The Iditarod: A Listening (or Reading)

Comprehension Game

Created by K. Ratliff, www.listening4language.blogspot.com, Clip Art by www.clker.com and The LibraryFox. All rights reserved by author. Do not copy or electronically distribute.

 

The Iditarod: A Listening (or Reading)

Comprehension Game

Set Up: 1.  Each player should get a WH-

Question Mat. 2.  Cards should be placed face-

down, in a pile. If playing the game as a listening

comprehension activity, the teacher/therapist should keep

the cards. If playing as a reading comprehension activity, they should be placed in the

center. Directions:

1.  Read or listen to the Iditarod fact and answer the question. Place the question on the WH- place on the mat, matching its

question type. 2.  The first player to fill up their

board wins.

Who

What

When

Where Why

Who

What

When

Where Why

Who

What

When

Where Why

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is held every year in Alaska, beginning the first

Saturday in March.

When is the Iditarod?

The Iditarod is a long-distance dog sled race, which begins in Anchorage and ends

in Nome, Alaska.

Where is the Iditarod?

Dog sled drivers, called mushers, must start the

race with 16 dogs, and finish the race with 6 dogs on their

tow line.

Who drives a dog sled?

Many mushers hate the start in Anchorage because there are so many people.

The dogs get too jumpy and overexcited by the crowds.

Why do many mushers not like

the start in Anchorage?

The starting order is decided at a special dinner two days before the Iditarod. The

mushers take turns choosing their starting positions.

When is the starting order for the race

decided?

The Iditarod started in 1973 and has become the most popular sporting event in

Alaska.

When was the first Iditarod?

The Iditarod typically takes 9-15 days to complete. The

record for the fastest Iditarod was set in 2011 at 8

days and about 20 hours.

What was the fastest time it took to finish

the Iditarod?

The Iditarod mushers often race in blizzard conditions with strong winds and -100

degrees F wind chill.

What is the weather often like?

Each year there are about 50-100 mushers and 1000

dogs who enter the Iditarod.

What is the typical number of mushers in

the race?

The sleds race through tundra, forests, over hills, mountain passes and over

rivers. The trail is beautiful but very rough.

Where do the mushers sled?

The Iditarod Race got a lot of attention in 1985 after Libby Riddles became the

first woman to win the race.

Why did the Iditarod get attention in

1985?

There are actually two different Iditarod routes, one northern and one southern. They take the northern

route on even numbered years and the southern on odd

numbered years.

When do the racers take the northern trail?

Because there are two different routes, the distance of the race is different each year. The northern route is 1112 miles and the southern

route is 1131 miles.

Why is the distance different from year to

year?

There are 26 or 27 checkpoints along the race trail where the mushers

must check in and pick up supplies, like food and tools.

What do the mushers do at the

checkpoints?

Mushers and their dogs can rest at the checkpoints or can stop and rest along the trail. They are required to

rest at least three different times.

Where can mushers and

their dogs rest?

The Iditarod has been stopped only one time. In

1985, they stopped the race because the weather was so bad they couldn’t get the

supplies to the checkpoints.

Why did they stop the race in 1985?

The Iditarod finish line is the “burled arch” in Nome,

Alaska. On it are the words, “End of Iditarod Sled Dog

Race.”

Where is the Iditarod finish

line?

A lighted lantern hangs from the finish line arch until the last racer finishes. For this

reason, the last place finisher is known as the “red lantern.”

Why is the last place finisher called the “red

lantern?”

The Iditarod is often called the “Last Great Race on

Earth.”

What is the Iditarod sometimes called?

The Iditarod Trail was made famous in 1925 when sled dogs, including the famous Balto, were used to carry medicine to Nome, Alaska when Diptheria broke out.

Who was the famous sled dog who

carried medicine to Nome?

A musher must have an arctic coat, sleeping bag, an ax, snow shoes, musher food, dog food and boots for each

dogs’ feet.

What are some things a musher

must have?

The dogs wear boots, or booties, on their feet to

protect against them getting cut on ice or being injured by

hard packed snow.

Why do the dogs wear booties?

When the mushers pull into each checkpoint, the first

thing they do is care for and feed their dogs.

Who takes care of the dogs?

The winner of the Iditarod wins about $50,000. The

mushers also become famous celebrities in Alaska.

Who gets $50,000?

The Iditarod dogs eat about 12,000 calories per day by

eating a combination of special food and raw meat. The mushers also eat a lot of

meat for snacks and meals.

Who eats special food and raw meat?

Teams of veterinarians are at every checkpoint. They

check the dogs and help them if they’re injured. If a dog is not well, the vets

can take the dogs, and their team will go on without them.

Who is at the checkpoints to

check the dogs?

Sled dogs start training for the Iditarod before they

turn 1 year old.

When do dogs start training

for the Iditarod?

In 2003, the Iditarod race started in Fairbanks because there wasn’t enough snow in

Anchorage.

Where did the race start in 2003?

Dog sleds were commonly used for carrying goods in rural

Alaska until the airplane and snowmobile were invented.

Now it’s more common to use plane or snowmobile.

When did people stop using dog sleds to deliver

goods?

Although the Iditarod starts in Anchorage, that part of the

race is just for show. The teams restart the race in Willow, where their official

race time starts.

Where do the teams officially

start the Iditarod?