ThehistoricaldevelopmentofMcMurdostation,Antarctica, anenvironmentalperspective. Antarctic continent in a. Discovering the geological history of South.
Curriculum areas addressed: English. Recount genre through writing journals. Explanations to describe phenomenon e.g. Six months daylight, six months night. Narrative genre through the use of 'story' to engage students in the unit. Performing Arts.
Drama through role-play. Music or other performance to create song for entertainment. Science and Technology. Earth and its surroundings. Living things. Information and communication IT (computing).
Use of internet for research. Producing a PowerPoint presentation.
Session Contents 1 - 2 hours Introduction of topic. Students research general facts about Antarctica 2 - 1 hour Students design and build shelter. 3 - 1 hour Students spot Polar bear?
Research fauna and flora. 4 - 1 hour Students research occupations and role-play reporting to Base Commander. Discuss safety issues 4a - if possible - 1 hour Guest speaker coming (if can be arranged). Students ask questions.
5 & 6 - 2 hours Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance Expedition. 7 - 1 hour Watch movie 'March of the Penguins' or other. 8 - 1 hour Tourism and development. Students discuss and research environmental issues affecting Antarctica.
Antarctic Treaty. Human impacts on Antarctica. 9 - 1 hour Stuck in hut due to snowstorm. Students devise entertainments. Write journals of experiences.
10 onwards Students work on PowerPoint presentations - minimum 2 hours, as required. Special Needs.
Experiment with their role as researcher. Name one of Antarctica's neighbours. Name three items which would be needed by visitors to Antarctica. Provide description of Antarctica's weather conditions Mainstream. Provide some detail of their feelings as researcher. Explain how they might have expected the journey to be.
Gifted and Talented. Provide greater detail about their role as researcher by providing historical examples to highlight their ordeal. Explain in detail their hypothetical journey and explore their feelings and hardships they may have endured. Teacher introduces Antarctica as a narrative. The story goes something like this: 'Today you are all going to become explorer-scientists who have been given the mission of finding out about Antarctica. You will be leaving in one week and you need to use the time that you have left to discover as much about Antarctica as possible.
If you don't have the right information, you might come across many dangers and you might even risk your lives and the lives of the others. Your first job is to find out where Antarctica is, and what it's like there. You then need to decide what you should take with you and say why you need those things. You will be going on this expedition with four other people and each of you is allowed to take four things, apart from your clothes. In your groups you will discuss what things you need. When you finally arrive, you must write a short journal entry to describe the situation.
Remember, you don't have much time to write, so only write the important things. NOTE: Teacher allocates groups and decides whether this will be ability or mixed-ability groups. For this first activity it might be better starting off with mixed-ability groups. Resources: Workbooks or cardboard, markers, Photos, books (for varying abilities) travel brochures.
'You are now the researchers and in Antarctica most bases are not on frozen soil, but on bedrock or on a (usually moving) ice-shelf - which present their own problems. You must quickly build a shelter. Firstly, you must find out that kind of materials were used to build shelters in the past, and what is being used now.
You must discuss amongst yourselves whether you will use olden day materials or present-day materials and why'. Halfway through this activity teacher informs students that, 'A snowstorm has just hit and you must quickly decide what you should do to remain safe.' Short time later teacher informs class that, 'Luckily the storm only lasted for a short while and you can continue building your shelter.' NOTE: For this activity old sheets and long sticks can be collected and used to produce the 'shelter'. String can be used to secure the sheets to the sticks.
This is a token activity designed to illustrate to the students the importance of shelter in Antarctica and the hardships experienced by explorers, especially the early explorers. Empty plastic milk or other bottles/containers could be made to provide a shelter for class display in the form of an igloo. This could be taught in conjunction with the ideas here: - Resources: Long sticks or canes strong enough to hold up sheet. Old sheets or canvas (if available) String or soft rope, books about Antarctica. 'You are presently living in the hut.
You hear noises outside and using a spotlight shone through the window you spot what you think is a huge polar bear. What are you going to do? You must research the fauna and flora of Antarctica so that you can find out what kind of animal it might be.' Researchers realise that there are no polar bears in Antarctica and discover that it's just a lost penguin.
NOTE: Students can do part of this activity in the 'shelter' they built in the previous lesson to increase their enthusiasm for the lesson. This can be done as a role-play. Special Needs. Name one of the jobs on an Antarctic base. Name one activity people do for leisure.
Brainstorm reasons for safety rules. Mainstream. Name up to three of the different jobs on Antarctic base and briefly describe each of these jobs. Name some of the leisure activities.
Explain problems which may arise from neglecting safety rules. Gifted and Talented. Describe the various jobs and provide detail about each job. Describe a variety of leisure activities on Antarctica. Describe a variety of safety procedures.
The teacher will read this out to the class as a formal letter from the Base Commander. 'The Base Commander has requested that all personnel report to the main dining area for a full report of their activities for the week. Each person is to be present at 16:30 sharp. No excuses will be taken from late-comers. In addition, the meteorology department is to have a report regarding the possible blizzard heading our way.
The Base Commander will also discuss safety issues because some personnel are taking risks. The group of people who returned late back to base after their visit to a local penguin colony triggered an alert and the assembly of a rescue party that was about to set out when they were seen.
This caused considerable worry and disruption for the base - those individuals have been spoken to.' Any off-base trips could get into trouble, even to relatively safe places and in good conditions, see the email from 14th Oct 2003. The teacher places students in groups of 3 and each group must research a particular occupation on Antarctica, e.g. Marine biologist or engineer. Students also report on safety issues on Antarctic bases. The students must then submit a written and oral report detailing their job description and role-play giving an account of their activities in front of their class. Homework, preparation for next lesson if appropriate: 'You discover that an Antarctic expert is coming and there are still some things that you don't know.
You decide to make up a list questions to ask this person when he arrives.' Resources: postings from researchers in Antarctica on internet, books, teacher-prepared letter from 'Base Commander.'
Safety procedures in Antarctica. Special Needs.
Explain what Shackleton was trying to do and why it went wrong. Explain why the men stayed with the ship in the winter and why it was so difficult to get back home.
Mainstream. Describe the key stages of the journey as winter, the ship being crushed, the journey to Elephant Island, the boat journey to South Georgia and then the rescue of the men from Elephant Island. Identify 3 problems that Shackleton and his crew had to deal with other than the loss of the ship. Gifted and Talented. Describe two difficulties that Shackleton and his men would have had to face at each stage.
Give an opinion on whether or not Shackleton and his men achieved anything, what it was and whether it was admirable or not. Download and show the Power Point summarizing Ernest Shackleton's Endurance Expedition. (There are also pictures that can be downloaded from the same page and copied for use in class). Students can take notes based on the Key Questions if prompted by the teacher through the presentation. With a list of the men who went.
Discussion of the Key Questions can take place at the end. A variety of work can be set from using the printed time-lines and pictures as resources, from the following suggestions:. A simple description of the events. A narrative written from the perspective of one of the men of the expedition. There is a narrative written from the perspective of Mrs.
Chippy, the ships cat which can be purchased and read in part or whole,. Ernest Shackleton is considered one of the greats of Antarctic exploration, further research as to what he did could be carried out and compared to Amundsen, Mawson and Scott. A larger display could be made in the form of a wall mounted time-line as a collaborative exercise. 'You have found out that someone had brought a movie with them and the Base Commander has told everyone that they can watch in the big dining room. But guess what? The movie is about Antarctica! Oh well, there's nothing else to do so you decide to go ahead and watch the movies anyway.
The Base Commander tells you that the movie has some important information about a job that you have to do the next day so you are asked to take notes during the movie!' Students for this lesson watch the movie 'March of the Penguins' narrated by Morgan Freeman and directed by Luc Jacquet. Students take down notes to share in a discussion after the movie. Resources: DVDVD of movie 'March of the Penguins', 'Frozen Planet' could be used as an alternative. 'A message has arrived from the government of our country. We are to begin to assess this area of Antarctica for its value in providing resources such as minerals to be mined, fish to be caught, and whether it is reasonable to try and drill for oil.
You are required to write a short report on those areas that you know about personally - the marine biologists and boatmen about how good the fishing is, the geologists about where the most promising rock types are etc. Then in the summer in 3 months time, there will be a representative who will come to see for themselves how valuable this section of Antarctica could be in supplying natural resources. This currently goes against the Antarctic Treaty which was established to ensure that Antarctica does not become exploited, but this is not guaranteed to be in place for ever.' Students research environmental issues impacting on Antarctica and organisations which have been established to combat these issues. Students role-play report given to Base Commander and are required to answer a set of questions by their classmates. Resources: Internet access, books, pamphlets from environmental organisations which outline the impact of human activity on Antarctica (e.g.
Special Needs. Suggest topics for creating songs. Identify key issues of living in Antarctica. Recognise some feelings related to living in isolation as part of a group. Mainstream. Create basic verses for the songs. Recognise and discuss feelings and issues of living in isolation and as part of a group.
Actively participate in creating songs and performing them. Gifted and Talented. Create elaborate verses for songs and participate actively in performing them. Discuss at length feelings associated with living in isolation in Antarctica.
'A snow storm has suddenly hit and you are forced to stay inside the hut for the entire day. You must create a percussion band with equipment that has been brought with you into the hut. These can only include basic cooking utensils. You must also compose a song which sums up your ordeal in the Antarctic. How are you feeling at the moment, what will you do as soon as the storm subsides? These are all questions which you can use to guide you when you create your song.'
Alternatively you can produce some other form of entertainment. For this activity the students are placed into groups of three by the teacher. The teacher also chooses two students to stay inside their hut for the duration of school day.
The students are only allowed to take their lunches with them and they are only allowed out to use the toilet. They must not talk to anyone so that they can be as isolated as possible. They must take their journal with them and describe their ordeal while they are in the hut. Resources: various cooking utensils (pots, pans, spoons), anything that can be used to create simulated percussion music, the tents that were previously built or a designated space if this is not possible. Students should now have enough information to begin creating their own PowerPoint presentations. Each student will prepare an individual PowerPoint presentation and at the end of the unit students will try out each other's presentations.
The students present their understandings of Antarctica through a PowerPoint presentation. The motive for the PowerPoint presentations is so that students are afforded the opportunity to consolidate their Antarctica work. The added bonus of the computer is to act as encouragement so that students are motivated to achieve.
The presentations will be used as an assessment tool. If a data projector is available, then they can be shown to the whole class for peer-marking. The students will choose photos of Antarctica from a selection already supplied by the teacher. Teachers must be aware of copyright infringement laws when gathering their photos. Many are available from. Another good source is but attention must be paid to the copyright requirements, possibly requiring permission to be acquired from the owners of the photos. Resources: Access to computers, photos of Antarctica.
This resource has been adapted from a differentiated curriculum project on Antarctica for a thesis submitted for a Masters Degree in Education at the University of Western Sydney (UWS) by Hadla Trad from New South Wales, Australia. It has been adapted for more general use by Paul Ward, the webmaster of this site.
Late 1800's to early 20th century Many expeditions largely by sealers and whalers to all parts of Antarctica.Mainly marine exploration and exploration of the sub Antarctic islands. Adrien de Gerlache and the crew of the become trapped in pack ice off the Antarctic Peninsula in the first scientific expedition to the continent. They become the first to survive an Antarctic winter(involuntarily!) as their ship drifts with the ice (they didn't enjoy it). 1899 Carsten Borchgrevink leads a British expedition that landed men at Cape Adare and built huts.
This was the first time that anyone had wintered on the Antarctic landmass. Believed by some historians to be the first confirmed landing on continental Antarctica. 1901 UK, leads his first Antarctic expedition to try to reach the South Pole, with Ernest Shackleton and Edward Wilson. They are forced to turn back two months later having reached 82 degrees south, suffering from snow blindness and scurvy. Several other publicly and privately sponsored expeditions around this time.
By now, these are driven by science, geography and exploration- less by the exploitation of resources such as seals and whales. 1907 - 1909 leads expedition to within 156km / 97mls of the South Pole, turns back after supplies are exhausted. 1909 January, Australian reaches the South Magnetic Pole. 1911 December 14th. Norwegian leads a five man expedition that reaches the South Pole for the first time.
1912 January 18th. Britain's Captain reaches the South Pole to discover he has been beaten by Amundsen. All of the five man team (Scott, Bowers, Evans, Oates and Wilson), are to perish on the return journey only 11 miles from supply depot. Bodies are not discovered until November. Begins his trek across George V Land back to his base at Commonwealth Bay. His two companions had died, and against the odds he makes it home.
A new section of coast is discovered and described, and radio is used for the first time in Antarctica. 1915 October. Returns to Antarctica in an attempt to complete the first crossing of the continent.
The goal is not attained, but one of the greatest adventures of all time follows. Their ship is crushed in the sea ice and a small party sets out for South Georgia and the whaling station. The party is eventually rescued in 1917.
1923 The beginning of large-scale factory ship whaling in the Ross Sea. 1928 Australian Sir Hubert Wilkins and American Carl Benjamin Eielson are the first to fly over Antarctica around the peninsula region. 1929 Richard E. Byrd and three others - US - become the first to fly over the South Pole. 1935 Lincoln Ellsworth - US - flies across the continent. Caroline Mikkelsen, Norway, is the first woman to set foot on Antarctica when she accompanies her husband, a whaling captain. 1947 Operation Highjump - US- sends the largest ever expedition of over 4700 men, 13 ships and 23 airplanes to Antarctica.
Antarctica History For Kids
Most of the coast is photographed for map making. 1956 US aircraft lands at South Pole. First people there since Scott and his team in 1912. 1st July 1957 - 31st Dec 1958 International Geophysical Year (IGY) 12 nations establish over 60 stations in Antarctica. The beginning of international cooperation in Antarctica and the start of the process by which Antarctica becomes 'non-national'. The first successful land crossing via the South Poleis led by British geologist Vivian Fuchs with New Zealander Edmund Hillary leading the back up party, over 40 years after Shackleton's expedition set out with the same aim.
1961 Antarctic treaty comes into effect 1997 Boerge Ousland (Norway) becomes first person to cross Antarctica unsupported. Taking 64 days from Berkner Island to Scott base towing a 180kg (400lb) sled and using skis and a sail. March 2007 - March 2009 International Polar Year - Actually Spans two years in order that researchers get the opportunity to work in both polar regions or work summer and winter if they wish. 1776 - USA becomes independent from Great Britain 1780 - James Watt perfects the steam engine 1815 - Battle of Waterloo 1830 - World's first railway opens 1840 - Victoria becomes queen of Great Britain 1859 - Darwin publishes 'Origin of Species' 1885 - Karl Benz builds the first motor car 1896 - Marconi invents wireless telegraph (radio) 1901 - Australia becomes an independent nation.
Queen Victoria dies. End of the Victorian era. President McKinley shot, USA. 1900 - 1922 is known as the The saying among old Antarctic hands was; 'For scientific discovery give me Scott, for speed and efficiency of travel give me Amundsen, but when you back's against the wall and there's no hope left, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton'. Divide your food the Antarctic explorers way Emotions about food on sledging expeditions frequently became almost obsessive.
The traditional way of sharing out the often meagre rations was for the days appointed cook to divide the days food into as many equal portions as there were people as fairly as he could. One of the party would then turn his back, the cook would point to a portion and ask 'whose?' The man who's turn it was would give the name of who would have that portion. This was done to avoid arguing about who received the largest meal. There were still sometimes complaints though that the cook and the person naming the meals had some kind of secret system organized between them. Crumbs also became important.
When sledging biscuits were broken up, it was done over something that would catch the falling crumbs so that nothing went to waste. The crumbs too were divided up fairly.