Freebie Friday – Mini Study: Expedition to Antarctica - Sir Ernest Shackleton

Discover Antarctica with this mini-study that centers around polar explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton, the disastrous 1914 expedition of the Endurance to the Antarctic, and the incredible story of survival and heroism of Shackleton and his crew.

Visit the Shackleton100 website and download the free Mini Study: Expedition to Antarctica - Sir Ernest Shackleton Activity Packet we created to accompany the mini-study activities below. This mini-unit is best suited for upper elementary to high school students. Pick and choose which activities you wish to do with your family:

History:

1. Preview the information and video (1:15 min.) on the Shackleton100 home page to get an overview of what will be learned. Use the interactive timeline in the center of the page to learn more and see images and short video presentations of the events surrounding the Endurance expedition.
2. Select the Shackleton link in the upper menu. Watch the Sir Ernest Shackleton video (2:28 min.) and read through the text to learn about the life of Ernest Shackleton.
3. Select the Mission link in the upper menu. Read through the information. Do the Crossword puzzle in theMini Study: Expedition to Antarctica - Sir Ernest Shackleton Activity Packet using what you have discovered on the Shackleton and Mission pages of the website.
4. Select the Endurance link in the upper menu. View the timeline video (0:15 sec.) at the top of this page then read through the information. Complete the Cryptograms in the Mini Study: Expedition to Antarctica - Sir Ernest Shackleton Activity Packet.
5. Select the Crew link in the upper menu. Watch the video presentation of the crew (1:25 min.) then do the Word Search puzzle in the Mini Study: Expedition to Antarctica - Sir Ernest Shackleton Activity Packet.
6. Create a timeline of Shackleton's life or the events of the Endurance expedition.

Geography:

1. Select the Antarctica link in the upper menu. Once the map loads, watch the  Antarctica Video by clicking the image on the map to learn more about the continent (1:47 min.) While watching the video, answer the Antarctica Geography Questions in Mini Study: Expedition to Antarctica - Sir Ernest Shackleton Activity Packet, then use other resources to define the geographic terms listed.
2. Use the interactive map to explore the various locations in the virtual tour. (Each destination is a 360° image tour from Google and can take an indeterminate amount of time depending on the visitor's curiosity.)
3. As you explore the locations on the map, Use the Match It worksheets in the Mini Study: Expedition to Antarctica - Sir Ernest Shackleton Activity Packet to match the location to the image.
4. Print out the map of Antarctica in the Mini Study: Expedition to Antarctica - Sir Ernest Shackleton Activity Packet and mark the locations listed on the map.
5. Learn more about Antarctica on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica

Language Arts:

1. Using the information you have acquired, choose one of the writing activities below:
   1. Write a summary biography about the life of Ernest Shackleton.
   2. Pretend that you are one of the crew members aboard the Endurance and write an imaginary journal entry about your experience.
   3. Create a newspaper article about what happened to the Endurance and its crew. Be sure to answer the who, what, when, where, and how questions. We have included a blank newspaper template in the Mini Study: Expedition to Antarctica - Sir Ernest Shackleton Activity Packet.

Math:

• • Older Kids: Do the Convert Temperature worksheet in the Mini Study: Expedition to Antarctica - Sir Ernest Shackleton Activity Packet.
• • Younger kids: Do the Color the Temperature worksheet in the Mini Study: Expedition to Antarctica - Sir Ernest Shackleton Activity Packet.

Science:

• • Do the Melting Ice Experiment located on The Chaos and the Clutter blog. There is a free Science Lab Sheet in the Mini Study: Expedition to Antarctica - Sir Ernest Shackleton Activity Packet to use to record information from your experiments.

• • Choose from a variety of activities related to the Arctic and the Antarctic at the National Science Foundation. Activities include video presentations, a timeline of the South Pole telescope, animal trading cards, penguin science, and more.

Additional Resources:

• •  NASA LIMA (Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica) – Information and satellite images of Antarctica
• •  British Antarctica Survey: Discovering Antarctica – A large variety of information, images, lessons and much more
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• •  Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton – Website created and maintained by members of the Shackleton family. Includes biography, images, book suggestions (mostly an adult reading list), video suggestions as well as links to other recommended websites.
• •  WikiPedia - Ernest Shackleton
• •  Project Gutenberg: South! The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition, 1914-1917 – Downloadable version of book written by Sir Ernest Shackleton.
• •  LibroVox: South! The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition, 1914-1917 – Audio version of book by Sir Ernest Shackleton.

 Additional YouTube Videos:

• •  The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition (1:37:51) (Narrated by Liam Neeson)
• •   National Geographic Creative: Survival! The Shackleton Story (26:06 min)
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• •  Sir Ernest Shackleton & The Endurance (7:55 min)
• * As always, please be sure to preview all of the suggested resources to be sure they are appropriate for your family.