Elise Wallace - Spectacular Sports: Racing Through Alaska: Division

0covercover.xhtmlSpectacular Sports Racing through Alaska Division Elise Wallacecover1page0001page0001.xhtmlMath Talk 1. How can knowing the product of 6? 8 help you solve 50 6 2. Is the quotient of 7, 214 9 closer to 8, 80, 800, or 8, 000? How do you know? 3. What can a remainder tell you about the solution to a problem? 4. How are division and multiplication related? 5. How can you prove that the solution to a division equation is correct? 6. How might a dog trainer use division on the job?22page0002page0002.xhtmlSpectacular Sports Racing through Alaska Division33page0003page0003.xhtml44page0004page0004.xhtmlTable of Contents Racing through Alaska 4 Dreaming of the Big Race 6 On Your Mark 14 From Checkpoint to Checkpoint 21 Nome at Last 27 Problem Solving 28 Glossary 30 Index 31 Answer Key 32 This is a work of fiction Names, characters, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental55page0005page0005.xhtmlRacing through Alaska You must need to be pretty tough to compete in the Iditarod , I think to myself. As I flip through this month's Sports Spectacular, a woman in a bright red jacket draws me in. She is standing on a sled as dogs run through the snow. I start to read the article about the Iditarod to my mom. A musher leads her team in the Iditarod race.66page0006page0006.xhtmlEach year, people travel from around the world to run the course. However, most mushers live in Alaska year round. The race begins in Anchorage and ends in Nome. It is nearly a thousand miles long. Wow, that's long! I think to myself. The Iditarod is a race that is known around the world, I continue. Every year, mushers prepare to sled across Alaska with their four-legged teammates. Together, they brave extreme weather. Wow, sounds like a challenge, my mom says. I nod my head in agreement. What would it be like to compete in something like that? I wonder. Looking down at the magazine, I picture myself as the woman in the red jacket. I start to feel a little sleepy. Before long, my daydream starts to turn into a nap.77page0007page0007.xhtmlDreaming of the Big Race I should have trained harder. My happy daydream has turned into thoughts of a race I don't feel prepared for. There are only a few weeks until the Iditarod, and I'm beginning to panic. I didn't train as hard as I should have in the spring. The dogs are ready, but am I? Most people think that mushers just stand on a sled's runners and let the dogs do the heavy lifting. But to finish the race, a musher must be in excellent physical condition. We push and pull our sleds. Sometimes, we even pull them up steep inclines. Often, we run alongside our sleds, stomping through the snow with our teams. Mushers also need strength and endurance to help their dogs any way you can lighten the load of your sled, you must. The best way to do so is to stay fit. This makes the journey much easier for the entire team. Training wheels help huskies train to run long distances.88page0008page0008.xhtmlJumping over obstacles is part of husky training. LET'S EXPLORE MATH During two days in January, a dog-sledding team runs 246 miles. If the team runs the same distance on both days, how many miles do they run each day? Complete the area model to solve the problem. 2 200 40 6 ____ + ____ + ____ = ____99page0009page0009.xhtmlTriple Checking I check my gear for what feels like the millionth time. I inspect every part of the sled from brush bow to cargo basket. The brush bow is like the bumper of a car. It helps absorb the impact during a collision. The cargo basket is every musher's best friend. It holds supplies, provides a place to sleep, and can be used as a safe haven for an injured dog. As I check, my mind begins to wander. I can't believe that I qualified for the Iditarod. Ever since I was little, I longed to take part in the race. I come from a sledding family. My father raced in one of the first Iditarods. I remember watching him train. I admired the bond he had with his dogs. All I've ever wanted was to follow in his footsteps. And now, here I am, the youngest Iditarod musher of all time! A musher rests in a dogsled with his lead dog.1010page0010page0010.xhtmlbrush bow cargo basket LET'S EXPLORE MATH Sled dogs wear booties to protect their feet from injury. Each dog needs a set of 4 booties. 1. There are 240 dog booties. How many dogs can receive a set of booties? Explain your thinking. 2. A musher has 25 dog booties. There are 6 dogs that need them. Does the musher have enough booties? Are there any booties left over? Explain your thinking.1111page0011page0011.xhtml1212page0012page0012.xhtmlMy Team Hey Chewie! I ruffle the fur of one of my lead dogs. I've been training Chewie for the last four years. Chewie earned his name due to his resemblance to a famous movie characterand his all-consuming love of chew toys. Where's Bean? I ask. A happy yelp soon greets us Bean is up and ready to hit the snow. Chewie perks his ears, also ready for action. Chewie and Bean, the fastest and smartest canines on the team, run at the front of the pack as lead dogs. They both have alpha personalities. It's their job to motivate the rest of the team. I trained my dog team at the kennel for months to prepare for the race. It was then that I discovered that Chewie and Bean were perfect lead dogs. They are the most athletic of my team and the most eager!1313page0013page0013.xhtmlThere are 10 other dogs on my team. I have my swing dogs, Barney and Slobber, who help the team navigate twists and turns. Then, I have my wheel dogs, Happy and DeeDee, who run at the back of the pack right in front of the sled. Wheel dogs have to be strong and are often the biggest dogs on a musher's team. Kiki, Pete, Wrangler, Hops, Ollie, and Win are my final six dogs, known simply as team dogs. I check the dogs' harnesses. Ready? Let's get to racing! For dog sledding teams, training lasts throughout the year. In warmer months, we train on dry land, with the dogs pulling me on an all-terrain vehicle. Once the weather cools, we go back to the snow. Because the Iditarod is a race of endurance, we run thousands of miles over the year. If we have any chance of making it to the finish line, the entire team needs to be in tip-top shape. lead dogs swing dogs team dogs1414page0014page0014.xhtmlwheel dogs sled musher LET'S EXPLORE MATH When training for races, sled dogs need a great deal of energy. They must consume close to 10, 000 calories a day! 1. If a dog burns 495 calories in an hour, in about how many hours will it burn 1, 000 calories? Estimate to find your answer. Then, explain your thinking. 2. If a dog burns 10, 000 calories in 9 hours, is it burning more than or less than 1, 000 calories per hour? Estimate to find your answer. Then, explain your thinking.1515page0015page0015.xhtmlOn Your Mark Are you ready, Anna? My friend Zahra, fellow musher and total goofball, grips my shoulders excitedly. I'm ready, I say with way more confidence than I feel. I feel better than I did a week ago. But, I am still pretty worried. Musher Aliy Zirkle heads out on the trail.1616page0016page0016.xhtmlThe race is just an hour away. The previous day we had our ceremonial start in Anchorage, an 11-mile (18-kilometer) run that celebrates the old trail. Each team runs the ceremonial start, even though it does not count toward our race time. Don't worry about Anna, Victor grins. Mushing is in her blood. She'll pass all of us with ease! Victor is always in a good mood. A bad race doesn't matter to him. He is an eternal optimist and always finds the sunny side of things. Don't jinx me, I squeak. I'm already nervous enough. 1717page0017page0017.xhtmlBreathe. This is your moment. I'm up next, and the team is getting antsy. Many teams, including Zahra and Victor's, have already started the race. My starting time is one of the last, and I am trying desperately to keep calm and unruffled. On your mark. I stomp on the sled's runners. Get set. I am ready. GO! We are off! The crowd cheers and claps, and the sled jingles with the noise of 14 dogs and their harnesses. I have a good feeling. It was the waiting that had made me nervous, but now I am filled with excitement. The first two legs of the race, from Willow to Skwentna, are mostly flat ground and gentle, rolling hills. Then, it will be a 40-mi. (64-km) uphill climb to the checkpoint at Finger Lake. Throughout the race there are 22 checkpoints, not including the ceremonial start in Anchorage. Hundreds of volunteers work hard to prepare each checkpoint, making sure to organize and arrange the bags of food for each team. A musher starts the race. Willow Anchorage CampbellAirstrip1818page0018page0018.xhtmlIditarod route in odd years Checkpoint Distance to restart of race1919page0019page0019.xhtmlAfter smooth sledding through the first two checkpoints, I am the seventh musher into Finger Lake. Not bad for a rookie! Welcome to Finger Lake, Anna, says a woman holding a clipboard. I'll check your gear after you park. Great, thank you! I'm eager to get the dogs fed and settled. Once I unhitch each of the dogs, I take a stack of hay and begin breaking it apart into small piles. Most of the team lies down on the hay, but a few aren't ready to rest. They still want to run. volunteer Teams rest at the Finger Lake checkpoint.2020page0020page0020.xhtmlMy enthusiasm about making it to the third checkpoint doesn't last long. I still have well over 800 mi. (1, 287 km) of trail left. From Willow to Nome, mushers sled through the Alaskan Range, some of the tallest mountains in North America. Then, they must sled past the Yukon River and along the Bering Sea. None of it is easy, but some of the toughest parts of the trail are in the first half of the race. LET'S EXPLORE MATH Imagine there are 150 bales of hay at a checkpoint. If each dog rests on 5 bales of hay, how many dogs can rest at the checkpoint? Complete the area model to show your thinking. 5 150 5 50 50 ______ 50 ______ ______ ____ + ____ + ____ = _____?2121page0021page0021.xhtmlMusher Lingo Come Gee! Come Haw! : commands for 180-degree turns Gee : command for right turn Haw : command for left turn Line Out! : command to lead dog to pull the team out straight from the sled Mush! Hike! All Right! Let's Go! : commands to start the team Trail : request for right-of-way Whoa! : command used to halt the team2222page0022page0022.xhtmlFrom Checkpoint to Checkpoint There is nothing more beautiful or terrifying than the Alaskan wilderness. Its pristine land is unpolluted by human hands. But, it can be very unforgiving. A wrong turn may lead to devastating results. One of a musher's greatest fears is being left behind. During the more difficult stretches of the trail, the chances of a musher being thrown from a sled are high. If this happens, you have a runaway dog sled team, leaving you alone to face blistering cold. So far, our race has been smooth. But after leaving Finger Lake, we are nearing the Happy River Steps. This is the part of the trail I have been dreading. The steps are filled with dangerous twists, turns, and steep drops. Many mushers have been injured during this part of the course. Easy, team! I shout. Easy, whoa! I want to sled as slowly as possible through the Happy River Steps. If the sled turns over, I will be in deep trouble.2323page0023page0023.xhtmlWe are about halfway through the Steps when the worst happens. The sled hits a trench, and I am thrown. The team takes off, and all I can do is watch them disappear into the snow. Don't panic. Don't panic. I chant the words to myself as I try to keep calm. There is a good chance my team has gotten stuck nearby. I begin to lose hope after trudging through the snow for a half hour. That's when I hear a familiar yelp. Chewie! The pack is just ahead; the dogs yelp wildly as they pull against the turned-over sled. I've never been so happy to see my dogs. We make it to the Iditarod checkpoint on the seventh day. We are halfway through the race! But, Bean is suffering from heat exhaustion. Though it seems impossible with Alaska's cold climates, dogs can become overheated because of their undercoats. Undercoats keep them warm in sub-zero weather, but cause overheating when temperatures climb higher. A musher comforts her sled dog at the Iditarod checkpoint. Rohn Rainy Pass Finger Lake SkwentnaYentna Willow Anchorage CampbellAirstrip2424page0024page0024.xhtmlIditarod route in odd years Distance from start to halfway point Checkpoint Distance to restart of race2525page0025page0025.xhtmlAs soon as we arrive at the checkpoint, I have a veterinarian check Bean. I'm glad you had him rest in the cargo basket, the veterinarian says. It's your call. Do you want to leave him here? I look at Bean, who is panting excitedly. He rode in the basket for a day and is eager to run again. Leaving Bean would be heartbreaking, even though I know I will see him after the race. But, I can't risk him getting hurt. Yes, I will leave him here, I answer. A veterinarian listens carefully with a stethoscope.2626page0026page0026.xhtmlThe next few days are some of the toughest on the trail. I am getting tired. At one point I am sure I am going to give up and scratch the race. But, at the Elim checkpoint, the team gets a second wind. We have sledded over 900 mi. (1, 448 km) of brutal Alaskan terrain, and we only have 100 mi. (161 km) until the finish line. LET'S EXPLORE MATH The Elim checkpoint has 40 volunteers, which is 2 times as many as the Iditarod checkpoint. How many volunteers are at the Iditarod checkpoint? Write a multiplication equation and a related division equation to represent this situation. Use for the unknown number in each equation. Then, find the solution.2727page0027page0027.xhtmlA team crosses the Iditarod finish line.2828page0028page0028.xhtmlNome at Last I can't believe it! It's the finish line! I squint in disbelief. After 11 treacherous days battling through ice and snow, I had almost given up. But here I am, less than a mile away from finishing the race with my faithful team. Getting closer, I see Victor and Zahra. Victor is jumping up and down, and Zahra is waving her arms wildly. I grin as we slide through the final stretch of the course. As we cross the finish line, I squeal with joy. I see one of my favorite canines, furry as ever and dearly missed : Bean. Running to the front of the team, I hug my wonderful lead dogs. I know we didn't win, but it feels like we have. It was all worth it. Each difficulty I faced made completing the race an even greater accomplishment. I am incredibly tired. But, I am very proud, too. All of a sudden, a noise startles me awake. Anna, are you ready for dinner? I hear my mom as my eyes open slowly, still clutching the magazine in my hands. I look up and smile. Mom, I ask, how do you feel about getting sled dogs? An Iditarod musher poses with her dogs.2929page0029page0029.xhtmlProblem Solving Can you imagine sledding across 1, 000 mi. (1, 609 km) of snow? How long do you think it would take you? For most Iditarod mushers, it takes 10 to 14 days. Look at the map below. It shows the distance between several checkpoints of the race. Use the map to answer the questions. 62 miles 85 miles 50 miles 48 miles 55 miles 22 miles 40 miles 28 miles 60miles 25miles 18miles Yukon River Safety Golovin Elim Koyuk Shaktoolik Unalakleet WhiteMountain Nome Grayling Anvik 18miles3030page0030page0030.xhtml1. A musher travels from Yentna Station to Skwentna in 3 hours. He travels the same number of miles each hour. How many miles does the musher travel per hour? Draw a number line to show your thinking. 2. A musher estimates that she will sled from Skwentna to Finger Lake in 4 hours. Due to extreme weather conditions, it takes the musher twice as long. How fast did she travel? Explain your reasoning. 3. A musher spends 8 hours altogether traveling from Finger Lake to Rainy Pass and then on to Rohn. Is she traveling faster or slower than 8 miles per hour? How do you know? 4. If 119 mushers are divided equally among 7 checkpoints, how many mushers are at each checkpoint? If each musher has 14 dogs, how many dogs are at each checkpoint? Write equations to represent the problems. Prove your equations are correct.3131page0031page0031.xhtmlGlossary brush bow curved piece of a sled designed to stop brush from damaging the sled cargo basket main body of a sled where passengers or gear may be carried ceremonial used in or done at a formal event endurance the ability to do something difficult for a long time haven a place that is protected from danger or trouble lead dogs dogs that run at the head of a team mushers people who drive sled-dog teams pristine not ruined runners the two bottom pieces of a sled that make contact with the snow scratch to drop out of the race swing dogs dogs that help swing the team through twists and turns in a trail team dogs any dogs on the team other than the lead, swing, or wheel dogs trench a long, narrow hole that is dug in the ground wheel dogs dogs directly in front of the sled3232page0032page0032.xhtmlIndex Alaska, Alaskan Range, Anchorage, Bering Sea, brush bow, cargo basket, Elim, Finger Lake, Happy River Steps, kennel, lead dogs, Nome, Rainy Pass, swing dogs, team dogs, wheel dogs, Willow, Yentna Station, Yukon River,3333page0033page0033.xhtmlAnswer Key Let's Explore Math page 7 : 123 mi. ; Model should show 100 + 20 + 3 = 123 in the blanks. page 9 : 1. 60 dogs; Explanations will vary, but may include that 60 4 = 240. 2. Yes; Explanations will vary, but should show that 25 4 = 6 r. 1. page 13 : 1. 2 hours; Explanations will vary. 2. More than 1, 000 calories per hour; Explanations will vary. page 19 : 30 dogs; Model should show 10 + 10 + 10 = 30 in the blanks. page 25 : 2 = 40; 40 2 = ; 2 20 = 40; 40 2 = 20 Problem Solving 1. 10 mi. per hour; 30 3 = 10 +10 +10 +10 = 30 0 1 2 3 2. 5 mph; 4 2 = 8; 40 8 = 5; Explanations will vary but should include that it takes the musher 8 hours, which is twice as long as 4 hours and that 40 miles 8 hours = 5 mph. 3. Faster than 8 mph; Explanations will vary, but may include that 8 hours 8 miles per hour = 64 miles, and the musher travels 65 miles. So, the musher must be traveling a little faster than 8 mph. 4. 17 mushers; 238 dogs; 119 7 = 17; 17 14 = 2383434page0034page0034.xhtmlMath Talk 1. How can knowing the product of 6? 8 help you solve 50 6 2. Is the quotient of 7, 214 9 closer to 8, 80, 800, or 8, 000? How do you know? 3. What can a remainder tell you about the solution to a problem? 4. How are division and multiplication related? 5. How can you prove that the solution to a division equation is correct? 6. How might a dog trainer use division on the job?3535page0035page0035.xhtmlSpectacular Sports Racing through Alaska Division See the world through the eyes of a dog sled racer! Travel across arctic landscapes. Bond with a team of canines. Explore what it takes to compete in one of the world's greatest races as you exercise your division strategies! Operations and Algebraic Reasoning36