The race to the Pole

Read about 12 key events in Antarcticas discovery and exploration. Red dots on the map show where they took place. Decide what you think are the five most important of these events. Use the co ordinates to find the matchin! red dots for each on the map. Use arrows and words to label captions on your map to describe your five most important moments in Antarcticas history.

"ompare your map with your nei!hbour # have you chosen the same events$

%he race to the &ole

Need help with using the co-ordinates? 'n a world map or !lobe( latitude lines run hori)ontally. %hink of them like run!s of a ladder # *ladder tude+ ,eanwhile( lines of lon!itude run vertically( like se!ments in an oran!e. %o make sense of the latitude number you need to start from the e-uator( which is . .. %o the north( they are numbered de!rees /orth until you reach 0.. /orth at the /orth &ole. %o the south( they are numbered de!rees 1outh until you reach 0. . 1outh at the 1outh &ole 2the centre of this map3.
%he race to the &ole

7 Location A 70 S !T" #0$ %&ST Date !' #77( Information "aptain 4ames "ook and his crew were the first people to cross the Antarctic "ircle( althou!h they never saw Antarctica itself.

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5ritish seal hunter( 4ames 6eddell sailed further south than anyone had ever !one before # 789 kilometres further south than "ooks expedition fifty years before. %he waters that he reached are now called the 6eddell 1ea. :ollowin! orders to discover the 1outh ,a!netic &ole( 5ritish Royal /avy commander( 1ir 4ames "lark Ross( reached the sea now named after him. ;e also discovered Ross <sland( ,ount =rebus 2named after Rosss ship3 and the Ross <ce 1helf. /orwe!ian "arstens 5orch!revink set sail from %asmania( southern Australia to lead the *5ritish Antarctic =xpedition even thou!h there were only three 5ritish members of the crew. %hey were the first !roup to spend winter on the Antarctic mainland. %hey were also the first to use teams of do!s to transport them across the ice. %he race to the &ole

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.ape Adare 7, S !T" #70 &AST

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A 1wedish !eolo!ist( 'tto /ordensk>old( and five other men undertook the first exploration by sled!e. /ordensk>olds team covered ?9. kilometres but in the meantime their ship was crushed and written off by ice. %hey spent two winters stranded on Antarctica before bein! rescued by an Ar!entinian ship in 10.7. Robert :. 1cott( =dward 6ilson and =rnest 1hackleton set off for the 1outh &ole. %hey covered 9(... kilometres but snow blindness and illness forced them to !ive up after two months. =rnest 1hackleton had another !o at reachin! the 1outh &ole( this time accompanied by :rank 6ild( =ric ,arshall and 4ameson Adams. Althou!h they !ot further than 1cotts team illness and hun!er forced them to !ive up >ust 1@. kilometres from their destination. Aieutenant /obu 1hirase led the first 4apanese expedition to Antarctica. %hey !ot as far as "oulman <sland before heavy storms and treacherous ice in the water forced them to abandon their expedition.

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%he race to the &ole

South Pole

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/orwe!ian Roald Amundsen and four other men were the first to reach the 1outh &ole thanks to a new route that only took them 9B days. Amundsen planted a /orwe!ian fla! and wrote two letters # one for the kin! of /orway( and one for the 5ritish Antarctic =xpedition team led by Robert :. 1cott. Robert :. 1cott( =dward 6ilson( =d!ar =vans and Aawrence 'ates finally reached the 1outh &ole only to discover that the /orwe!ian( Amundsen had !ot there 77 days earlier. 1cott and his companions all died on their return >ourney. =rnest 1hackleton led a team that intended to be the first to cross Antarctica from coast to coast by sled!e. 5ut their ship( *=ndurance( was crushed by ice and sank in the 6eddell 1ea. %hen the most ama)in! story of survival in Antarcticas history be!an. 1hackleton and his men had to camp on floatin! ice for five months. :inally( a break in the ice enabled 1hackleton and five others to take a very small boat 1(7.. kilometres north in search for help. %he rescue team did not reach the remainin! men for 1.9 days. 6ith Australian explorer( Dou!las ,awson in char!e( the 5ritish( Australian and /ew Cealand Antarctic Research =xpedition established a base on Antarctica. %he race to the &ole

South Pole

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%he race to the &ole