Instructors: Andrea Dykstra, Curt Van Dam, Kelli Ten Haken and Tami De Jong
1. Students will gain interest in the Unit on Alaska.
2. Students will be introduced to Alaska and the Iditarod race that takes place
in Alaska every year.
3. Students will be able to appreciate the beauty of Godís creation in Alaska.
4. Students will be able to see Godís majesty and power in their personal experiences.
In this lesson, the students will discuss what they know about Alaska. They will watch
a movie and then discuss how God shows His power and majesty through creation. Next,
they will be introduced to the Iditarod race by reading a story and then the teachers will
explain the game the students will play about the Iditarod through the unit. At the end of
class, students will have a chance to start work on their maps of Alaska and then the
teachers will end in closing prayer.
- Psalm 19:1-
The Heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
- Other Scripture references that can be used through out the unit:
The Creation story in Gen. 1 and 2
Alaska: Spirit of the Wild
2. DVD player
5. Learning center and trade books
6. Example of the Iditarod Game
7. Book: Iditarod Dream by Ted Wood
8. Overhead projector, overhead and pen
9. Construction paper
10. Markers, crayons, colored pencils
1. On the first day of this unit, teachers should enter the room dressed in parkas,
snowshoes, scarves, mittens; anything that looks like what people in Alaska would
wear. Motion for the student to sit down. Once they are quiet, ask them where
they think the teachers are from and how they came to this conclusion. We would
expect conclusions such as the Artic, Antarctica, and possibly Alaska.
2. Have students take out a sheet of paper and write five things down that come to
their minds when they think of Alaska. Have them get into groups of three and
share what they wrote with their group. The students will be encouraged to share
the combined ideas from their group with the whole class. The teacher will write
down these ideas on the overhead.
3. Explain to the students that they are going to be learning about all of these of
these things and even more about Alaska in the upcoming unit.
4. Have each student write down one or two things about Alaska they would like
to know more about. Suggest ideas such as: What sports do they play in Alaska?
How many people live there? Is it really cold and snowy year round? Take these
ideas into consideration when planning the rest of the unit.
1. Put in the DVD Alaska: Sprit of the Wild. Students will watch the movie. It is forty
minutes long. Before they watch it, share with them the beauty that can be found in
Alaska. Tell them to look specifically for how they can see God in the things that are
shown on the film.
2. After the movie, discuss with the students what they thought of the movie. Ask them
questions such as what surprised you about this film? What did you learn about Alaska
that you didnít know before? What can we discover about God by watching this movie?
How can we get to know God better by studying Alaska?
3. Read Psalm 19:1 aloud. Read it again, this time have the students say it after you. Ask
them how this verse relates to Alaska. Hopefully they will make the connection that
creation shouts Godís praise. Alaska is so beautiful; this reflects on Godís majesty,
creativity and mercy. God loves us enough to give us beautiful creation simply so we
can enjoy it. We can see his fingerprints in Alaska.
4. Read Psalm 8 aloud. Again, ask them how this verse relates to Alaska. They will probably
have similar responses as above in step three. Share a personal experience of how he/
she has seen Godís power and majesty in His creation.
- For example, this is my own experience; you could share something similar to it:
One time I climbed the highpoint of Colorado with my dad. We started hiking
before the sun was up. As we were walking along the ridge of the mountain, the
sun began to rise; the colors were brilliant! We kept on hiking and hiking. I was
getting tired and hungry but soon we came close to the top. As I climbed up the
last little peak and the top of the mountain, I looked out and the view was
breathtaking!!! I had never seen so many snow capped mountains before. Sitting
up there on the mountaintop, I felt such a joy and peace. What a great God I
serve! He created all of this; His creation alone is enough to tell of His majesty.
5. Ask the students if any of them have had an experience like this; encourage them to
share if they would like.
6. Encourage them to find other verses that could relate to our study of Alaska and bring
them to class tomorrow to share.
1. Introduce the Iditarod race the studentís will be learning about by reading the book
Iditarod Dream by Ted Wood. As you are reading, stop periodically through out the
book and ask them to jot down a few of their thoughts. At the end of the book ask
them to share a few thoughts they wrote down about the book.
2. Introduce the game the students will be playing throughout the unit. Tell the students
they will be having their own Iditarod race in the classroom. Each student will make a
map of Alaska on construction paper. On this map, they will draw the trail of the
Iditarod race. They will have to map out the different checkpoints of the race on their
trails. It is their job to find out how many miles are between each checkpoint and how
many miles they can travel in one day.
3. Each day the students will move their markers on their maps how ever many miles we
decide as a class they can travel in one day. Every morning the students will receive
a ďracerís fateĒ card. These cards will say various things such as, ďyour dog has broken
a leg, move back twenty milesĒ, or ď you have found an extra bundle of food on the trail,
move ahead twelve milesĒ. The students will have to keep track of where they are on
the trail on their own maps and on a large map on the classroom bulletin board.
4. Each afternoon, students will have an opportunity to receive another card if they got
their homework done on time that day. This card could be good or bad, but the students
get to decide if they want to take it.
5. This activity will be incorporated into language arts. The students will be keeping a
race journal. As they play this game they can write their feelings about the race in the
journal as if they were an actual racer.
6. This game will also be incorporated into math. Students will need to do calculations to
play the game correctly. They will also discover how to find median, mean and
using the game.
1. The students will begin making their maps of Alaska for the Iditarod game. The
outline of the map of Alaska will be projected on the overhead so the students have
something to follow when they draw. Copies of the outline of this map will be available
for students to trace if they do not want to draw the map freehand.
2. The students can use crayons or colored pencils to make their maps on.
3. The trail outline and check points will be labeled on the overhead map, but the students
will need to research how many miles are in between each check point in a later class
1. Read Psalm 8 one more time and end in prayer, thanking God for His creativity that
is evident in all of creation, especially as it has been seen in Alaska today.
1. Students can do more research about the real Iditarod race on the Internet.
2. Students can read one of the many books about Alaska set up in the learning center.
3. Students can complete any activity set up in the learning center, including: math
story problems, language arts writing activities, and social studies and science
1. Observe how much students participate in the lesson. Have one teacher walk
around with a checklist and put checks by the names of the students who are
on task and participating by sharing, asking questions, diligently listening.
2. Observe how diligently students work on their maps. Check the next day to see
if they have completed them. Give them a check if they are finished and are done
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