On Ice

Social Studies Online

This was the advertisement that Ernest Shackleton used to recruit crew for his 1912 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Being an Antarctic explorer took a lot of courage. They were away from home for over a year. There was little or no communication with the outside world (remember this is a time before cell phones, faxes, email, and other satellite communication) and the entire time they were usually cold and hungry. Yet without these brave explorers, would we know what we know about Antarctica? Unfortunately, at the time, the explorers where ignorant of the Antarctic environment. They left rubbish, buildings, etc. scattered over the areas that they explored.

Choose one Explorer from the list below:

• Roald Amundsen (Norwegian)
• Carsten Borchgrevink (Norwegian)
• Richard Byrd (American)
• Erich Dagobert von Drygalski (German)
• Jules Sebastian Cesar Dumont d'Urville (French)
• Douglas Mawson (Australian)
• Otto Gustave Nordenskjold (Swedish)
• James Clark Ross (Scottish)
• Robert Scott (British)
• Ernest Shackleton (British)
• James Weddell (Scottish)
• Charles Wilkes (American)
• Hubert Wilkins (Australian)

Complete the following tasks in your inquiry on an Antarctic Explorer:

Focus Question:

• Who they were
• Where they were from
• When did they go to Antarctica (or attempt to find Antarctica)
• How their explorations affected the environment

Collection of information
Collect information to answer the focus question from a variety of sources such as the Internet, videos, textbooks, etc.

Processing Information
Process the information you find and form generalisations about what implications the explorers had on the Antarctic Environment.

Communicate Information
Communicate the information a format that you think is appropriate.

Conclusions
Draw valid conclusions about how the explorers arrival in Antarctica led to implications for change to the environment