IceTrek Education Teachers Section

In the Classroom

There are a number of different ways to use the Terra Nova and IceTrek material with a class. Clearly the emphasis that is put on the study will depend upon the subject that the unit is covered in if there is not to be a cross-curricular approach.

There are also some useful learning activities in the Integrating the Terra Nova- IceTrek material into the Curriculum (NZ) section.

A broad sequence could be:

Introduction
Cultural Evaluations of Antarctica
The people involved
Planning
Technology
Food
Routes
Journeys

Introduction

Establish place parameters with mapping work.
Follow this by outlining the unique physical environment in Antarctica stressing that Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, highest, and driest continent on Earth.
A suggested source to use for this is the ICAIR website: http://www.icair.iac.org.nz/education/homepage/homepage.htm is a good place to find general information about Antarctica

Cultural Evaluations of Antarctica

The Terra Nova and IceTrek expeditions are set in differing periods of history and the cultural evaluation, political arrangement and scientific understanding of Antarctica in these two times are quite different. It would be useful to establish these difference with students. Some key differences are set out in the table below.

Antarctica in the early Twentieth Century

Antarctica in the late Twentieth Century

Not fully mapped but an increasing understanding of the continent
Exploitation of the outer islands and sea by whalers and sealers
Represented a challenge to explore and to reach the geographic South Pole
No country staked a claim to ownership but countries that had mounted expeditions included: Great Britain, Norway, Japan, Australia, Germany, Sweden, France, Russia, USA, Belgium
No permanent settlements

From the 1950s international interest in Antarctica increased
The status of Antarctica was defined by the 1959 Antarctic Treaty
The Treaty established the Antarctic as a region for peaceful, scientific work
42 countries are signatories
Antarctica has been comprehensively mapped and a number of countries have permanent bases staffed by, mainly, scientists
The 1991 Protocol has established a commitment to protect the environment in Antarctica

The people involved

Examine the backgrounds, motivations and skills of the two teams. Look at the size of the teams and examine reasons for any differences
Write letters from a member of each of the teams describing their expedition. They could elaborate on their reasons for going and comment on the reality of the expedition compared to their expectations

Motivations

Compare and contrast the motivations of those involved
Allow students to consider why they might go on an expedition like Scott and IceTrek. What similarities and differences are there?

Planning

What similarities and differences are there between the two expeditions?
Get the students to plan a similar trip. How many people would they take with them, who would these people be and why would they make these choices?
What groups would you consider approaching for sponsorship?
Prepare a risk analysis plan. What risks do the students come up with that aren't included in the Risk Analysis section of the comparative study?

Technology

Examine the different technologies used by the two expeditions. What differences would it make to the expeditions? Focus on clothing, shelter, transport, communication, navigation, and fuel.
Design some item of technology that might be beneficial to those living and travelling in Antarctica

Food

Study both diets and note differences.
Peter Hillary refers to the IceTrek rations as "fuel". Why would he refer to his food like this? How would you manage eating the polar food rations for over 3 months?

Routes

On a map mark in the two routes marking in distances and main landscape features.

Journeys

Follow the IceTrek journey on the IceTrek website and note their progress against Scott's and their projected times. Top

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