
foreign resident - green
It was clear to see that male veterans who live in Alaska race the Iditarod more than anyone else! See our groupings below.
Tomorrow we will use a graphing program online to find the fractions of each type of musher in the race, and the probability of who will win. Of course, there are other factors! We talked about weather, passion, practice and whether or not a rookie or veteran dog would make a difference in the outcome. Great analyzing going on!! Check out the bottom of the post for links and more photos!