Introduction
In June 1910, the
Terra Nova expedition left Wales. Robert Falcon Scott led the expedition, although he left England separately and joined the crew on the
Terra Nova in
South Africa later. The main goals of the expedition were to reach the
South Pole and carry out scientific research. The goal of reaching the
South Pole became somewhat of a race to be the first when in October
1910 Scott learned that the Norwegian Roald Amundsen was also making an
attempt to reach the South Pole (South-pole.com, n.d.).
On January
3, 1912, Scott and four other men began the final push to the South
Pole. They reached the South Pole on January 17, 1912, only to discover
that Amundsen had beat them to the pole on December 14, 1911. While
they did not fail to reach the pole, Scott’s polar party failed to be
first and failed to return home, as all five perished on their way back
from the South Pole (South-pole.com, n.d.).
Task
You have been recruited to be a team that plans to retrace Scott’s
final expedition. While the expedition plans to stay true to the
historic time period of the expedition, the main mission of your
expedition is to successfully reach the South Pole and return home
safely. Use the provided information sources to learn about how things
went wrong for Scott and how Amundsen’s expedition was more successfully
carried out, and then create a proposal of what your expedition will do
differently. Remember to try and stick with what resources were at
least potentially available to Scott in 1912.
Information Sources
Cool Antarctica. (n.d.). Roald Amundsen (1872-1928) Norwegian Antarctic Expedition 1910–1912. Retrieved from
http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica fact file/History/roald amundsen.htm
Cool Antarctica. (n.d.). Roald Amundsen - crew of the Fram Norwegian South Pole Expedition 1910–1911. Retrieved from
http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica fact file/History/antarctic_whos_who_fram.htm
Cool Antarctica. (n.d.). Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912) page 2 The Terra Nova Expedition 1910-13. Retrieved from
http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica fact file/History/Robert Falcon Scott2.htm
Cool Antarctica. (n.d.). Robert Falcon Scott – the journey to the pole. Retrieved from
http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica fact file/History/Robert Falcon Scott3.htm
Race
for the Pole. (n.d.). Race for the pole: Historical acts of courage and
endeavour told as the events unfold. Retrieved from
http://raceforthepole.co.uk/
South-pole.com. (n.d.). Roald Amundsen. Retrieved from
http://www.south-pole.com/p0000101.htm
South-pole.com. (n.d.). The Terra Nova Expedition 1910-13. Retrieved from
http://www.south-pole.com/p0000090.htm
Process
Step 1: Working in groups of at least two, determine who will research and make notes about Robert Falcon Scott’s
Terra Nova expedition (1910-1913) and who will research and make notes about Roald Amundsen’s Norwegian Antarctic expedition (1910-1912).
Step 2a – Robert Falcon Scott: This step is for those in your group that will research and make notes about Robert Falcon Scott’s
Terra Nova expedition
(1910-1913). Read through the information about his expedition using
the below resources. As you read make notes about the expedition with
particular focus on things that went wrong. Do not forget to note what
the expedition’s strengths were, such as what they did right or well.
Step 2b – Roald Amundsen: This
step is for those in your group that will research and make notes about
Roald Amundsen’s Norwegian Antarctic expedition (1910-1912). Read
through the information about his expedition using the below resources.
As you read make notes about the expedition with particular focus on
what you think helped the expedition reach the South Pole before Scott
as well as successfully return from Antarctica. You should also make
note of any weaknesses or mistakes made.
Step 3: After
everyone in your group has finished making notes, come back together
and decide on a note taker to make notes on each expedition’s strengths
and weaknesses that come to light as each member shares their notes from
step 2 with the group. Even if you are not the note taker, you should
help ensure the note taker writes has written down the key points from
your step 2 research.
Step 4: As a group
brainstorm how you the reenactment of Scott’s expedition should be
carried out. In particular, discuss what you would do differently from
what Scott did and how you might incorporate strengths you learned from
Amundsen’s success. Browse the
Race for the Pole
website for more information on Scott’s and Amundsen’s expeditions
including their journals. Before continuing on to step 5, create an
outline of what main aspects your group would change and keep the same
for the reenactment expedition.
Step 5: Create a
proposal outlining what you would do different from Robert Falcon Scott
and why. You can choose to create a video, Word document, or PowerPoint
presentation as your final product.
Guidance/Evaluation
| |
Exemplary
4
|
Accomplished
3
|
Developing
2
|
Beginning
1
|
Points
|
| Step 2 Notes | Student has clear and thorough notes for the sources they were assigned to look at for the group. | Student’s notes are missing key points from their assigned sources and/or notes are unclear. | Student’s notes include only one or two key points. | Student makes no notes or too unclearly recorded to understand. | |
| Group Notes | Notes include several key points on strengths and weaknesses about both Scott’s and Amundsen’s expeditions. | Notes include key points about both expeditions, but are missing one or two key points from group members Step 2 notes. | Notes only features key points from one expedition or are missing many key points recorded in Step 2. | No notes are recorded. | |
| Proposal Outline | Outline
features at least 3 examples of what the reenactment will do
differently from Scott and what it will do the same as Scott. | Outline
features only two examples of what the reenactment will do differently
from Scott and/or what it will do the same as Scott. | Outline features only one example of what the reenactment will do differently from Scott or what it will do the same as Scott. | Outline is not done or it is unclear whether the key points are what will be done differently or the same. | |
| Final Proposal | Proposal clearly explains how the reenactment should be carried out. Proposal is also free of grammatical errors. | Proposal
fails to address one key point about what might be done differently
from Scott’s expedition and/or contains a few grammatical errors. | Proposal fails to incorporate knowledge learned about both expeditions and/or has many grammatical errors. | No
final proposal is done, the final proposal does not include what would
be done differently, or it has so many errors it is hard to understand. | |
Total Points
| |
Conclusion
By successfully completing this WebQuest, you have learned about the
Race to the South Pole including the tragedies and successes. You have
also considered how things could be done differently in order for there
to be a successful reenactment of Scott’s final expedition. You may be
interested in the below books to learn more about Scott, Amundsen, and
early 1900 Antarctic exploration.
