/ 2007 Archived Material / Trail Tidbits 11

Target Iditarod Teacher on the Trail^™ Trail Tidbits 11

by Kim Slade

Along the Trail:

As I have been following along the trail and visiting checkpoints, I am finding it hard to put into words what I have been seeing. There are so many facets of this race that it becomes hard to focus on what to write. I hope to capture all the pieces of the Iditarod by giving you some tidbits along the way!

Mathematically Speaking:

When flying, a plane’s propeller spins around and looks like a blur as it goes around. But through a camera, you can see the blade. This is known as the Nyquist Frequency. It basically means that in order to see the prop, the camera must capture the image at twice the speed.

When landing, if the plane is not coming in at the correct angle to land safely, the pilot will see white lights on a light bar found next to the runway (well, at least some runways – most are makeshift runways on lakes and rivers). When the plane is at the correct angle to land, the lights will be red. No one changes the lights, the different colors can only be seen when the correct angle of sight is accomplished. I learned this from Bill, an Iditarod air Force pilot.

Science on the Trail:

Two young men at the Top of the Kuskoswim School won a very prestigious award here is Alaska when they participated in the state level competition of the Native American Science and Engineering Fair. The boys represented the Iditarod School District in Fairbanks with their science fair project – Which type of log burns hotter; birch or spruce? They used seasoned logs and conducted 14 tests to find the amount BTU’s (British thermal unit – the amount of heat required to raise the temperature) measured by each type of log. They found that the best log to burn to get the most amount of heat is birch. Phil and Derek represented their school, and district, well by winning the Elder’s Award. So mushers, if you are out on the trail and need a hot fire, find some birch logs!

Foreign Students on the Trail:

There are many students from Norway living and working in Takotna. Back in Norway, students are required to participate in Outdoor coursework after high school, before going on to the university level. The students here are participating in an Arctic course. This half-year course has brought these students to Takotna where they are now working hard to park teams for this year’s Iditarod. You can recognize many of these students by their unusual boots – pointed-toed boots made out of reindeer. Thank you to Æyuind Skarsaune for talking to me – I hope I got it right.

Where is Jack?

Jack is really a great lead dog! He has kept me going in the right direction along the trail. See if you guess where he is now?

One Small Square:

Take a look at the frame. What do you see? Use colorful adjectives to describe the image.