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Fifth graders use the Internet to see the world
Sue Munn talks about two e-mail projects that her class conducted with the Nebraska National Guard and the Iditarod dog sled race team in Alaska. By Sue Munn |
 ast year, Colonel Alan Malone of the Nebraska Air National Guard asked if I
would be willing to help design and pilot a new educational partnership in which
Hamlow School would team up with the 155th Air Refueling Wing which flies around
the world in a KC-135R Strato Tanker unit. The unit's flight crew wanted to send
e-mail to the students from abroad, describing the geography, history, and
culture of the countries to which they flew. In turn, the students would send
questions via e-mail to the flight crew. More precisely, the students would
write to a special guest who was flying with the unit. The Air National Guard
would benefit from the good public relations and serving the community, and I was
willing to give it a try!
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 fter we agreed to participate, Col. Malone and Col. Tim Stewart introduced us to
the guest who would be flying with the unit: a cute, stuffed teddy bear. The bear
was wearing a flight suit that matched the crew's, but he needed a name. A
contest was held and the fifth graders chose the name Lieutenant Ted. Lt. Ted
would fly on all of the missions and he would receive a little uniform pin from
each country that he visited. Soon, Lt. Ted was off on his first mission!This partnership exceeded our expectations! The kids loved receiving and sending e-mail to the crew. Our social studies discussions became so much richer as a result of the communication with Lt. Ted. We learned things that we never would have learned in our text book--things that my students really wanted to learn! Fifth graders think it's pretty cool to be able to communicate instantly with someone in another country. It allowed us to further enrich our already integrated curriculum. |
 n addition to learning geography, history, and culture, we honed our math and
science skills with Lt. Ted. Air Guard navigators came to our class and showed
us how they use math daily. The students then used Lt. Ted's take-off times,
flight speed, and travel distance to determine when he would arrive at his
destination. When the crew was in Iceland, they e-mailed us about geothermal
energy which is covered in our science curriculum. The students asked many
questions about Iceland's electrical power plants which are run by natural steam
geysers. We were impressed with how inexpensive and clean this energy production
is. The students were enthusiastic to learn that Iceland is trying to find a way
to microwave and sell their extra electricity through satellites.The students were also interested in Iclandic society, so they asked Lt. Ted about the high rate of depression in Iceland. He explained that the terrible weather conditions and the long duration of darkness contribute to the high rate of depression and alcoholism in Iceland. |
 Students use information provided by the Nebraska Air National Guard in classroom projects and presentations. |
 nce Lt. Ted and his crew were finished in Iceland, they wrote to us from sunny
Italy. Lt. Ted described the marble country and his visits to the marble
quarries. He said it looked like cliffs of snow and he sent us a picture of
himself there. Soon students began research on Michelangelo's marble sculptures
and an Air Guard member presented a computerized slide show of Italian
sculptures.My students were quite interested in the way that Italians celebrate the New Year. We read about Lt. Ted dining at an Italian restaurant on New Year's Eve and having a seven course meal. There were fireworks at midnight, some so big that they set off a car alarm. |
 he students got so excited about Italy that they asked if we could have an
"Italy Day" here at Hamlow School. I thought it was a great idea! They each
volunteered for a preparation team which interested them the most. One group
prepared an art lesson based on the Mona Lisa and another group learned how to
make coffee latte. We had learned that it is customary for Italian families to
walk together after meals, so one group of students measured a mile walking path
for us. Another group started looking for authentic Italian pizza recipes. The
Air National Guard really came through for us on the pizza!! Their chefs not
only found a recipe, but they came to Hamlow, prepared the pizza while the
students watched and baked it in our school ovens! Each student got a piece of
the delicious pizza. That night, students and families watched coverage of Italy
Day on the Lincoln and Omaha news!
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he next stop for Lt. Ted was Germany. Lt. Ted told us about historic places
they visited, including St. Stephens cathedral in Koln. It was left standing
during World War II for navigational purposes of aerial bombing. Our study of
World War I and World War II was better than it has ever been! Then Lt. Ted went up the Rhine River to Wiesbaden where a major air force base is located. All along the river, every few miles, there are small German towns with castles. One of the biggest castles along the Rhine is the Burg Rhienfels. The description of the castles really piqued the students' interest. When we asked Lt. Ted to tell us more, he treated us to a computerized slide show presentation of German castles that had survived WWII bombing. |
 e continued learning about WWII when Lt. Ted went to Hawaii. The fifth graders
learned about the U.S. Navy battleship, the U.S.S. Arizona, which was sunk during
the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This attack caused the U.S. to go to war
with the Japanese in World War II. Lt. Ted and the crew visited the U.S.S. Arizona
Memorial and took pictures.
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 Col. Malone and Lt. Ted share their discoveries and experiences with the class. |
he crew members and Lt. Ted visited our class after nearly every mission. They
always brought souvenirs, such as, candy, stamps, currency, and newspapers. You
can imagine the warm reception they received each time they came to our school!
At the end of the year, we had a "Soaring with the bear" picnic at Nebraska Air
National Guard base. The students took tours of the fire station, all the main
buildings, and the KC-135R in which Lt. Ted travels. We are preparing to "Soar with the bear" again this year. Lt. Ted will be put in our trophy case and a new bear will be named. This year the girls are lobbying for the name "Lt. Lisa". The new bear will travel to Germany, Iceland, Turkey, Japan, Italy, and Alaska. We're looking forward to another year of exciting social studies, science, and math in fifth grade. |
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The Iditarod Project The Iditarod is an annual dog sled race held every March in Alaska. It covers over 1,000 miles of rugged, beautiful terrain, across jagged mountain ranges, frozen rivers, dense forests, desolate tundra, and windswept coast. The mushers drive their dog teams in temperatures far below zero, in winds that can cause a complete loss of visibility. Each team travels the 1,150 miles from Anchorage, in south central Alaska, to Nome, on the Bering Sea coast, in usually less than two weeks. |
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chose this project because our fifth graders study the land forms and climates
of all fifty states. Following the race over the Internet is a tremendous way to
learn about Alaska, while integrating technology into the curriculum. To begin, we get a list of mushers and their biographies from the Iditarod homepage (http://www.iditarod.com/). After my students have read the mushers' biographies, records, and reasons for entering the Iditarod, they choose two mushers to follow. All of the mushers are registered and listed on the Iditatrod homepage a few months before the race. |
 uring the race, we get online everyday to check on the progress of the dogs
and mushers. Each of my students keeps a journal which includes a biographical
sketch of their mushers, the daily position of their teams, the names of the
check points their teams have passed, and one or two geographic features of the
trail between check points.There is considerable diversity of land forms on the race trail. From Rohn to Farewell Lake, the trail becomes very narrow and the spruce trees grow dense. The worst area is Tin Creek which has a steep side drop to the canyon floor and a climb up the other side. This climb is only 100 yards from the gorge! |
 Students read e-mail from the Air National Guard. |
n addition to learning about Alaskan geography, the students use Iditarod facts
in the math lessons. There is a $1,750 entry fee. Students learn that the musher
must find a cabin to rent while he or she trains the dogs. They pay about $350 a
month for a cabin with no running water, no indoor bathroom, and no furniture.
The insulated clothing they need costs up to $1,000 and a truck with a dog
box runs from $2,000 to $15,000, used. Additionally, many mushers pay airline
prices of $3,000 to $8,000 to get to Alaska. All of these numbers make for
excellent word problems! We can also incorporate literature by reading the book, Dogsong, by Gary Paulsen, a retired musher. The story describes the journey of self discovery of a boy who takes a dog team and sled to escape the modern ways of his village. Along the way, he travels with his dog team across ice, tundra, and mountains. He is forced to save himself and a pregnant Eskimo girl by killing a polar bear. It is a tough journey for the boy and his dog team, but they survive and celebrate. We also read the Zuma Report, a daily Iditarod newspaper on the homepage that describes the progress of the race using plenty of action and humor which fifth graders love! The students take turns printing it out and reading it to our class each morning. |
 inally, to
incorporate writing into the project, this year, we plan to e-mail some of the
mushers this January, two months before the Iditarod. We have learned that the
last few weeks before the race is not a good time, because the mushers are
frantic getting everything ready for the race.There is still time to prepare an Iditarod unit for your class. The Iditarod site provides historical facts, rules of the race, the story of the Jr. Iditarod, and information about teacher handbooks and materials. You can successfully integrate the Internet into your social studies, math, and language arts curriculum, while getting your students involved in one of the greatest races in the world. |
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