In preparation for viewing “Shackleton’s Antarctic Adventure,” learners will be introduced to the climate and geography of the continent of Antarctica. They will examine sacrifices made by individuals for the good of the others and the common good, and explore their motivations.

NOTE: A copy of the movie or DVD Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure may be purchased from    Amazon.com

The learner will:

• explore the physical changes of freezing water
• identify the relative location of the continent of Antarctica.
• describe the motivations and characteristics of someone who volunteers or contributes for the common good.

Before Watching the Movie

Materials: 

• two small sailing ship models or toys (preferably wood).
• container of water that the ship will fit into and that will fit into a freezer.
• chart paper to record student responses.
• Internet availability or student copies of a map of Antarctica and of Shackleton’s journey. Copy from the web site and print copies for students. See Bibliographical References.

Teacher's Note:

Prior to the lesson obtain two small toy or model boats. Place one in a container of water and freeze.

Instructional Procedure(s): 

Anticipatory Set:

Ask students to indicate if they have ever been on a boat in a large body of water, have them relate some of what they experienced. Show one of the toy boats in a container of unfrozen water. Discuss with the students what they think will happen if you move the water around simulating waves. Ask them what they think will happen if the water around the ship freezes. Show them the boat in the frozen water. Ask them to brainstorm what it might be like to be on a boat frozen in place and what might happen to the framework of the boat as the water freezes and the ice shifts in response to the movement of the ocean.

• Explain to students what happens to water molecules as they freeze. (Because ice is less dense than water at 0°C (32˚F) a mass of ice occupies 9% more volume than an equal mass of water. The expansion upon freezing comes from the fact that water crystallizes into an open hexagonal form. This hexagonal lattice contains more space than the liquid state of the molecule. As a result, ice takes up more room than the water from which it forms. Most substances contract when they change state from liquid to solid; water is one of the few that expands.) Ask the learners to conjecture on the effects this expansion would have on a ship.
• Ask them to think about how they might feel if they were on a ship being slowly crushed by the expansion and movement of ice. What might they do to survive? Lead them in a discussion with plausible answers. If possible show the students pictures of the Endurance at http://www.shackleton-endurance.com/images.html
• Tell them that they are going to see a movie of the true account of a famous explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton, and his ship, The Endurance, and his crew. (Some of the movie is a re-enactment and some, particularly the black and white pictures, are actual photographs.) It is a story of survival and cooperation. Give them the following background information. Shackleton volunteered to go on his first Antarctic expedition. What does it mean to volunteer and why would someone volunteer to do something so potentially dangerous? Are some of these reasons selfish and some selfless?
• Tell the students that the Antarctic adventure portrayed in the movie was funded by private individuals, the British government and the Royal Geographical Society, a nonprofit organization. School children raised funds to purchase the sled dogs that were then named after the schools who contributed. If they had attended school in England in 1914, would they have wanted to support this venture in this way? Can they think of any cause in recent history that has united school children across our nation in a similar way? (Flights of the space shuttle, restoration of the Statue of Liberty, relief efforts after September 11, 2001)
• Have the students study a map of Antarctica and a map of Shacklton’s course while trying to return to the Stromness whaling station. . (See Bibliographical References for these resources.).
• While viewing the movie, ask the students to note the sacrifices that were made by Shackleton for his crew.

After Viewing The Movie

Post Viewing Lesson Purpose: 

Students will explore the role of an effective leader through a simulation.

Objectives: 

The learner will:

• engage in and evaluate leadership roles in a cooperative simulation.
• write a short essay about the characteristics of leadership.
• reflect on their dreams and goals.

Anticipatory Set:

Hand out copies of Interview with Alexandra Shackleton. Explain that this is from an interview of Ernest Shackleton’s granddaughter done by NOVA. Assign students to read the interview questions and answers, and highlight or underline those works and phrases that describe Shackleton’s leadership qualities.

As a class, create a list of the descriptive words and phrases. Add any others that the students may have observed about Shackleton that are not included in the interview script.

• As a class discuss what characteristics and qualities of leadership Sir Ernest Shackleton modeled.
• Tell the class that they will participate in a survival simulation. Divide the class into two groups. One person will be chosen by the teacher to be the Captain for round one and the rest of the students in the group will be the crew.
• Give each group a copy of the Antarctic simulation (Attachment One).
• Give each group a copy of the supplies (Attachment Two).

Teacher Note: There are 16 items on the list. The list is not intended to be historically accurate to the time of Shackleton’s adventure. It is only for simulation purposes. The students choose and rank 10 of them. Accept any ranking of these items as long as each student can justify why it is an important item to keep. For example, wood from the ship could be use for fuel to cook or keep warm. Others might point out that the ice would melt from the heat, and therefore would not be a good choice. A cell phone would probably not be a good choice because it more than likely wouldn’t work at the South Pole.

• Tell each group to read carefully the simulation situation and the list of supplies.
• Independently, have each student decide what supplies s/he thinks they need to keep and then rank them in importance with 1 (one) being the most important. They should also write down the rational for keeping each item and ranking it where they did.
• Have a class discussion about their choices. After the discussion, students may change their priorities if desired.
• Give each student 4 index cards. Have them write their top four ranked survival items (numbers 1-4) on the cards, one survival item on each card.
• Put an outline of two ships on the floor with masking tape. The crews of each ship (each group) should sit within the markings. The crews pool their resources (items written on their cards) and make an inventory of supplies using a blank supply list, indicating the number of cards they have for each item.
• Ask each crew to calculate how many days food they have for their ship based on the number in each crew with each supply card feeding ten people for three days. How many days of drinking water do they have based on 1 gallon a day for each crewmember? Have them calculate if they have enough tents to house their crews, a blanket for each person, fuel for warmth and cooking, sufficient life rafts if needed in an emergency. Ask each group to report about how long the group estimates they could survive with the supply items their group chose? (To survive even one day they need sufficient food, water and shelter – tents and blankets.)
• Gather as a class and discuss how the survival time could be lengthened. Promote ideas of cooperation, sharing and selflessness for the common good during the discussion.
• Have each group return to their boats. Students or the teacher may choose to appoint a new captain for this round of the game. Give the group a new blank supply list and each crewmember four cards on which to choose supplies. Allow the groups to cooperatively decide how each person’s cards should be completed. Have them again calculate how long they could survive. Compare the survival
• Hold a class discussion about the difference in the two rounds of the game and how the common good of the group (survival) was enhanced through cooperation, sharing and selflessness.
• The students will write an essay describing three characteristics of a good leader and explain how these characteristics helped Shackleton achieve his goal of survival for his entire crew. The essay will include one of their personal goals and a characteristic needed to reach it. (See Attachment Three: Scoring Rubric for Essay.)

A variation of the simulation or extension.

• Round one: Each crew decides what other items they need for survival and what items they may have in excess and could exchange with the other “crew.”
• The teacher guides the crews in the exchange of cards with items listed. Remind them to cross off or add an item to the ships inventory as each round of exchange takes place.
• The crews continue to exchange cards until they are satisfied they can survive with what they have or not survive.

 Students may create their own survival simulation scenario and give them to groups of students to role-play. They may also create a list of supplies that they think might be needed for survival. Examples: Spaceship Crashed on the Planet Mars; Stranded in the Sahara Desert or Amazon Rainforest.