HSIE K 6. Antarctica. Student booklet including Supervisor notes

Transcription

1 HSIE K 6 Antarctica Student booklet including Supervisor notes P/HSIE Centre for Learning Innovation

2 Acknowledgments The Centre for Learning Innovation gratefully acknowledges the following owners of copyright material for permission to reproduce their work. HSIE K 6 Syllabus Board of Studies, All reasonable efforts have been made to obtain copyright permissions. All claims will be settled in good faith. Many thanks to: Catherine Brown for her photographs of Antarctica Karen French and John French for their interviews and photographs Alasdair McGregor for his paintings and interview Julie Short for her interview with Alasdair McGregor Sally Watts for her photograph. Writers Rae Lister and Bruno Diodati Editors Rob Davis and Alan Barnes Illustrator and designer David Stanley Audio engineer Greg Parke Voices Rob Davis, Sally Watts and Greg Parke Desktop publisher Esta Tserpes Photographer Catherine Brown Version date January, 2005 Produced by the Centre for Learning Innovation, 51 Wentworth Road, Strathfield NSW Telephone: ; Fax: Copyright of this material is reserved to the Crown in the right of the State of New South Wales. Reproduction or transmittal in whole, or in part, other than in accordance with provisions of the Copyright Act 1968, is prohibited without the written authority of the Centre for Learning Innovation. State of New South Wales, Department of Education and Training, CLI, 2005

3 Unit contents About this unit... ii What you will learn... ii What you will need... iii Preparation... iii Suggested time... iii Icons... iv Returns checklist... v Unit outline... vi Part A Where is it?... 1 Activities Part B Who owns it?... 7 Activities Part C What is it like? Activities Part D How have people interacted in Antarctica? Activities Part E What should happen in Antarctica? Activities Supervisor notes Audio transcript Supervisor feedback Workbook Antarctica i Student booklet

4 About this unit What you will learn At the end of this unit you should be able to: locate features and places on maps and globes given degrees of latitude and longitude determine degrees of latitude for places have a mental picture of the Antarctic environment from studying paintings and listening to accounts by people who have lived there appreciate the difficulties faced by 1900s expeditioners in Antarctica identify improvements for those who live and work and travel in Antarctica today explain the purpose of bases in Antarctica today recognise the positive and negative effects of human interaction in Antarctica identify the various links in the food web in Antarctic waters describe the consequences of human interference with the food web write an exposition taking an argument for or against the removal of resources from Antarctic waters suggest how best to protect Antarctica in the future. Antarctica ii Student booklet

5 What you will need You have been sent: this student booklet unit audio the book, Antarctic Journal, Dr David James Hasick, Era Publications, 1993 personal tape You will also need: an atlas and/or a globe 4 plastic cups of water and some salt, sugar, vinegar and lemon juice for the optional experiment in Activity 7 Text tips card Stage 3 Expositions Preparation Detach the workbook and supervisor notes from this booklet. Suggested time This unit has been written to take approximately 12 hours over 6 weeks. Your teacher will suggest how to best organise your time. Antarctica iii Student booklet

6 Icons Throughout this unit you will find symbols that have special meanings as follows: Listen to the audiotape or CD for this activity. Record this activity for the teacher. Return this work to the teacher. Write the answer to this activity in the space provided. Did you write...? The information in these boxes is for your supervisor to read. This is supervisor information which will be boxed and on the right-hand side of the student text. Antarctica iv Student booklet

7 Returns checklist Antarctica workbook (at the conclusion of the unit) the book, Antarctic Journal unit audio Jacaranda Primary Atlas/inflatable globe (if sent) Supervisor feedback sheet personal tape Text tips card Stage 3 Expositions Antarctica v Student booklet

8 Unit outline Part A Where is it? 1 Introduction 2 Locating Antarctica Part B Who owns it? 3 Antarctic territories 4 The Antarctic Treaty Part C What is it like? 5 Antarctica a land of extremes 6 Antarctic journal 7 Impressions from Alasdair the artist 8 Impressions from Karen and John the scientists 9 Write a poem or a description Part D How have people interacted in Antarctica? 10 Antarctic explorers in the 1900s 11 Who goes to Antarctica now and why? 12 Living and working in Antarctica 13 Scientific research 14 Removing resources 15 Pollution past and present Part E What should happen in Antarctica? 16 What are the benefits and risks from human interaction? 17 Your ideas for protecting Antarctica in the future Antarctica vi Student booklet

9 Part A Where is it? Outline 1 Introduction 2 Locating Antarctica listen to an audio account of early locate places on a globe or map using encounters with Antarctica degrees of latitude locate other places given degrees of latitude and longitude find the latitude of a place locate various points on the map of Antarctica Antarctica 1 Student booklet

10 1 Introduction Sit in a quiet spot and listen to some of the history of the discovery of the frozen land we call Antarctica. You don t have to remember all the names and dates. Your supervisor has a timeline of these early explorations if you would like to have a look later. You will find a timeline of these early discoveries in the supervisor notes if your student is interested. Turn on the audio. Track 1 Antarctica 2 Student booklet

11 2 Locating Antarctica Antarctica is one of the main landmasses in the world known as continents. It is judged to be the fifth largest continent. It is twice the size of Australia, which is the other continent entirely in the Southern Hemisphere. Be available to assist your student if necessary to locate the places mentioned in this activity. You will need an atlas with a map of the world or a globe of the world. Go to the South Pole in the Southern Hemisphere. Look for the parallel of latitude at 60 degrees south. You will find Antarctica below 60 S. Australia Adelaide Cape York Brisbane Sydney At their closest points, Australia and Antarctica are only kilometres apart. This is the same distance as from Sydney to Cape York. Find Sydney at about the parallel of latitude at 35 S and close to the meridian of longitude at 150 E. Melbourne Hobart Look for the tip of the Cape York Peninsula near the Equator. It is close to latitude 10 S and is between 140 E and 145 E at about longitude 142 E. If necessary explain that a peninsula is a narrow strip of land which is mostly surrounded by sea but still attached to land. New Zealand If you want to check that the distances are about the same, you could measure the straight lines on the diagram on this page. Antarctica Antarctica 3 Student booklet

12 Tasmania The most southern state of Australia is the island of Tasmania. Tasmania is the closest state of Australia to Antarctica. Write below, the latitude for the island state of Tasmania. Did you write at about 45 S or between 40 S and 50 S? If you can find on a map the name of the ocean which separates Australia and Antarctica, write it below. Did you write Southern Ocean? You will have noticed as you look at the map of the world that Antarctica appears to be a long, thin continent that spans the width of the world map. In fact, Antarctica is a large, almost circular continent, right at the bottom of the world. If you have a globe, you will have been able to see how it looks. The view you see of Antarctica when it is on its own on the page of an atlas is the view you would get if you were looking down on it from outer space. You will find a map of Antarctica like the one in an atlas on page 1 of your Workbook. This map represents Antarctica s true shape. Go to page 1 of the Workbook and find the Antarctic Circle around Antarctica. You will remember that it is a dotted line of latitude. Highlight the name when you find it. Antarctica 4 Student booklet

13 Now look at the shape of the continent. You will notice that it is roughly a circle shape. There are three formations which interrupt the circular shape. Firstly there is the Antarctic Peninsula which is the narrow strip of land that points towards the tip of South America. Find it and underline the name. Now find the two large indentations in the shape of the continent. Underline the name of the sea in each of the indentations. Did you recognise that these seas were named after early explorers? Find another sea which is named after an early explorer you heard about on the audio and underline it. You will return to page 1 of your workbook in the next activity. Antarctica 5 Student booklet

14 Antarctica 6 Student booklet

15 Part B Who owns it? Outline 3 Antarctic territories locate and outline the area of the Australian Antarctic Territory locate territories belonging to other countries and underline the name of each of the six countries suggest possible reasons why the seven countries claim territory choose two of the countries claiming territory, write reasons as to why they claim it and give an opinion on the reasons locate and label place names in Antarctica find the latitude of a given place locate places given latitude and longitude 4 The Antarctic Treaty contribute suitable suggestions for an impact statement Antarctica 7 Student booklet

16 3 Antarctic territories Antarctica is not a nation-state like Australia. There are no permanent human residents. Plenty of wildlife lives there but humans only visit Antarctica for research-related work or when they are on one of the few tours to Antarctica. So who owns it? Seven nations claim territory in Antarctica. Australia is one of them. Australia claims a territory that is nearly as big as Australia itself. The other countries are New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, France, Norway and the United Kingdom. Go to the map of the world in your atlas to find those countries. Use the index in the atlas to find the page where the country can be found. Go to the map of Antarctica on page 1 of your Workbook. This map shows the various Antarctic territory boundaries. The Australian bases, or stations, are marked. Some of the bases or stations belonging to other countries are marked as well. Antarctica 8 Student booklet

17 Locate the Australian territorial claim. Draw around the outline of that area in coloured pencil. This represents the area which Australia has claimed as a territory of Australia. Find each of the other territories and underline the name of the country in each case which has claimed it. You will notice that some of the territorial claims overlap. Discuss with your supervisor the main reasons Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, France, Norway and the United Kingdom might have made claims on territory. Go to page 3 of the Workbook. Choose two of the countries which claim territory. Write the name of each and, underneath, the possible reasons for their claims. Write also whether you think the reasons you have given are good enough to claim territory and explain why. Assist your student by discussing territorial claims on Antarctica, guiding towards consideration of earlier exploration and geographical proximity. Ask questions such as: Which are the closest countries to Antarctica? Do any of these have territories? Why might that be so? From what you remember from the audio at the beginning of the unit which countries had explorers in the region? How soon did whaling begin in the early years after the discovery of Antarctica? Are there any countries claiming territory that are still interested in killing whales? Antarctica 9 Student booklet

18 The countries that claim territory also have bases where their scientists can go and live and work for various periods of time up to a year. Use your atlas to locate the three Australian base or station names in the Australian Territory on the continent of Antarctica. Their location is already marked with a dot on your map of Antarctica on page 1 of the Workbook. You only need label each base with its name. Then answer the questions on page 4 of the Workbook. Explain to your student that the words base and station mean the same thing. It is the place where there is a settlement for the purposes of scientific research. There is no permanent population. People come and go for a season or maybe for periods as long as a year. Antarctica 10 Student booklet

19 The seven nations that had claimed territory had begun occupying stations for the purpose of conducting scientific research. Belgium, South Africa, the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Russia) had also established bases for research purposes. Tension developed between those countries that had claimed territory and the others that were also in Antarctica doing research. It was then that they decided something should be done to prevent conflict from interfering with their research efforts. The USSR, or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, doesn t exist today. Russia is the biggest of the countries that previously were part of the union. Most of the former USSR's bases are staffed by Russians today. In 1959, the 12 countries which had built bases in Antarctica signed a treaty called the Antarctic Treaty. Australia was one of the countries to sign at that time. Since then 45 nations altogether have signed the Treaty, but only those seven nations that originally had claims to territory on Antarctica still have them today. The Antarctic Treaty recognises all claims to Antarctic territories, which were made prior to the Treaty being adopted by the international community in In the next activity you will learn about the Treaty and further developments towards protecting Antarctica. Antarctica 11 Student booklet

20 4 The Antarctic Treaty As you have learnt earlier there was not much interest in Antarctica for many years, except from sealers and whalers. In the 1900s exploration of the land began and gradually, as access improved with better ships, countries started to establish stations to conduct scientific exploration of one kind or another. In , which was called the International Geophysical Year, the group of countries doing research in Antarctica felt that, since no country owns Antarctica, they should decide upon some rules to govern their activities. A year later the Antarctic Treaty was written and signed by the twelve nations, those that claimed territory, plus Belgium, Japan, South Africa, the United States and the USSR. The Antarctic Treaty expressly declares that it is in the interest of all humans that Antarctica should continue to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes such as scientific research. The Antarctic Treaty outlines the way in which Antarctica is to be used and protected. The Treaty prohibits the establishment of military bases and the testing of weapons. The Antarctic Treaty also includes Agreed Measures which were adopted later, in 1964, to protect Antarctic fauna and flora. In 1991, all the Antarctic Treaty provisions and Agreed Measures were brought together into one legal document called the 'Protocol. The Protocol declares Antarctica to be a natural reserve, allowing only peaceful and scientific activities. Turn on the audio to listen to the provisions made under the Protocol. Track 2 Antarctica 12 Student booklet

21 Since the Protocol, if one of the countries that have signed it decided, for instance, that they wanted to erect accommodation away from the main base near a penguin rookery, they would need to do an impact statement to show how they would make every effort not to cause damage. Discuss with your supervisor the sorts of things you think they would need to consider to put in their impact statement. Talk with your student about the requirements under the Protocol. Explain that an impact statement involves considering all possible effects any activity would have on the environment of Antarctica. So Antarctica is a non-nation that is controlled in a cooperative way by many nations. That makes it unique and something to marvel at in a world where there is so much conflict. This is not the last time you will hear about Antarctica being unique. In the next activity you will find out more about what it is actually like in Antarctica. Antarctica 13 Student booklet

22 Antarctica 14 Student booklet

23 Part C What is it like? Outline 5 Antarctica a land of extremes listen to the audio to hear why Antarctica is a land of extremes 6 Antarctic journal explain various aspects of the cover of Antarctic Journal 7 Impressions from Alasdair the artist listen to an artist s impression of Antarctica record descriptive words used by the artist study one of the artist s paintings answer questions on tape 8 Impressions from Karen and John the scientists listen to interviews with Karen and John French record descriptive words heard during the interviews 9 Write a poem or a description draft and publish a description or poem about Antarctica Antarctica 15 Student booklet

24 5 Antarctica a land of extremes Turn on the audio and you will hear why Antarctica is known as the driest, coldest, windiest, highest continent on earth. Track 3 In the next activity you will begin finding out more about what Antarctica is like from Jim Hasick's book, Antarctic Journal. Antarctica 16 Student booklet

25 6 Antarctic journal You will need your copy of Antarctic Journal. Antarctic Journal is Jim Hasick s journal from his year at the Australian base at Mawson. He has written both personal details about his experiences as well as factual information about Antarctica. Have a quick look through Antarctic Journal with your supervisor and you will see how it is organised in a journal style. Ensure that your student is aware that the book Antarctic Journal follows the journal format in that each entry is dated and there is no contents page or index. Now have a good look at the cover of Antarctic Journal and tell your supervisor what you notice. Then look at the questions below and discuss them with your supervisor. Why do you think the ship looks like it is sitting on the ice? What do you think could be a reason for painting the ship red? How do you think the man got off the ship? What do you think the yellow cranes on the top of the Aurora Australis could be used for? You can get an idea about how cold it is in Antarctica by comparing the temperature in Hobart, Tasmania, with the temperatures Jim Hasick recorded as he travelled to Mawson Station in Antarctica on the ship, Aurora Australis. Read pages 4, 5 and 6 of Antarctic Journal with your supervisor, taking special note of the temperatures. Then write answers to the following questions about weather. If necessary, point out that the ship is red so that it can be more easily seen from aircraft in the event of an emergency or from land in a blizzard. The large yellow cranes are necessary to lift the heavy machinery and vehicles off the ship so that they can be transported across the ice to the base. Stairs have been dropped down from the side of the ship for the people to disembark. There is an illusion that the ship is sitting on the ice because it is stranded in the sea-ice. What season was it when Jim Hasick left Hobart on Aurora Australis? Antarctica 17 Student booklet

26 Look back at the entries on pages 4, 5 and 6 in Antarctic Journal and write in the temperatures for the following locations. Location Temperature Hobart, Australia 20 C Southern Ocean, 850kms from Hobart Southern Ocean, 2 800kms from Hobart Mawson Station, Antarctica Did you write that when Jim Hasick left Hobart on the Aurora Australis it was a mild summer s day and the temperature was 20 C? After only three days at sea it was 12 C. Then, after seven days at sea, heading south, the temperature was only 3 C. That is much colder and they were still only at the halfway point of their trip to Antarctica. When they arrived at Mawson it was 5 C. On page 5 you will have read about when they sighted their first iceberg. Did you know that icebergs such as this one have broken away from the Antarctic ice shelf and drifted north? The top is flat as the iceberg was once part of the outer flat part of the ice shelf. These icebergs can take up to two years to fully melt as they drift north into warmer seas. Turn on the audio to hear more from Antarctic Journal. Track 4 Antarctica 18 Student booklet

27 The coldest day recorded was with a temperature of C. Did you record the coldest day as Friday 18 September 1992, with a temperature of 29 C? Turn the audio back on to hear about other pages in Antarctic Journal. Track 5 You have a task in activities 7 and 8 as you listen to the experiences of Alasdair, Karen and John living and working in Antarctica. On page 5 of the Workbook you will begin recording words they use to describe Antarctica. This will give you a word bank of descriptive words. At the end of activities 7 and 8 you will use these words to write a poem or a description to show what you have learnt about what Antarctica is like. Antarctica 19 Student booklet

28 7 Impressions from Alasdair the artist Track 6 Find page 5 in the Workbook. Turn on the audio to hear what Alasdair McGregor has to say about Antarctica. As you listen, record words Alasdair uses to describe Antarctica. Antifreeze experiment (optional) Due to the subzero temperatures in Antarctica, antifreeze is a very important liquid. In order for petrol engines to operate efficiently in Antarctic conditions, the water in engine-cooling systems needs antifreeze added to it to lower the freezing temperature of the water. Cars have antifreeze added to the water in the radiator to stop it from freezing in winter. Antifreeze also increases water s boiling point, however, overheating is not a problem in Antarctica. You can conduct a simple experiment by adding a variety of substances to water and placing them in your freezer at home. You will need 4 plastic cups of equal size water salt sugar vinegar lemon juice What to do 1. Half-fill your four plastic cups with water. 2. Add a different substance to each plastic cup, (one with salt, one with sugar, one with vinegar and one with lemon juice). 3. Stir each mixture. 4. Place the four plastic cups in the freezer and leave overnight. 5. In the morning, remove the cups from the freezer and answer the questions on page 22. Antarctica 20 Student booklet

29 Antarctica 21 Student booklet

30 Did the water in each of the four cups freeze? Was there more ice in one cup than the others? If you completed the experiment, tell your teacher on tape the answers to the following questions. Why do you think that the water in some of the cups did not freeze? How do you think that people living in Antarctica could use your fi ndings? Track 7 Turn the audio on again if you chose to look at the experiment and listen to the remainder of the interview with Alasdair. Antarctica 22 Student booklet

31 Antarctica 23 Student booklet

32 Alasdair's paintings With your supervisor, look closely at Alasdair s first four landscape paintings of the Antarctic. Talk about the colours you see and list them on page 26. Be available to assist your student to examine the paintings. Encourage your student to look closely at the colours used and the images created. Assist them to examine in more detail A Rent of Blue, in response to the questions. It may be necessary to explain that here a rent is an opening in the clouds, where it looks like the clouds have been torn apart. Alasdair painting in Antarctica Hauled Out, Weddell Seals, Boat Harbour Antarctica 24 Student booklet

33 Last Rays of Midnight, The MacKellar Islets from Azimuth Hill Antarctica 25 Student booklet

34 Ice Edge 3 a.m. Snow Clouds, East across Commonwealth Bay Had you imagined that there were so many colours in the Antarctic? Antarctica 26 Student booklet

35 Look at the image below. Talk to your supervisor about why you think the artist has titled this image A Rent of Blue. A Rent of Blue Antarctica 27 Student booklet

36 Close your eyes and then open them to look again at the image titled A Rent of Blue. Which part of the work draws your immediate attention? How has the artist achieved this? A Rent of Blue has a feeling of depth and distance. What techniques has the artist used to give that feeling of depth? Do you think that the artist has successfully communicated the temperature of the environment through his painting? How do you think that the artist has achieved this? Talk to your supervisor about the artist s reasons for producing these artworks. Alasdair in Mawson s Hut These artworks are important visual documents. The artist could have photographed the landscapes but instead he has decided to paint them. Answer the next two questions for your teacher on tape. Why do you think the artist has chosen to paint rather than photograph? What do you consider these paintings have to offer the viewer now and in the future? A Rent of Blue Check that you have recorded on page 5 of the Workbook any descriptive words you heard in Alasdair's interview before you begin listening to Karen and John French in Activity 8. Antarctica 28 Student booklet

37 Antarctica 29 Student booklet

38 8 Impressions from Karen and John the scientists You are about to hear part of an interview with John and Karen French. John is an upper atmospheric physicist with the Australian Antarctic Division and has been to Antarctica three times. Karen is a weather observer with the Bureau of Meteorology and has been to Antarctica two times. John and Karen French Track 8 Turn on the audio to listen to John s first impressions of Antarctica. As you listen, record on page 5 of the Workbook any descriptive words John uses. Talk about John s first impressions of Antarctica with your supervisor. Assist your student to take descriptive words from John s first impressions that will add to your student s understanding of what Antarctica is like. Antarctica 30 Student booklet

39 Turn on the audio and this time you will hear John giving more descriptions of Antarctica. Track 9 Now you will have more descriptive words to add to your word bank on page 5 of the Workbook. Do that before you listen to Karen. Turn on the audio and listen to Karen s first impressions of Antarctica. Track 10 Talk with your supervisor about Karen s first impressions of Antarctica and add any descriptive words she used to page 5 of your Workbook. In the next activity you will use this bank of words. Antarctica 31 Student booklet

40 9 Write a poem or a description You are now going to write either a poem about, or a description of, Antarctica. Use the descriptive words you have listed in your word bank on page 5 of your Workbook, from the interviews that Alasdair, John and Karen gave about Antarctica. Choice 1: Write a poem that describes Antarctica. Remember that poems are like short stories they don t have to rhyme. However, if your poem does rhyme that is also fine. Use the words you have written on your word bank on page 5 of the Workbook to create your poem. Write a draft on scrap paper or use the computer. Check your draft and then publish your poem on page 6 of the Workbook. If you completed this activity on the computer, print out and paste or staple it to page 6 of the Workbook. Below is an example of a poem by Bruno Diodati. Antarctica Across the great southern blue lies a land of Never-ending ice and snow. Towering tabular icebergs of Antarctic blue rise up to meet the sky. Records of all extremes are held by this harsh landscape, It s the coldest, windiest, loneliest, driest place on Earth. Together we must all do our best to Insist that this Great White Land is kept Clean and preserved for all to share. Antarctica, the land of the midnight sun. Antarctica 32 Student booklet

41 Choice 2: From what you have heard and read, use your word bank to write a description of Antarctica. Draft your description of Antarctica on scrap paper or use the computer. Check your draft for errors. Make any necessary corrections. Publish your description on Workbook page 6. If you choose to publish using the computer, you could print out and paste it onto page 6 of your Workbook. In the beginning of the unit you heard about the early explorers, the ones who searched for and circumnavigated Antarctica by ship. Now you will learn more about those men who explored on land, in the section on how people have interacted in Antarctica. Antarctica 33 Student booklet

42 Antarctica 34 Student booklet

43 Part D How have people interacted in Antarctica? Outline 10 Antarctic explorers in the 1900s listen to accounts of five expeditions on land in Antarctica in the 1900s make notes about the expeditions tell your teacher the main reasons for the expeditions write in detail about the aims of one explorer, outlining the problems encountered and how they affected the success of the expedition 13 Scientific research list the kinds of research mentioned in Antarctic Journal listen to information about work other scientists are doing in Antarctica suggest reasons why scientists tag, weigh and count penguins begin the recording of rubbish coming from your household in one week 11 Who goes to Antarctica now and why? read Antarctic Journal to find out about the occupations of people in Antarctica explain why people with various occupations are required in Antarctica 12 Living and working in Antarctica read Antarctic Journal to find out about the living conditions on bases in Antarctica today listen to John French describing living conditions on Davis compare living conditions today with those of the early explorers list the improvements today in living conditions in Antarctica find information on multiskilling by reading and listening tell your teacher on tape about why extra skills are acquired in Antarctica 14 Removing resources listen to the history of removal of resources from Antarctica talk about what you have heard about taking food from the sea supply the names of the animals in the food web discuss the arguments for and against taking resources from Antarctic waters plan an exposition which argues for or against taking resources from Antarctic waters proof, edit and publish the exposition 15 Pollution past and present examine your record of a week s garbage and talk about the effects of dumping a year s worth of garbage around your house listen to how rubbish in Antarctica was disposed of in the past and what happens today Antarctica 35 Student booklet

44 10 Antarctic explorers in the 1900s Track 11 Listen to the audio and you will hear some background to the journeys of the early land explorers in Antarctica. You are going to read and hear about some of the main details of the voyages of some explorers in the 1900s in Antarctica. The information about each explorer is on audio. It is also printed in the student booklet so you can read along as you listen. It will also be easy for you to go back and read for any information that you require. As you listen you will want to find the following information: who they were why they went who went with them what happened to them whether they achieved what they set out to do. Explain that one of the aims of visiting Antarctica was so that scientists could examine plants and animals on land and in the sea as well as rocks, ice formations, fossils and the weather. Please be available to listen to the accounts of these explorers with your student. Your assistance will be valuable as your student discusses each voyage, searching for the required information. After listening to each section assist your student to find on their map of Antarctica the places that have been mentioned. Track 12 After you listen to the account of each explorer, make notes on pages 7 and 8 of the Workbook recording the kinds of information listed above. Turn on the audio and listen to an account of Robert Scott s first voyage and follow the text on pages 38 and 39. Fram Antarctica 36 Student booklet

45 Scott Nimrod Aurora Amundsen Shackleton Mawson Antarctica 37 Student booklet

46 Robert Falcon Scott s Discovery expedition Robert Scott joined the British navy around the age of 13. Thirty years later he led an expedition to Antarctica. It was an expedition to discover new territory, do scientific studies and also to allow British naval officers to show their abilities in peacetime. Ernest Shackleton was a member of this expedition. They left England on 6 August 1901 on the ship Discovery. Five months later their ship crossed the Antarctic Circle. They sailed into the Ross Sea. Scott found land and named it Edward VII Land. Winter came and the Discovery became stuck fast in the ice so Scott and his crew spent the winter at Hut Point on Ross Island. They lived on board the ship but used the hut they built for their scientific work. They had brought Greenland dogs with them but had not had any experience with dog teams. In November 1902, Scott, with Shackleton and Wilson, tried to cross the Ross Ice Shelf with dogs pulling their supplies on sleds. Scott had great difficulty with the dogs and this put him off using dogs in the future in Antarctica. In December, they were the first to reach just past 82 S of latitude and turned back. They were 8 short of the South Pole at 90 S. Ernest Shackleton had developed scurvy because of the poor food and the dogs were weak and exhausted. The relief ship Morning arrived bringing fresh supplies. Although ill, Shackleton was disappointed that he was asked to return to England with some other crew members when Morning sailed. Antarctica 38 Student booklet

47 Scott stayed on with the remainder of the crew exploring and doing valuable scientific research such as collecting plant and animal fossils, studying birds and animals and studying and recording weather. They made important new discoveries. One of the medical men, Dr Wilson, was also an artist and has left a record of Antarctica at this time, in his artworks. The relief ship Morning returned again in the summer and was this time accompanied by another ship, the Terra Nova, as they thought the Discovery would never be free. Discovery was finally freed from the ice in February 1904 and they were able to leave for England. Make notes about this expedition on page 7 of the Workbook. Track 13 Now return to the audio and listen to the account of Shackleton s expedition while you follow the text on the next two pages. Dr Wilson's painting of the ship Discovery Antarctica 39 Student booklet

48 Ernest Shackleton s Nimrod expedition Scott was not pleased when he heard of Shackleton s plans as he also intended to return and try again to reach the South Pole. Shackleton managed to purchase the Nimrod and get a crew and supplies together to lead what was known as the British Antarctic Expedition. He sailed from England on 30 July 1907, heading first to New Zealand. They took ponies to pull the sleds and he also took the first motor car to Antarctica. They left from New Zealand on 1 January 1908 and sailed into the Ross Sea where they used Ross Island as a base. Shackleton began to unload and by 12 February they had unloaded everything, including the ponies, which were not in good shape after the voyage. The Nimrod returned to New Zealand. They constructed a hut and gradually made it into a place to live and work. Some of the men began doing scientific experiments, like measuring air temperature, wind speeds and wind direction. Douglas Mawson was a part of this expedition and he recorded wind speeds of 100 miles (161 kilometres) per hour. Others collected and studied a variety of fish and marine animals they caught by making a hole through the ice. Soon after they arrived, Douglas Mawson and five others climbed the volcano Mt Erebus and measured the crater. All through the winter they planned the treks that they would go on when the weather was warmer. Ernest Shackleton had gone to sea at the age of 16. Shackleton had been a member of Scott s expedition but had been forced to return early because of ill health. He had always intended to return to Antarctica and began trying to get the money he needed to get the expedition together. Shackleton wanted to reach the South Pole first but he was also interested in making scientific discoveries, as well as going to previously unexplored areas of Antarctica. Nimrod Antarctica 40 Student booklet

49 In spring, the motor car was used to take supplies to two depots but it was not as useful as they had hoped. Also in spring, on 29 October 1908, Shackleton and four others set out for the South Pole, miles (2 737 kilometres) away, taking horses to pull the sleds. Another group, which included Douglas Mawson, set out on a mile (2 029 kilometres) journey to the Magnetic South Pole pulling the sleds themselves. Mawson s group endured great hardships with not enough food, severe cold and exhaustion. They came very close to the Magnetic South Pole and claimed the area for Great Britain. They struggled on the return journey and found when they got back that the Nimrod, which had by then returned for them, was thankfully still there. Meanwhile, Shackleton and his group had set out with the ponies pulling the sleds. The ponies had difficulty in the deep snow and were hard to pull out of crevasses when they fell in. By December, all the ponies had been shot. They stashed some of the horsemeat and marked the spot so that they could use the food on the return journey. Ernest Shackleton died of a heart attack in 1922 on his fourth trip to the Antarctic region. He was buried on the island of South Georgia. Explain to your student that the Earth is like a magnet with a north-seeking pole at one end and a south-seeking pole at the other. The magnetic poles at either end of the Earth are not located at the same place as the geographic poles. The geographic poles are at either end of the imaginary line called the Earth s axis. Twenty-nine days later they had gone further south than Scott had done in They had reached 88 23'S and 162 E. They were 97 miles (156 kilometres) from the South Pole. They erected a flag at this point and began the journey home as they had very few supplies left. They made it to a depot where they had left the carcass of a horse and were able to have enough food to eat at last. Two of the party were very sick so Shackleton left them and returned with one other to Hut Point where they found a note saying the Nimrod would stay until 26 February and it was already 28 February. The next day they lit a fire and some crew on the departing Nimrod saw the smoke and returned. Shackleton then went back to find the sick men that he had left and also got them back to the ship. They had to leave as winter was coming again and with it the sea would ice up and trap Nimrod. That expedition had reached close to the Magnetic South Pole but still not made it to the South Pole. Make notes on page 7 of the Workbook before you listen to the next account of an expedition. Nimrod Antarctica 41 Student booklet

50 Turn the audio on again and this time you will hear about Roald Amundsen s expedition. Follow the text below. Track 14 Roald Amundsen s Fram expedition Roald Amundsen was born in 1872 in Norway. His first experience in the Antarctic was with Adrien de Gerlache s expedition in Later on, Amundsen planned to be the first person to reach the North Pole. But another explorer beat him to it in September 1909, while Amundsen was still preparing for his expedition. Amundsen secretly changed his plans for an Arctic expedition and began preparing for an expedition to Antarctica. Amundsen and his crew left Norway on 9 August 1910 on the ship the Fram. Only Amundsen, his brother and two of his crew knew that they were headed for Antarctica. Amundsen had on board 97 Greenland dogs, also known as huskies, that were used to the cold conditions of the Arctic and were trained to pull sleds. On 6 September the Fram arrived at the Portuguese island of Madeira, where Amundsen bought some supplies. Amundsen knew that, in the cold, men needed more food than usual. He also knew from the experiences on his voyage with de Gerlache that they could get sick with scurvy, a disease caused by a diet lacking in vitamin C, so he made sure he included tinned fruits and jams in his supplies. After leaving Madeira, the Fram headed south for Antarctica. Only after they had left Madeira did Amundsen s brother announce to the world that Amundsen s plan was to be the first person to reach the South Pole. On 14 January the Fram arrived at the Bay of Whales in Medal awarded to Amundsen by The National Geographic Society Antarctica. It had taken them four months to reach Antarctica after leaving Madeira. They set up camp at the Bay of Whales. Over the next three months Amundsen planned his trip in great detail. His team used the dogs to pull sleds loaded with supplies to set up ten food and equipment supply depots along the route they would finally take to the South Pole. The dogs were well trained and suited to the conditions. They made the job of pulling supplies on sleds so much easier. Antarctica 42 Student booklet

51 After repeated delays because of poor weather conditions, Amundsen and his team set off on their journey to the South Pole on 20 October At 3pm on Friday 14 December 1911, Amundsen and his team became the first people to reach the South Pole, having discovered a shorter route. They left a tent with letters inside to show they had been there. They returned to their winter camp at the Bay of Whales on 25 January 1912, with no major mishaps or hold-ups because of weather conditions. Their journey to the South Pole and back to the camp at the Bay of Whales had taken 39 days to complete. It then took them a month to sail to Tasmania and from there Amundsen was able to send a cable to his brother and tell the world the news of his success as the first man to reach the South Pole. Roald Amundsen died in 1928 in a plane crash. Now make some notes on page 7 of the Workbook about Amundsen's expedition. Fram Roald Amundsen on the Fram Fram Antarctica 43 Student booklet

52 Turn the audio on again to hear about Scott s expedition to the South Pole while you follow the text below. Track 15 Robert Falcon Scott s Terra Nova expedition Scott did not know about Roald Amundsen s plans and he still hoped he would be the first to reach the South Pole and claim that honour for the British Empire. He made plans to return to Antarctica in Scott left on this expedition from New Zealand on 29 November. He sailed on the ship Terra Nova and reached Ross Island in January After Scott arrived in Antarctica he sent some men on a trip to the Bay of Whales and they were surprised to find that Roald Amundsen had arrived in the Antarctic and was camping there. Amundsen told them he was planning to go to the South Pole. On their return the men also reported to Scott that Amundsen had many trained and obedient huskies. Scott and his men built a new hut at Cape Evans. They spent the winter doing scientific research and taking trips out to leave supplies at depots for the journey to the South Pole. On 1 November 1911, Scott finally set out for the South Pole. It was miles (2 843 kilometres) from Hut Point to the South Pole and back. They travelled with the ponies and a few dogs pulling the sleds and left supplies of food and fuel every 70 miles (113 kilometres) or so which they intended to use on their return journey. The ponies were not suitable for the conditions and by December they were lost, had died or been destroyed. It was very slow and they were held up for days by blizzards. Some of the men who had been helping to transport supplies turned back with the dogs. Scott didn t have any faith in the dogs and knew they would also have to carry food for them. Twelve men went on, pulling the sleds themselves in two groups. On 3 January 1912, Scott chose Wilson, Oates, Evans and Bowers to accompany him to the South Pole and the others turned back. Scott wrote in his diary how hard it was pulling the sleds with the supplies, doing about 11 miles (18 kilometres) a day. By 13 January they were at latitude 89 S. Antarctica 44 Student booklet

53 On 16 January they came across a flag tied to a part of a sled and they realised Amundsen had got there before them. A few days later a severe gale blew up and three of the men got frostbite. They kept on and found Roald Amundsen s camp. Inside the tent were the names of the men who had reached the South Pole 21 days before Scott. Scott and his men began the return journey in poor spirits and completely exhausted. Evans soon died. The weather was bad and they took longer to reach the depots where they had left food supplies and they were very cold and hungry. Oates was the next to die. They were 11 miles (18 kilometres) from the main storage depot when a blizzard kept them confined to the tent. The last three men eventually died of cold and hunger in that tent. Scott s last entry in his diary was dated 29 March Before he died, Scott wrote many letters. In one he explained that his lack of success was due to bad luck and bad weather. A search party found their bodies on 12 November They piled snow over their collapsed tent and placed a pair of crossed skis to mark their burial place. Make some notes on page 8 of the Workbook about this expedition before going on. Antarctica 45 Student booklet

54 Turn on the audio to listen to an account of Mawson s expedition while you follow the text below. Track 16 Douglas Mawson s Aurora expedition Douglas Mawson was born in England but came to Australia with his parents when he was two. He was well educated and grew up to work as a mining engineer and a geologist. Mawson had been part of Shackleton s expedition. Later, Scott had asked him to join his expedition but Mawson said no as he was already planning his own trip. His plan was to explore the area of Antarctica directly south of Australia from Cape Adare to Gaussberg, including Macquarie Island, and to claim the territory for Britain. He also hoped to conduct scientific studies. The Australian Antarctic Expedition left Hobart in December 1911 on Aurora bound for Macquarie Island, 850 miles (1 368 kilometres) south-south-east of Hobart. After a very rough sea voyage with damage to their supplies and to the Aurora herself they arrived at Macquarie Island. There they left some supplies and men to build a radio transmitter and do scientific studies, planning to return for them a year later. Macquarie Island became the first Australian Antarctic base even though it is not on the continent of Antarctica. Mawson and the remaining party arrived at a bay in Antarctica on the 8 January Mawson named it Commonwealth Bay. It is km south of Hobart. They found hundreds of Adélie penguins and Weddell seals on the rocky islets. They landed at a point that Mawson called Cape Denison where they unloaded the ship and began building the huts at what was to be Main Base. The Aurora went on for km in a westerly direction to leave some men on what they called Shackleton s Ice Shelf. The plan was for them to explore back towards Main Base at Commonwealth Bay. The winter at Main Base was spent making short trips out to establish supply depots and, under very difficult conditions, constructing a radio transmitter. After a couple of tries they succeeded in building two radio masts to enable them to transmit radio signals. When the men on Macquarie Island had built their radio masts they eventually were able to make two-way radio contact and talk to Mawson and his men at Cape Denison in Adélie Land. When the weather improved in November 1912, five groups set out to explore, agreeing to return by 15 January when the Aurora was due once more. Antarctica 46 Student booklet

55 All the groups except Mawson s returned in time for the arrival of Aurora. Mawson and his companions, Mertz and Ninnis, had left on 10 November and made it to the glacier, now named Mertz Glacier. Crossing its crevasses they trekked on to the next big glacier, which is now called Ninnis Glacier. They were trapped for a few days in their tents while a blizzard raged around them. They discarded one of the sleds and Mertz skied on ahead to search for crevasses. He signalled that there was one ahead and Mawson managed to cross it. But Ninnis went over the edge into the crevasse, taking with him the sled, with most of the supplies for the people, all of the dog food and six of the best dogs. Mawson and Mertz tried for hours to find them but their search was not successful. They went on with only 10 days food left and nothing for the dogs. Gradually the dogs were killed so there was food for the men and the remaining dogs. They continued on but Mertz became very ill and died. Mawson then struggled on alone. He did eventually arrive back on 5 February 1913, in time to see the Aurora heading out to sea. Fortunately he was not alone. There were six men who had stayed behind to look for Mawson s group. They did make radio contact with the Aurora but the weather was not good and the Aurora was low on coal. It still had to collect the party left at Shackleton s Ice Shelf and get back to Hobart. That meant another winter at Main Base for the men. The men nursed Mawson back to health and after a long winter, on 12 December 1913, they saw the Aurora on the horizon. They returned safely to Australia after claiming a huge part of Antarctica for Great Britain. They had made important observations about weather, plants, animals and landforms and they were the first to use a radio in Antarctica. Make notes on page 8 of the Workbook about Mawson's expedition. Aurora This period from 1900 to 1916 is known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration. Tell your teacher on tape what you think were the main reasons the explorers were risking so much and enduring such hardships to travel on the frozen continent of Antarctica. Antarctica 47 Student booklet

56 Go to page 9 of your Workbook. Choose one of the explorers from the early 1900s you have just learnt about. First write his name. Then, using your notes, write what he set out to achieve in Antarctica. Think about those factors which made it difficult for that explorer to achieve all of his aims, for example, weather conditions, transport, shelter, food, communication, clothing, planning etc. List those which caused the most problems. Then write whether or not you think the expedition failed and why. From what you have learnt of the other expeditions you read about here, tell your teacher on tape whether you agree or not with Robert Scott s statement about his last expedition that my lack of success was due to bad luck and bad weather. Explain your answer. These early explorers prepared the way for the people who go to live and work in Antarctica today. The conditions on the continent are just the same as they were for the early explorers. It is still bitterly cold and blizzards are still common. There are still hazardous crevasses to trap people and machines. In the next activity you will find out about who goes to Antarctica today. Aurora Endurance Aurora Antarctica 48 Student booklet

57 11 Who goes to Antarctica now and why? As you learnt earlier in the unit, Antarctica has no permanent residents. There are about 40 bases altogether on Antarctica. McMurdo Station on Ross Island, which is operated by the United States of America, is a big base with up to people there in summer but fewer in winter. The Australian bases have fewer people in residence. People live and work in Antarctica only for short periods of up to one year at a time. Australians can apply to stay and work in Antarctica through the Australian Antarctic Division. The Australian Antarctic Division manages the operations across all four Australian bases in Antarctica: the three on the mainland Mawson, Davis and Casey and the one on Macquarie Island. The Australian Government funds the Australian Antarctic Division. Jim Hasick was the station leader at Mawson Station in You have already begun to look at the pictures and read some of his book, titled Antarctic Journal. Find Antarctic Journal now and look at the title page. Look at the photograph under the author s name. This photograph was taken at Mawson Station. This station is named after Douglas Mawson, who led the first Australian expedition to Antarctica in Look below the photograph and read the name of each person and what their job was in Antarctica at the time Jim Hasick was there. Some of them are scientists. List below some of the other jobs that people do. Did you write any of these jobs? chef, plumber, construction foreman, carpenter, radio technician, camera operator, diesel mechanic, plant operator, electrician, medical officer Antarctica 49 Student booklet

58 Talk to your supervisor about why people such as plumbers and construction foremen would be needed in Antarctica. Say why you think a camera operator was amongst those going to Mawson in You will have noticed there is a chef on the station but no garbage collector or cleaners or dishwashers. That is because everyone has to help with those jobs. Discuss the various occupations of the people going to Mawson and then you may be needed to assist with reading through the Introduction to Antarctic Journal. Read the Introduction to Antarctic Journal on pages 2 and 3 and you will find some of the reasons why all of these people were at Mawson that year. Now read page 30 of Jim Hasick s journal where you will find out about another group of people who go to Antarctica. Tourism to Antarctica began in 1958 and now there are about visitors a year. Most travel there by ship but Qantas sometimes operates scenic flights. In the next activity you will find out more about what it is like to live and work in Antarctica today. Antarctica 50 Student booklet

59 12 Living and working in Antarctica You will need Antarctic Journal. Now read through the entries in Antarctic Journal from start to finish and you will get some idea of what it is like to live and work in Antarctica. As you read, take special note of all the ways that life has been made much easier for people living in Antarctica today, than it was when the explorers were there in the early 1900s. Go to page 10 of the Workbook and make a list of the things you just read about which an explorer like Mawson would find very different today if he were living at the station which is named after him. It may help you to look back at the work you did on page 9 of your Workbook in Activity 10, when you considered the factors which were a problem for your chosen 1900s expeditioner. Track 17 Turn on the audio to hear John French describe how he prepared for his stay in Antarctica and what his living conditions were like when he got there. You have just heard John describe the high-quality living conditions on the Australian Antarctic bases. Did you notice any more things that he mentioned that were different from the living and working conditions of the explorers in the 1900s? If so, add it to your list on page 10 of the Workbook. You also will have heard John say that before you go to Antarctica it is important that you get to know the people you are going to be living with for the next 12 months. Apart from Antarctica, there are other remote working places in the world, like cattle stations, lighthouses and oil rigs, where the same people are together for long periods. In Antarctica, because of the weather conditions, and because of safety considerations which restrict leisure activities outside, people live very closely together indeed. Antarctica 51 Student booklet

60 Discuss with your supervisor some of the difficulties which people might have living so close to one another for a whole year. Talk with your supervisor about the qualities you think the Australian Antarctic Division employers would be looking for in a volunteer to go to an Antarctic base for a year. You are going to listen to Karen describing life at Davis Station. You will hear Karen mention a jolly. A jolly is what they call a fun outing that is not to do with work. You will hear that their outside activities are restricted and supervised in Antarctica. Karen uses the word 'traverse', which is what a commonly used route is called. Discuss the potential difficulties which could arise in isolated living and working situations. In your present circumstances you may be experiencing isolation. Encourage your student to think of the things which do or could bother her or him most about being with the same people for long periods. When you have listened you might like to find on your map of Antarctica the Chinese base of Zhongshan, close to Davis Base, which they travel to in work parties from Davis Base. Now turn on the audio to hear Karen talking about Davis base. Track 18 Karen has just told you about the rules there are to keep people safe. Everyone going to Antarctica has special training which is designed to keep them all safe. You will have read about practising safe methods for travelling on page 9 of Antarctic Journal. Read the journal entry for Wednesday 8 January in the Antarctic Journal again. Talk with your supervisor about the training that is required before people are allowed to travel away from the base in Antarctica. Describe to your supervisor what Cyril is doing in the picture. By now you will have realised that there are quite a few things about living and working in Antarctica which are different from living and working in Australia. For instance, the people who go to Antarctica receive special clothing, equipment and training, especially safety training. You have also discovered that their leisure activities are restricted because of safety concerns. There is another thing that is quite different from most working and living conditions in Australia, and that is, people learn to do a range of different jobs as well as the one they usually do. When people acquire the skills which are part of jobs they were not trained for previously, it is called 'multiskilling'. Talk with your student about emergency training and look at Antarctic Journal with them. If necessary, explain that Cyril is practising abseiling down into a deep crevasse to learn to rescue someone who may have accidentally fallen down into one. Antarctica 52 Student booklet

61 Track 19 It is an important part of life on an Antarctic base, as multiskilling helps communities to be more self-sufficient. If you read page 3 of the Introduction to Antarctic Journal again you will see where Jim Hasick writes about the people needing extra skills because they were so isolated. For instance, if it was the medical person who had the accident, they would need to rely on someone else to do what was needed to treat them. Look back through Antarctic Journal and talk with your supervisor about any jobs that people at Mawson Station did which were not their regular job. Turn on the audio to listen to John French talk about the need for multiple skills in Antarctica. John mentions the met observers. They are the people from the Bureau of Meteorology who are there to observe and measure the weather conditions. Encourage your student to look through Antarctic Journal in order to appreciate the variety and scope of jobs that people in Antarctica are involved in, such as cooking meals and other inside duties, fixing tractor trains, flying helicopters, researching the icecap, observing weather, and counting, weighing and measuring penguins. Then there are activities like barbecue lunches, singing Christmas carols, practising emergency procedures, taking pictures, sea-ice carnivals, bingo, chess and sightseeing. Talk with your supervisor about the various skills that you heard John say he acquired during his time in Antarctica. Not all the jobs that need to be done have been mentioned so far. For instance, who do you think would cut hair or be the librarian? Tell your teacher on tape about some of the skills people might learn in Antarctica that were not to do with their own jobs and why this was necessary. If you have acquired a range of skills out of necessity, because of your isolated living conditions, share this knowledge with your student in this discussion on multiskilling. One of the main reasons that all these people are living and working in Antarctica is so scientists can carry out scientific research. In the next activity you will find out more about the research. Antarctica 53 Student booklet

62 13 Scientific research Antarctica is the last natural area in the world which still has large areas untouched by human activity, so many different kinds of scientists are interested in conducting research there. Doing research in Antarctica is very expensive, as everything except water has to be brought in by ship. There are no materials to build with, there is no fuel to supply the vehicles and no food will grow in the climate. You might read that some food is grown inside hydroponically, but this requires valuable space in one of the few buildings and does not contribute very much to the food supply. Explain that hydroponics is a way of growing plants in water instead of in soil. In spite of the problems, scientific research is thought to be worthwhile as it not only expands the knowledge of Antarctica itself, but also helps us to understand conditions which affect other parts of the world as well. You may remember reading about some different kinds of research in Antarctic Journal. Look through Antarctic Journal now with your supervisor and list the kinds of things scientists were doing at Mawson in Assist your student to identify the scientific research activities mentioned in Antarctic Journal. Did you list things like: studying weather and wind speeds on the ground and in the upper atmosphere studying rocks studying the icecap studying Adélie and emperor penguins? At Mawson that year the emphasis was on studying the wildlife and weather and the icecap and rocks. Antarctica 54 Student booklet

63 You will remember that Karen French said she was a meteorologist working for the weather bureau, so Karen would have been studying all aspects of weather at Davis Station. Meteorologists observe and record the weather systems and also give regular reports, warning about those factors that will affect the climate of the neighbouring countries such as Australia and South America. Do you remember what John French said he was? He said he was an upper atmospheric physicist. Turn on the audio and listen to what John and other types of scientists do in Antarctica and why. Track 20 Turn to page 19 of Antarctic Journal and read the journal entry for Monday 10 August. Jim mentions that scientists plan to attach a radio transmitter to the back of an emperor penguin. Then on page 18 Jim Hasick writes about the emperor penguin population at Auster. In the journal entry on page 23, Jim writes about the number of emperor penguins at Fold Island. On page 24, Jim describes how they caught, weighed, marked and released some Adélie penguins as part of a science project. Talk with your supervisor about why you think these scientists as part of their work are counting, weighing, marking and tagging penguins in Antarctica. All of the unique Antarctic wildlife take their food from the sea. In the next part you will find out more about others who are taking food from the sea. Before you start Part E, try to find out how much rubbish your household produces during one week. Include things like the size of garbage bags and the quantity of recyclables like glass, aluminium and paper. Record your findings on page 11 of the Workbook. Remind your student that people didn t begin exploring the Antarctic iceshelf until the early 1900s. Scientists are interested in assessing the environmental impact of human interaction in Antarctica on its wildlife and on the landscape. Antarctica 55 Student booklet

64 Track Removing resources You learnt early in the unit that, soon after Captain Cook s expedition to Antarctica, news spread about the abundance of seals and whales. In a very short time, sealers and whalers arrived in the Southern Ocean. Turn on the audio and listen to the history of the removal of resources from Antarctic waters. You can read the information in the student booklet at the same time. Ships to process the whales, known as factory ships, were moored at South Georgia and other islands. The whales and seals were killed and the meat, skins, oil and anything else that could be, was sold. Later, penguins were killed for oil. The seven species of penguin in the Antarctic are now protected. There are six different kinds of seals in the Antarctic. In the past, however, fur seals and elephant seals were killed in such numbers that they very nearly became extinct. As seal populations fell it was no longer profitable to make the dangerous trip to Antarctic waters and the industry declined. Antarctic seals have not been hunted since the 1960s and there has been an effort by many people around the world to prevent sealing beginning again now that the numbers have increased once more. There is a Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals which prohibits seal hunting. Australians are forbidden by law from taking seals. Although this section has been recorded, it is also in the student booklet because there are some difficult words to pronounce and spell. It will be helpful for your student to see and hear these words at the same time. Antarctica 56 Student booklet

65 The same pattern developed with the killing of whales as with seals. Many species of whale go to the seas around Antarctica to feed in the summer. In the many hours of daylight a small sea plant called phytoplankton grows in vast numbers. One species of whale feeds on it but mostly the small prawn-like creatures called krill feed on the phytoplankton. It is krill that most of the whales come for. It is their main source of food. Seals, seabirds, squid and other fish also feed on krill and so do penguins, but penguins feed on the fish and squid as well. Antarctica a 57 Student booklet

66 The whaling industry was established in 1904 and continued for the next sixty-odd years. In the beginning they killed humpback whales as they tend to swim close to shore. Then, as whaling boats were improved, the whalers hunted the blue whales further out to sea. When their numbers declined they began killing the sei and fin whales. At first the whalers would kill the most profitable species and, when their numbers were too low to make it worthwhile any longer, they would move on to the next profitable ones until all species of whale were very low in number and some were nearly extinct. The International Whaling Commission was set up in 1946 to try to control the killing of whales. It was not very successful and the killing went on. It wasn t until the 1970s, when concerned groups around the world began protesting, that many people became aware of the situation with whales. Blue and humpback whales are now protected, however, the Australian government is opposed to all whaling. Japan and Norway still kill minke and sperm whales which they say is to allow them to do scientific research. rch. Afterwards the whale meat is sold for high prices in shops in Japan and Norway. Antarctica 58 Student booklet

67 Although sealing and whaling have declined since the 1960s, the Antarctic fishing industry has replaced them. As with sealing and whaling, overfishing of the most profitable species took place first, then, as numbers of that species fell, the next profitable fish was taken, and so on. As each species dies out, of course, those species depending on it as a source of food are threatened as well. Overfishing of a particular species affects the whole food web. Also, with certain fishing practices, many other species that are not used for food are caught and die in the fishing nets. Then there are seabirds like the albatross, which are caught on the long fishing lines as they feed on the fish. Another problem is that countries like Japan, Poland, Russia and Korea are nowadays taking large quantities of krill, the main food source of baleen whales. Krill are used for a variety of things like stockfeed, fish food in fish farms and sometimes in food for humans. Discuss with your supervisor what you have just learnt about the taking of resources from the Antarctic region. Discuss the food web in Antarctica with your student beginning with the sea plant, phytoplankton, and ending up with the largest creature in Antarctic waters, the whale. Antarctica 59 Student booklet

68 Go to page 12 of the Workbook and, from what you have learnt about what is eating what, fill in the names on the food web. A recent concern about fishing in Antarctic waters involves the Patagonian toothfish. This fish grows slowly and may not breed until it is 10 years old. Patagonian toothfish can live for 50 years and can grow up to two metres long. They are much in demand in restaurants around the world. Fishermen have been fishing illegally for the Patagonian toothfish as they can get very big prices for their catch. Without protection, this fish could be close to extinction in a few years time. Discuss with your supervisor the arguments for and against taking resources from Antarctic waters. Following on from this discussion, you ll write an exposition which argues for or against the taking of resources from Antarctic waters. If you have the Text tips card it will remind you of how to write an exposition. Assist your student to think about the consequences of the unchecked taking of resources and encourage them to think about how resources can be taken in ways that prevent the stock from being completely used up. Be available to read through the exposition plan and discuss the arguments with your student. Antarctica 60 Student booklet

69 Go to page 13 of the Workbook and prepare a plan for the exposition. Write first which topic you have chosen and then an introduction which states the side of the argument you are going to take. List the arguments you have thought about and then write the supporting evidence you have for each one. Finally, write a conclusion which sums up how the evidence supports your point of view. When you have discussed your plan with your supervisor, and made any corrections you want, write out the final version of your exposition on page 14 of the Workbook. Besides removing resources from Antarctic waters, people have also thought about taking resources from the land. In the Arctic, mining for coal, oil and other minerals has been taking place for some time. Mineral deposits have also been found in Antarctica. In the 1980s, the Antarctic Treaty signatory nations decided that mining would be permitted there. The environmental organisation, Greenpeace, mounted a worldwide campaign against this decision and was able to convince enough people that it should not go ahead. In 1991, as part of the Protocol, mining in Antarctica was banned for 50 years. In the next activity you will look at the impact all this human involvement has had on Antarctica. Antarctica 61 Student booklet

70 15 Pollution past and present Go to page 11 of the Workbook where you recorded the amount and types of rubbish coming out of your household in one week. Think about how much garbage you might have after a year. There will also be other waste from your household that you can t easily measure, like waste water and sewage. Talk with your student about the disposal of waste at your household. Include water and sewage as well as garbage. Discuss with your supervisor what the situation would be like if it was all dumped around your house. Turn on the audio and listen to what happened to rubbish in Antarctica. Track 22 In the next section you will think about the issues which have to do with human interaction in Antarctica and suggest how best to protect the Antarctic environment in the future. Antarctica 62 Student booklet

71 Part E What should happen in Antarctica? Outline 16 What are the benefits and risks from human interaction? list the benefits and risks of human interaction in Antarctica listen to the audio to hear Karen and John s desired futures for Antarctica 17 Your ideas for protecting Antarctica in the future suggest ways to protect the environment in Antarctica Antarctica 63 Student booklet

72 16 What are the benefits and risks from human interaction? You have been learning about the environmental issues that have resulted from human interaction in Antarctica. On pages 15 and 16 of the Workbook you will find a list of the kinds of human interaction in Antarctica. Write what you think are the benefits and risks of each. If you think of any others, include them and then write what you think are the benefits and the risks associated with them. Track 23 Before you begin Activity 17, turn on the audio to listen to John and Karen French talk about what they think should happen with Antarctica in the future. Antarctica 64 Student booklet

73 17 Your ideas for protecting Antarctica in the future In spite of the pollution resulting from human interaction there, Antarctica is one of the last areas in the world where there is still untouched wilderness with an abundance of wildlife living in a natural state and plenty of fresh water. Through the Antarctic Treaty and the Protocol, the international community has shown a commitment to ensuring that Antarctica is managed in such a way that much of this is preserved for future generations. On the other hand, there is always a demand for more resources like food and energy and, as the world s population grows, this demand will increase. At the same time there are many countries that want to improve their way of life and that requires more resources. How can people ensure that Antarctica is preserved, at least in its present state, for the generations of the future? Your final task is to think about what ideas need to be added to the Treaty to ensure this will happen. You may want to go back to Activity 4 and read and hear about the Treaty again, then discuss with your supervisor the issues you have learnt about which affect the environment in Antarctica. Imagine you are writing ideas for a draft to add to the Antarctic Treaty and the Protocol, keeping in mind that you want to protect Antarctica for the future. On page 17 of the Workbook, write some ideas which will direct the kind of activities that can occur in the future in Antarctica. Return the Workbook to your teacher. Revise with your student the issues affecting the environment of Antarctica today and, potentially, in the future. Encourage them to think about visitor numbers, waste disposal regulations, restrictions on harvesting sea life and mining. Antarctica 65 Student booklet

74 Antarctica 66 Student booklet

75 Supervisor notes About this unit Your student will need to have an understanding of latitude and longitude before beginning Antarctica, preferably having completed the unit, Where in the world is it? Using latitude and longitude. To assist your student to gain an understanding of the unique environment of Antarctica, the book Antarctic Journal and Alasdair McGregor s colour paintings have been included in the unit. If possible view some of the websites. The teacher may have recommended useful websites to view, including webcam sites that show views of the Australian bases at various times throughout the day. The unit looks at the effects of human interaction in Antarctica over the years. Students will learn some of the history of the early exploration of the coast of Antarctica as well as the history of later expeditions on land. Then they will learn about the people who live and work in Antarctica today. Some of the issues arising from human interaction are examined and solutions to the problems are explored. The Workbook is to be returned intact at the conclusion of the unit. Timeline of early encounters with Antarctica on the audio in Activity 1, Introduction 350 BC Ancient Greeks name Antarctica. 1400s Hong Bao, Chinese Admiral, reportedly discovers Antarctica James Cook crosses Antarctic Circle and circumnavigates Antarctica Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen circumnavigates Antarctica and names Peter and Alexander islands John Davis, a sealer, thought to be the first to land on Antarctica James Weddell sails further south than anyone had before. Antarctica 67 Supervisor notes

76 1840 Lieutenant Charles Wilkes comes upon land now called Wilkes Land Jules-Sebastian Dumont d Urville sails along the Antarctic coastline and names part of it after his wife Adélie Sir James Clark Ross discovers Victoria Land and names Ross Sea and Mount Erebus in his search for the magnetic pole. Suggested time Over 6 weeks, approximately 12 hours. Antarctica 68 Supervisor notes

77 Outline Days and times can be written in the blank boxes to plan the work. Part A Where is it? 1 Introduction 2 Locating Antarctica listen to an audio account of early locate places on a globe or map using encounters with Antarctica degrees of latitude locate other places given degrees of latitude and longitude find the latitude of a place locate various points on the map of Antarctica Part B Who owns it? 3 Antarctic territories locate and outline the area of the Australian Antarctic Territory locate territories belonging to other countries and underline the name of each of the six countries suggest possible reasons why the seven countries claim territory choose two of the countries claiming territory, write reasons as to why they claim it and give an opinion on the reasons locate and label place names in Antarctica find the latitude of a given place locate places given latitude and longitude 4 The Antarctic Treaty contribute suitable suggestions for an impact statement Antarctica 69 Supervisor notes

78 Part C What is it like? 5 Antarctica a land of extremes listen to the audio to hear why Antarctica is a land of extremes 6 Antarctic journal explain various aspects of the cover of Antarctic Journal 7 Impressions from Alasdair the artist 8 Impressions from Karen and John the scientists listen to interviews with Karen and John French record descriptive words heard during the interviews 9 Write a poem or a description draft and publish a description or poem about Antarctica listen to an artist s impression of Antarctica record descriptive words used by the artist study one of the artist s paintings answer questions on tape Antarctica 70 Supervisor notes

79 Part D How have people interacted in Antarctica? 10 Antarctic explorers in the 1900s listen to accounts of five expeditions on land in Antarctica in the 1900s make notes about the expeditions tell your teacher the main reasons for the expeditions write in detail about the aims of one explorer, outlining the problems encountered and how they affected the success of the expedition 13 Scientific research list the kinds of research mentioned in Antarctic Journal listen to information about work other scientists are doing in Antarctica suggest reasons why scientists tag, weigh and count penguins begin the recording of rubbish coming from your household in one week 11 Who goes to Antarctica now and why? read Antarctic Journal to find out about the occupations of people in Antarctica explain why people with various occupations are required in Antarctica 12 Living and working in Antarctica read Antarctic Journal to find out about the living conditions on bases in Antarctica today listen to John French describing living conditions on Davis compare living conditions today with those of the early explorers list the improvements today in living conditions in Antarctica find information on multiskilling by reading and listening tell your teacher on tape about why extra skills are acquired in Antarctica 14 Removing resources listen to the history of removal of resources from Antarctica talk about what you have heard about taking food from the sea supply the names of the animals in the food web discuss the arguments for and against taking resources from Antarctic waters plan an exposition which argues for or against taking resources from Antarctic waters proof, edit and publish the exposition 15 Pollution past and present examine your record of a week s garbage and talk about the effects of dumping a year s worth of garbage around your house listen to how rubbish in Antarctica was disposed of in the past and what happens today Part E What should happen in Antarctica? 16 What are the benefits and risks from human interaction? list the benefits and risks of human interaction in Antarctica listen to the audio to hear Karen and John s desired futures for Antarctica 17 Your ideas for protecting Antarctica in the future suggest ways to protect the environment in Antarctica Antarctica 71 Supervisor notes

80 Transcript for Antarctica Activity 1 Introduction Track 1 Narrator: Welcome to the unit Antarctica. Antarctica is a unique place that has intrigued explorers, scientists and people around the world for hundreds of years. Antarctica was named by the Greeks in a roundabout way. They knew of the region around the North Pole which they named with the classical Greek word arktikos, which is the word for bear. The Great Bear, sometimes called The Big Dipper is the constellation or group of stars seen in the sky in the Northern Hemisphere above the north polar region. They thought that there must be a region opposite the North Pole in the southern part of the Earth so they named this undiscovered land antarktikos, meaning opposite to the Great Bear. The Greeks were not the only people who thought there must be a great south land to balance all the land of Europe and Asia in the north but it was a long time later that Antarctica was discovered and later still when it was explored. In his book, 1421 The Year China Discovered the World, Gavin Menzies argues that evidence from ancient maps shows that the Chinese Admiral Hong Bao led a fleet of ships that sailed south from China and discovered Antarctica 400 years before Europeans arrived. Nevertheless, it has been believed by many that the British explorer Captain James Cook was the first person to sail to the area of the South Pole in search of a southern continent. He was on his second voyage from Britain to the Southern Hemisphere in 1772 when he sailed across the position where the line of latitude of the Antarctic Circle is drawn. He crossed the Antarctic Circle two more times as he sailed around the South Pole. During the two months he was there he saw just pack ice, so he sailed on to New Zealand. Captain Cook sailed south again from New Zealand. He found no way in through the ice to land so he went back to New Zealand for the southern winter. In November 1774 he sailed for the third time towards the landmass we now call Antarctica. This time he came upon land but it was an island, which he named South Georgia. He later came upon more islands and named them the South Sandwich Islands before setting sail for home in England. Cook wrote detailed accounts of his travels and his journals were later published. He wrote that he was not impressed with the area and thought it of no use to anyone. But he was wrong. Although other explorers did not rush to explore the area for themselves, his report of the many whales and seals he saw on his travels in the south excited great interest among owners of whaling fleets in America and Europe. It was only 16 years later, in 1790, that a sealing industry was set up on South Georgia and the killing of seals for fur began. A Russian navigator named Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen was sent by his government to explore Antarctica. Bellingshausen was born in 1779, the year Cook died. He was a great admirer of Captain Cook and he visited England and studied Cook s journals and maps. Bellingshausen sailed from Portsmouth in England in 1819 and in 1820 crossed the Antarctic Circle. During his three-year long voyage he circumnavigated Antarctica and named Peter Island and Alexander Island. He visited Macquarie Island where he met sealers and whalers who were continuing to slaughter the wildlife. The fur seal had already been wiped out on Macquarie Island. In February 1821, the American sealer John Davis is thought to be the first person to set foot on Antarctica, although not all historians accept this as fact. You may read about others who it is claimed landed first. We will probably never know who it was. Two years later, in 1823, James Weddell from England sailed further south than anyone had been known to sail before. At 74 S of latitude he sailed well into the sea which bears his name. He was interested in exploring, but he was mainly Antarctica 72 Supervisor notes

81 searching for seals. A species of seal is named after Weddell. It was another 17-odd years before there was further interest in exploring the frozen continent. It began again with men like Lieutenant Charles Wilkes from America who, in 1840, came upon an area that is now called Wilkes Land. In the same year the Frenchman, Jules-Sebastien Dumont d Urville, sailed along a part of the Antarctic coastline which he named after his wife Adélie. Adélie is also the name of a species of penguin abundant in Antarctica. A year later, in 1841, Sir James Clark Ross sailed from England in the ship Erebus on yet another quest to find out more about this frozen land. He named the Ross Sea after himself and the enormous volcanic mountain they saw on Ross Island, Mount Erebus. Many years later, in 1979, Mount Erebus was to claim the lives of 257 passengers and crew when a New Zealand plane on a sightseeing trip flew into it in a snowstorm. As you study the map of Antarctica you will find the places named after these early explorers. You will find other names too and you may begin a search on your own to find out who the people were whose names have been given to places on land and at sea. It was not until the 1900s that the exhausting, daring and dangerous exploration of the continent began. You will learn about some of those explorers later in the unit. It is now time to look at a map of the world and locate Antarctica. Turn off the audio and go to Activity 2 in the student booklet. Activity 4 Track 2 The Antarctic Treaty In 1991, the countries that had signed the Antarctic Treaty adopted the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. The Protocol, as it is more commonly referred to, includes a wide range of provisions relating to the protection of the Antarctic environment outlined in the Antarctic Treaty as well as other agreed measures for the protection of Antarctica. In brief, the Protocol: declares Antarctica as a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science, establishes environmental principles to govern the conduct of all activities, the Protocol requires an environmental impact statement for all activities prohibits mining requires the development of management plans to respond to environmental emergencies and provides for rules relating to liability for environmental damage. Turn off the audio and talk to your supervisor about what the Protocol requires of the countries that have signed it. Ask your supervisor about anything you are not sure about. Activity 5 Antarctica a land of extremes Track 3 Narrator: Antarctica is a unique continent, unlike any other place on Earth. The frozen part of Antarctica holds around 70 per cent of the fresh water in the world, yet it hardly ever rains or snows. It is the driest continent and can be called a desert because so little moisture falls in the form of rain or snow. Antarctica is the coldest continent. The lowest temperature in the world was recorded there at the Russian base of Vostok in It was a temperature of 89.2 Celsius. You can find Vostok at around 78 S and 105 E. Antarctica 73 Supervisor notes

82 It s thought that at its thickest point, the ice over the land at the South Pole is about four kilometres thick. It is an average of metres above the level of the sea. This makes Antarctica the highest continent. It s frequently windy in Antarctica and the strongest wind speed of 320 kilometres per hour was recorded at the French base, Dumont d Urville, in You would have found that base on the Antarctic Circle in Activity 3. Although there is little rain or snow, there appears to be much more because of the wind. The snow that is already on the ground is blown about at great speeds by the wind and creates blizzards. Antarctica is the windiest continent. To help you get some sort of understanding of what all this means, you will experience Antarctica through the eyes of four people who have spent time there. There is Jim Hasick, an Australian scientist, who spent a year in Antarctica. He wrote about his experiences and they are published in Antarctic Journal, the book your teacher has sent you. Alasdair Mc Gregor is an artist who also went to Antarctica to work. You will hear from Alasdair and see some of his paintings. Then you will hear from John and Karen French, who met in Antarctica and are now married. John is an upper atmospheric physicist who has been to Antarctica three times. Karen French is a weather observer with the Bureau of Meteorology and has been to Antarctica twice. Turn off the audio now and return to Activity 5 in your student booklet. Activity 6 Antarctic Journal Track 4 Narrator: You will have seen lots of snow and ice on page 6 in the photograph where the helicopter is on its side. Remember the day Jim arrived in Antarctica on Friday 13th December, it was 5 C at Mawson Station and that was 25 C colder than when he left Hobart. Water freezes at 0 C so 5 C is cold. Also keep in mind that December is the first month of the summer season in Antarctica. Imagine how cold it gets in the winter months, brrrrr... I shudder just thinking about it. You re going to pause the audio while you look through the journal to find the date and temperature of the coldest day recorded in Jim Hasick s journal and write it in your student booklet. Pause the audio now. Track 5 Turn to pages 20 and 21 of Antarctic Journal. It is not only the people working in Antarctica who need to stay warm. What about the penguins? Look at the penguins on these pages. You will return to Antarctic Journal later, but first let s find out some more about what Antarctica is like from the other three people we ve mentioned who have visited there. First you will hear from the artist, Alasdair, who went to Antarctica three times. And you will study some of his paintings. Then you will hear from Karen and John French, who were doing scientific work in Antarctica. Turn off the audio and return to Activity 6 in your student booklet. Activity 7 Impressions from Alasdair the artist Track 6 Julie: I d like to welcome Alasdair McGregor today to our studio. Alasdair is an artist and photographer who has a special interest in wilderness environments. Alasdair has been to Antarctica three times and he s here today to read from his journal that he kept while he was in Antarctica. I m going to ask him now some questions about his paintings and his artwork while he was there. Can you describe for us, Alasdair, what it was like to work as an artist in Antarctica? Antarctica 74 Supervisor notes

83 Alasdair: Thanks, Julie. Working as an artist in a place like Antarctica is, well, several things to me. It s, firstly, an immense privilege to be able to go to such a wild and supremely beautiful place. It bowls you over when you first arrive. I know I got there and I thought, what am I going to do with this place? I felt so inadequate with the scale of it, the vastness, just, it bowls you over but once you start to feel even slightly at home, things start to really impress you and then you can get aspects of the landscape that you think ah, yes, I know, that s where I ll start. But you ve got some very practical things you have to consider first and we were in a very windy part of Antarctica at Commonwealth Bay. In fact it s known as the home of the blizzard. Mawson called it the home of the blizzard and it is that. And, in fact, in Mawson s and later recordings of wind speeds determined that it was the windiest place on the planet at sea level, so it s not really a place for an artist with paints and art materials and paper and what have you, strewn across the landscape. First of all you have to be prepared to work when the weather lets you, not when you want to. So, going outdoors you have to pick your time and so shelter was number one priority. Of course there are no trees there. It s a fairly flat and exposed little peninsula, so I would go looking for boulders or just even small hills where I could get out of the breeze. Now, sometimes it was dead calm, still, and they were the best times. But when it was a little bit breezy I d find one of these little shelters. But, unfortunately, they were places that the penguins also go. That s where they like to go when they re moulting before they go to sea at the end of the breeding season, so they re particularly dirty sort of filthy places with a lot of feathers lying around. So you have to put up with that, so, having found the shelter you get your materials out and you basically start work and that s fine. But, sometimes it gets a bit cold, a bit below zero and one of the problems I had was that using basically using water colours most of the time, water freezes and the paint. When the water in the paint starts to freeze, of course, the paint itself takes on the consistency of sand and so you re trying to paint with this sort of gritty, sandy stuff which is no good at all. So my solution for that was to take down some antifreeze as I would put in the car s radiator and just add that to the water and it worked perfectly. So they re the practical considerations. Of course the other one is just the cold as it affects your own body and you have to work very quickly. In really good conditions when the sun was out and it was still, I could perhaps sit out there for two, two and a half I think on one occasion I was actually out there for three hours. I didn t keep much of a tab on the time because you just work and work until it s finished or you can t stand the cold any longer. But when it was really blowing or it was overcast and a dull day, and it can get really cold, I d perhaps only have an hour in which I could effectively work. Also, the other time of day that I particularly liked to work was very late in the evening. Of course, being there in summer you have the opportunity, if you have the energy, to work right round the clock, it s constant daylight. But after midnight, or late in the evening, say from 10 or 11 onwards, the colours in the landscape become very intense with the low sun or the clouds. You get a lot of beautiful pinks and oranges and mauves, and so it s a very attractive and seductive landscape and so my preference, if conditions were calm enough I d go out at those times of day. But of course it gets very cold at that time and so I d have to work very, very quickly. So they were some of the physical problems. But the other thing is just trying to make sense of the landscape and give some sort of a personal impression. That s what I was principally after. If you would like to do an optional experiment about antifreeze, pause the tape now and read about it or you could do it later when you have finished your lessons. Activity 7 continued Track 7 Julie: Alasdair: And what inspired you? About the landscape, I think that there was so much variation within what was a very simple range of elements. I mean, you could say that it s, well, in our case we were near the sea, so it s the sea, and the icebergs out to sea and then the rocks, the snow, the ice and the sky. And when I was first there I thought how am I going to make something out of all this? But when you see the way the light Antarctica 75 Supervisor notes

84 changes during the day, the way the ice forms, all the different formations there, the way the wildlife, that the seals and the penguins fit into the landscape, there was no shortage of subjects. And so I was really inspired everywhere I looked. I just thought I could make some sort of a comment on this landscape. At every opportunity I was always inspired, I think. Julie: Alasdair: Julie: Alasdair: Julie: Alasdair: We know that Antarctica is snow, wind, ice and cold but what else was there for you? I think one of the great things I ll always remember is the Antarctic sky, unless you ve been there, you wouldn t really have an appreciation of it. It can be just the most astounding thing you ve ever seen. There were very few occasions when it was just a clear blue sky but even then of course there is no pollution there. It s the bluest of blue you could possibly see but then we d, there d be a change in the weather and these big storm clouds would roll in from the sea and pile upon pile of dark grey clouds. And then, over the sea they d look really dark and grey, but of course when they came over the vast expanse of the icecap you d get reflected light reflecting off the ice up onto the undersides of the clouds so you get this weird sort of glow and actually it was given a name by early sailors. They called it iceblink, and they could tell when they were getting near large areas of packice out to sea, or the continent of Antarctica itself, because they could see this reflected light as if there was a massive sort of football stadium or something down there, like you see in the evening sky here. And then, of course, the sky late at night was another factor, when you get not just like a sunset here, but that, plus all sorts of strange colours, greens and mauves and yellows. It s just astounding. When people view your work, what do you hope they see? I hope they see Antarctica as a, as a sort of a complex and wonderful place. I try to dispel this idea that, well, people often jokingly ask me. How are you going to paint Antarctica, you ll need a lot of white paint, won t you? It s so much more than that, it s just such a rich and wonderful environment that if I can give people perhaps a little bit of insight into what it s like I think I would have gained some success with my work. We know you re really hoping to get back there as soon as you can, and thank you so much for today and we look forward to what you re going to produce in the future. Thanks Julie. Turn off the audio and return to Activity 7. Activity 8 Impressions from Karen and John the scientists Track 8 Bruno: Bruno: John: Bruno: John: This morning we are speaking with John French and Karen French of the Australian Antarctic Division. John is an upper atmospheric physicist and has been to Antarctica three times and Macquarie Island once. Karen is a weather observer and has been to Antarctica two times. We ll hear from John first. Good morning, John, thank you for agreeing to speak with me about your experiences in Antarctica. Pleasure. Given your interest and fascination, what were your first impressions on arriving in Antarctica? Well the first impressions are it s a long way away and we went down by ship and it took a month or more to get to Antarctica across the Southern Ocean. Southern Ocean s dominated by big seas, storms, big swells and then when you get through the icebergs and the pack-ice you get to Antarctica and I guess the first impression is that it s vast, that it s a huge area. It s not just all white with snow, there s Antarctica 76 Supervisor notes

85 an enormous range of colours, blues and greens. And there s plenty of rock in Antarctica as well in the mountains and ranges and Davis Station itself is on the Vestfold Hills, which is the largest ice-free section of Antarctica. Remoteness I guess, is one of the impressions that you get. You ve got that feeling of being a long way away, that the cold really hits you initially. It takes you two weeks or three weeks to acclimatise to the conditions but the gear that you are given is really good freezer suits and mittens and hats and boots are all, you know, excellent quality, so that, there s no excuse really for getting cold to the point where you get frostbite or cold-exposure injuries. So, yeah, it takes you two or three weeks to acclimatise to the conditions and then once everyone s sort of finished saying Oh it s cold all the time, you know it s cold and after a while it s just no point saying it, so you just get on with things. As you go through winter, of course, it gets colder and colder. We got down to perhaps 42 at Davis during 98 which was a cold record but again its not as extreme on the coast, its much colder than that inland, once you get up high on the plateau. So I guess those were my first impressions and the station itself. Very interesting the Australian stations, they re all made out of these AANBUS (Australian Antarctic Building System) panels and all buildings are coloured. Looks a bit like LEGO bricks, like LEGO land. So you talk about the red shed or the green store or the yellow science building and everyone knows where to go and what it is because of the colours. Turn off the audio and return to your student booklet. Track 9 Bruno: John: John, how would you describe the Antarctic landscape? Again the word vast comes to mind immediately. When you are up on the plateau looking out across like towards the pole, it s just ice as far as you can see in every direction. So once you get up on to the plateau, it s I guess what most people s impression of Antarctica is, just an enormous vast sheet of, sheet of ice. But there s so much more intricate parts to Antarctica around the coast and the icebergs and the islands. The Vestfold Hills and the islands off of Davis for example are host to all of the Adélie penguins that come in and nest on the islands. There s giant petrels, there s snow petrels all sorts of birds; the Weddell seals, that come in to pup amongst the islands. So once you get along the coast it s a fascinating region of all sorts of different shaped icebergs and islands and glaciers and lots of lakes in the Vestfold Hills and Davis as well which don t actually freeze over winter. They re hypersaline lakes so they ve got a lot of salt in them, perhaps 10 or 15 times what sea water is. So there s lakes like Deep Lake out of Davis which don t freeze until or don t freeze till 40 and even then they just got a skin on the top of them. And there s creatures that live in those lakes that are studied by the biologists that go down there and work over the summer. So it s not just a vast sheet of ice. Along the coast particularly there s a tremendous range of different things, even mosses. There s no actual sort of trees as such that grow there but lots of mosses and lichens, orange lichens and deep green mosses that come out and survive quite well over the summer there or come out over the summer and survive over winter even though they are covered in ice and snow. Turn off the audio and return to your student booklet. Activity 8 continued Track 10 Bruno: Karen: Bruno: Now we are going to hear from Karen French. Good morning, Karen. Hi, Bruno. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me about your experiences in Antarctica. We ve heard from your husband, John, about the sorts of things that motivated him to work for the Australian Antarctic Division and go down to Antarctica. What inspired you to join the Antarctic Division and travel to Antarctica? Antarctica 77 Supervisor notes

86 Karen: Bruno: Well, I work for the Bureau of Meteorology, and so I m not actually employed by the Antarctic Division so I m employed by the Bureau, and when I first rang the Bureau in 85 I learned there was a lot of remote places to work at, and one was Antarctica and most of the stations we get sent to within while we work in the Bureau are not capital city stations, so they re remote stations throughout Australia and, yeah, Antarctica was one. I love extreme weathers and I know of course there will be extreme weathers down there, and it was some place different, so that s why I was really interested to go. Arriving in Antarctica for that first time, was it what you expected? Karen: Bruno: Karen: Well I ve only been to Davis Base and that s built on rock and there s a huge expanse of rock there, about 20 kilometres by 20 kilometres, and I probably expected whiteness but it was just brown and dirty and cause it was summer and the ice had melted and there were just streams of brown water running everywhere. Similar to, like, I suppose a mining camp and yes it wasn t what I expected. Yeah, it was dirt. It wasn t clean and white and pretty. But it was winter. But at peak of summer it s not. How would you then describe the Antarctic landscape having spent some time down there? Barren, just rocks everywhere, dirt and rocks in summer around the Davis base and once you get on the plateau it s just white and flat with the crevasses inside. So very barren and sparse and brilliant, just whiteness on the plateau but you re not allowed up on the plateau regularly, it s only on supervision. So we spend most of our time in the rock area. In winter however it s beautiful cos everything is covered in snow and it s white and what you expect of Antarctica. Turn off the audio and return to Activity 8 in your student booklet. Activity 10 Antarctic Explorers in the 1900s Track 11 Narrator: You will remember from the introduction that the early Antarctic explorers mapped what they could of the outline of the continent and named after themselves and their friends those seas, islands and sections of land they sighted. Antarctica was left to the sealers and whalers on their hunting trips. New interest was sparked in returning to Antarctica during the Sixth International Geographical Congress in London in 1895 when it was declared that Antarctica was the last continent to be explored. Scientists from all branches of scientific inquiry thought it would be worthwhile to do research in Antarctica. It was Belgium who mounted the first scientific expedition. A young naval officer, Adrien de Gerlache, raised funds for his voyage helped by the Brussels Geographical Society. Another young man, the Norwegian, Roald Amundsen, heard about this voyage and asked to join it. He was accepted as one of the crew on the Belgica which left in August In January 1898 they arrived off Graham Land on the Antarctic Peninsula. They charted and named islands along the coast but Belgica became trapped in ice in the Bellingshausen Sea. It is interesting to note that years later Ernest Shackleton became stuck fast in ice in Antarctica on the ship Endurance which was the old ship Belgica, with a new name. On Shackleton s voyage it broke up and was abandoned. It was over a year before de Gerlache was able to free Belgica from the ice. His expedition is important because it produced the earliest known photographs as well as scientific findings from the continent of Antarctica. You are now going to find out about some of the well-known expeditions to the continent of Antarctica in the early 1900s which followed on from de Gerlache, in particular, expeditions by the Englishmen Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton and Douglas Mawson and the Norwegian, Roald Amundsen. Turn off the audio and return to Activity 10 in your student booklet. Antarctica 78 Supervisor notes

87 Activity 10 Track 12 continued Robert Falcon Scott s Discovery expedition Robert Scott joined the British navy around the age of 13. Thirty years later he led an expedition to Antarctica. It was an expedition to discover new territory, do scientific studies and also to allow British naval officers to show their abilities in peacetime. Ernest Shackleton was a member of this expedition. They left England on 6 August 1901, on the ship Discovery. Five months later their ship crossed the Antarctic Circle. They sailed into the Ross Sea. Scott found land and named it Edward VII Land. Winter came and the Discovery became stuck fast in the ice so Scott and his crew spent the winter at Hut Point on Ross Island. They lived on board the ship but used the hut they built for their scientific work. They had brought Greenland dogs with them but had not had any experience with dog teams. In November 1902, Scott, with Shackleton and Wilson, tried to cross the Ross Ice Shelf with dogs pulling their supplies on sleds. Scott had great difficulty with the dogs and this put him off using dogs in the future in Antarctica. In December, they were the first to reach just past 82 S of latitude and turned back. They were 8 short of the South Pole at 90 S. Ernest Shackleton had developed scurvy because of the poor food and the dogs were weak and exhausted. The relief ship Morning arrived bringing fresh supplies. Although ill, Shackleton was disappointed that he was asked to return to England with some other crew members when Morning sailed. Scott stayed on with the remainder of the crew exploring and doing valuable scientific research such as collecting plant and animal fossils, studying birds and animals and studying and recording weather. They made important new discoveries. One of the medical men, Dr Wilson, was also an artist and has left a record of Antarctica at this time, in his artworks. The relief ship Morning returned again in the summer and was this time accompanied by another ship, the Terra Nova, as they thought the Discovery would never be free. Discovery was finally freed from the ice in February 1904 and they were able to leave for England. Pause the audio now to make notes on page 7 in the workbook and then return and listen to the account of Shackleton s expedition. Activity 10 Track 13 continued Ernest Shackleton s Nimrod expedition Ernest Shackleton had gone to sea at the age of 16. Shackleton had been a member of Scott s expedition but had been forced to return early because of ill health. He had always intended to return to Antarctica and began trying to get the money he needed to get an expedition together. Shackleton wanted to reach the South Pole first but he was also interested in making scientific discoveries, as well as going to previously unexplored areas of Antarctica. Scott was not pleased when he heard of Shackleton s plans as he also intended to return and try again to reach the South Pole. Shackleton managed to purchase the Nimrod and get a crew and supplies together to lead what was known as the British Antarctic Expedition. He sailed from England on 30 July 1907, heading first to New Zealand. They took ponies to pull the sleds and he also took the first motor car to Antarctica. They left from New Zealand on 1 January 1908 and sailed into the Ross Sea where they used Ross Island as a base. Shackleton began to unload and by 12 February they had unloaded everything, including the ponies which were not in good shape after the voyage. The Nimrod returned to New Zealand. They constructed a hut and gradually made it into a place to live and work. Some of the men began doing scientific experiments, like measuring air temperature, wind speeds and Antarctica 79 Supervisor notes

88 wind direction. Douglas Mawson was part of this expedition and he recorded wind speeds of 100 miles (161 kilometres) per hour. Others collected and studied a variety of fish and marine animals they caught by making a hole through the ice. Soon after they arrived, Douglas Mawson and five others climbed the volcano Mt Erebus and measured the crater. All through the winter they planned the treks that they would go on when the weather was warmer. In spring, the motor car was used to take supplies to two depots but it was not as useful as they had hoped. Also in spring, on 29 October 1908, Shackleton and four others set out for the South Pole, miles (2 737 kilometres) away, taking horses to pull the sleds. Another group, which included Douglas Mawson, set out on a mile (2 029 kilometres) journey to the magnetic south pole pulling the sleds themselves. Mawson s group endured great hardships with not enough food, severe cold and exhaustion. They came very close to the magnetic south pole and claimed the area for Great Britain. They struggled on the return journey and found when they got back that the Nimrod, which had by then returned for them, was thankfully still there. Meanwhile, Shackleton and his group had set out with the ponies pulling the sleds. The ponies had difficulty in the deep snow and were hard to pull out of crevasses when they fell in. By December, all the ponies had been shot. They stashed some of the horsemeat and marked the spot so that they could use the food on the return journey. Twenty-nine days later they had gone further south than Scott had done in They had reached 88 23`S and 162 E. They were 97 miles (156 kilometres) from the South Pole. They erected a flag at this point and began the journey home as they had very few supplies left. They made it to a depot where they had left the carcass of a horse and were able to have enough food to eat at last. Two of the party were very sick so Shackleton left them and returned with one other to Hut Point where they found a note saying the Nimrod would stay until 26 February and it was already 28 February. The next day they lit a fire and some crew on the departing Nimrod saw the smoke and returned. Shackleton then went back to find the sick men that he had left and also got them back to the ship. They had to leave as winter was again coming and with it the sea would ice up and trap Nimrod. That expedition had reached close to the Magnetic South Pole but still not made it to the South Pole. Ernest Shackleton died of a heart attack in 1922 on his fourth trip to the Antarctic region. He was buried on the island of South Georgia. Pause the audio to make notes on page 7 of the workbook now. Activity 10 Track 14 continued Roald Amundsen s Fram expedition Roald Amundsen was born in 1872 in Norway. His first experience in the Antarctic was with Adrien de Gerlache s expedition in Later on, Amundsen planned to be the first person to reach the North Pole. But another explorer beat him to it in September 1909, while Amundsen was still preparing for his expedition. Amundsen secretly changed his plans for an Arctic expedition and began preparing for an expedition to Antarctica. Amundsen and his crew left Norway on 9 August 1910 on the ship the Fram. Only Amundsen, his brother and two of his crew knew that they were headed for Antarctica. Amundsen had on board 97 Greenland dogs, also known as huskies, that were used to the cold conditions of the Arctic and were trained to pull sleds. On 6 September the Fram arrived at the Portuguese island of Madeira, where Amundsen bought some supplies. Amundsen knew that in the cold, men needed more food than usual. He also knew from the experiences on his voyage with de Gerlache that they could get sick with scurvy, a disease caused by a diet lacking in vitamin C, so he made sure he included tinned fruits and jams in his supplies. Antarctica 80 Supervisor notes

89 After leaving Madeira, the Fram headed south for Antarctica. Only after they had left Madeira did Amundsen s brother announce to the world that Amundsen s plan was to be the first person to reach the South Pole. On 14 January the Fram arrived at the Bay of Whales in Antarctica. It had taken them four months to reach Antarctica after leaving Madeira. They set up camp at the Bay of Whales. Over the next three months Amundsen planned his trip in great detail. His team used the dogs to pull sleds loaded with supplies to set up ten food and equipment supply depots along the route they would finally take to the South Pole. The dogs were well trained and suited to the conditions. They made the job of pulling supplies on sleds so much easier. After repeated delays because of poor weather conditions, Amundsen and his team set off on their journey to the South Pole on 20 October At 3pm on Friday 14 December 1911, Amundsen and his team became the first people to reach the South Pole, having discovered a shorter route. They left a tent with letters inside to show they had been there. They returned to their winter camp at the Bay of Whales on 25 January 1912, with no major mishaps or hold-ups because of weather conditions. Their journey to the South Pole and back to the camp at the Bay of Whales had taken 39 days to complete. It then took them a month to sail to Tasmania and from there Amundsen was able to send a cable to his brother and tell the world the news of his success as the first man to reach the South Pole. Roald Amundsen died in 1928 in a plane crash. Pause the audio while you make any notes that will help you with the information that you need. Activity 10 Track 15 continued Robert Falcon Scott s Terra Nova expedition Scott did not know about Roald Amundsen s plans and he still hoped he would be the first to reach the South Pole and claim that honour for the British Empire. He made plans to return to Antarctica in Scott left on this expedition from New Zealand on 29 November. He sailed on the ship Terra Nova and reached Ross Island in January After Scott arrived in Antarctica he sent some men on a trip to the Bay of Whales and they were surprised to find that Roald Amundsen had arrived in the Antarctic and was camping there. Amundsen told them he was planning to go to the South Pole. On their return the men also reported to Scott that Amundsen had many trained and obedient huskies. Scott and his men built a new hut at Cape Evans. They spent the winter doing scientific research and taking trips out to leave supplies at depots for the journey to the South Pole. On 1 November 1911, Scott finally set out for the South Pole. It was miles (2 843 kilometres) from Hut Point to the South Pole and back. They travelled with the ponies and a few dogs pulling the sleds and left supplies of food and fuel every 70 miles (113 kilometres) or so which they intended to use on their return journey. The ponies were not suitable for the conditions and by December they were lost, had died or been destroyed. It was very slow and they were held up for days by blizzards. Some of the men who had been helping to transport supplies turned back with the dogs. Scott didn t have any faith in the dogs and knew they would also have to carry food for them. Twelve men went on, pulling the sleds themselves in two groups. On 3 January 1912, Scott chose Wilson, Oates, Evans and Bowers to accompany him to the South Pole and the others turned back. Scott wrote in his diary how hard it was pulling the sleds with the supplies, doing about 11 miles (18 kilometres) a day. By 13 January they were at latitude 89 S. On 16 January they came across a flag tied to a part of a sled and they realised Amundsen had got there before them. A few days later a severe gale blew up and three of the men got frostbite. They kept on and found Roald Amundsen s camp. Inside the tent were the names of the men who had reached the South Pole 21 days before Scott. Antarctica 81 Supervisor notes

90 Scott and his men began the return journey in poor spirits and completely exhausted. Evans soon died. The weather was bad and they took longer to reach the depots where they had left food supplies and they were very cold and hungry. Oates was the next to die. They were 11 miles (18 kilometres) from the main storage depot when a blizzard kept them confined to the tent. The last three men eventually died of cold and hunger in that tent. Scott s last entry in his diary was dated 29 March Before he died, Scott wrote many letters. In one he explained that his lack of success was due to bad luck and bad weather. A search party found their bodies on 12 November They piled snow over their collapsed tent and placed a pair of crossed skis to mark their burial place. Pause the audio while you make any notes you may need on page 8 of the workbook. Activity 10 Track 16 continued Douglas Mawson s Aurora expedition Douglas Mawson was born in England but came to Australia with his parents when he was two. He was well educated and grew up to work as a mining engineer and a geologist. Mawson had been part of Shackleton s expedition. Later, Scott had asked him to join his expedition but Mawson said no as he was already planning his own trip. His plan was to explore the area of Antarctica directly south of Australia from Cape Adare to Gaussberg, including Macquarie Island, and to claim the territory for Britain. He also hoped to conduct scientific studies. The Australian Antarctic Expedition left Hobart in December 1911 on Aurora, bound for Macquarie Island, 850 miles (1 368 kilometres) south-south-east of Hobart. After a very rough sea voyage with damage to their supplies and to the Aurora herself they arrived at Macquarie Island. There they left some supplies and men to build a radio transmitter and do scientific studies, planning to return for them a year later. Macquarie Island became the first Australian Antarctic base even though it is not on the continent of Antarctica. Mawson and the remaining party arrived at a bay in Antarctica on the 8 January Mawson named it Commonwealth Bay. It is km south of Hobart. They found hundreds of Adélie penguins and Weddell seals on the rocky islets. They landed at a point that Mawson called Cape Denison where they unloaded the ship and began building the huts at what was to be Main Base. The Aurora went on for km in a westerly direction to leave some men on what they called Shackleton s Ice Shelf. The plan was for them to explore back towards Main Base at Commonwealth Bay. The winter at Main Base was spent making shorts trips out to establish supply depots and, under very difficult conditions, constructing a radio transmitter. After a couple of tries they succeeded in building two radio masts to enable them to transmit radio signals. When the men on Macquarie Island had built their radio masts they eventually were able to make two-way radio contact and talk to Mawson and his men at Cape Denison in Adélie Land. When the weather improved in November 1912, five groups set out to explore, agreeing to return by 15 January when the Aurora was due once more. All the groups except Mawson s returned in time for the arrival of Aurora. Mawson and his companions, Mertz and Ninnis, had left on 10 November and made it to the glacier, now named Mertz Glacier. Crossing its crevasses they trekked on to the next big glacier, which is now called Ninnis Glacier. They were trapped for a few days in their tents while a blizzard raged around them. They discarded one of the sleds and Mertz skied on ahead to search for crevasses. He signalled that there was one ahead and Mawson managed to cross it. But Ninnis went over the edge into the crevasse, taking with him the sled, with most of the supplies for the people, all of the dog food and six of the best dogs. Mawson and Mertz tried for hours to find them but their search was not successful. They went on with only 10 days food left and nothing for the dogs. Gradually the dogs were killed so there was food for the men and the remaining dogs. They continued on but Mertz became very ill and died. Mawson then struggled on alone. He did eventually arrive back on 5 February 1913, in time to see the Aurora heading out to sea. Fortunately he was not alone. There were six men who had Antarctica 82 Supervisor notes

91 stayed behind to look for Mawson s group. They did make radio contact with the Aurora but the weather was not good and the Aurora was low on coal. It still had to collect the party left at Shackleton s Ice Shelf and get back to Hobart. That meant another winter at Main Base for the men. The men nursed Mawson back to health and after a long winter, on 12 December 1913, they saw the Aurora on the horizon. They returned safely to Australia after claiming a huge part of Antarctica for Great Britain. They had made important observations about weather, plants, animals and landforms and they were the first to use a radio in Antarctica. Turn off the audio and make notes on page 8 of the workbook before you return to your student booklet. Activity 12 Living and working in Antarctica Track 17 Bruno: John: Bruno: John: John, are the clothes that you need in Antarctica supplied to you by the Australian Antarctic Division? That s right, yeah, you get kitted out as part of your training before you go down, which is, well, I started probably July 1988 for the first time. And you spend maybe three months coming up to speed on what you are doing down there and the work you are doing, and the instrumentation, and meeting the people that you re going to winter with, which is, you are going to spend 12 months with these people so it s worthwhile getting to know them before you go down. You are stuck with them for the duration of the time that you re there. And as part of that training is your kitting out and we get two big kit bags of clothes. So they re supplied by the Antarctic Division and then you return them when you come home. They can get passed on if they are still in good condition. John, what were your living conditions like at Davis Station? It s just almost like a hotel really. The Australian stations are that good that you have what s called a donga in local colloquial. It s your room, which is your space, normally a bunk bed and a desk and your wardrobes and stuff. Inside the buildings it s maintained at 18 so you can walk around in your normal street clothes as you would back here, and then cold porches in each of the buildings where you keep your boots and your freezer suit and your gloves and your hat so you spend a lot of time sort of putting on clothes and taking off clothes, every time you go out. You spend probably five minutes putting your boots on and your freezer suit on and your gloves on and your hat, and if it s blizzing, your goggles. But it s very comfortable inside the buildings and inside the lab where you work. You just you take all your outer shell off as you go in through the cold porch of wherever you are going and you work in your normal clothes. Everything is provided for you on station in terms of cooking and meals. Medical there s a doctor on the station. The chef looks after your meals, six days a week, and then you get rostered on. Every Sunday it s someone else s turn on station to cook. Turn the audio off and return to Activity 12 in your student booklet. Activity 12 continued Track 18 Bruno: Karen: You mentioned that you re only allowed on the plateau under supervision. Could you explain to us why that is? Cos of the danger. This is just for Davis Station. Different stations have different rules, yet they do have traverses down to, say Zhongshan, and Hop Island which is further south of Davis, and they have sort of work parties doing that but you are not allowed to go up there, say, on a jolly or for recreational purposes. Yeah, they do some field training up there for practising rescuing people in crevasses. But in general you aren t allowed for safety reasons. Antarctica 83 Supervisor notes

92 Bruno: Karen: So the dangers that you speak of would be related to the crevasses. Yep, pretty well, just and there s of course cliffs up there, just ice cliffs as well, and in overcast conditions when you ve got sort of the high cirrus clouds you get like the white-out phenomenon and you can t see if you are going up or down. You might be able to feel it but it s an amazing experience you just don t know how you re travelling, and you can easily go over a cliff and not know it, just cos of that white-out experience. Doesn t have to be snowing, it s just the conditions of the cloud. Turn off the audio and return to Activity 12 in your student booklet. Activity 12 continued Track 19 Bruno: John: John, what sort of extra skills do you need or learn while in Antarctica as a scientist? You learn a great deal, not just about your work but about all sorts of things from cooking, there s electricians on station so you learn what their trade is about, there s plumbers, there s diesel mechanics, there s the met observers, so everyone is sort of interacting on a daily basis. You work with them, eat with them every meal, you go out in the field and explore Antarctica with them. You learn in such a closed environment. There s, you know, a broad range of people from all over Australia, all sorts of trades, all sorts of backgrounds. It s great. It s not only the experience of Antarctica, which is special, but also meeting and sharing it with a group of people from all over, you know, all sorts of trades and experiences, learning what they know. Part of the training was anaesthetics and theatre nursing because there s one doctor on station. If there s, you know, anyone requires an operation then someone else on the station does the anaesthetics and theatre nursing part of it. We learn, you know, small-boat operating, firefighting, the whole experience is not just about the work that you do but all sorts of life experiences and training and, you know, qualifications that are a benefit for the rest of your life, really. It s not just the time that you are there and the work that you re doing, but the whole broad spectrum of experiences is tremendous. Turn off the audio and return to Activity 12 in your student booklet. Activity 13 Track 20 Scientific research In springtime in 1981 a British scientist noticed a hole, in the stratosphere, 10 to 50 kilometres above the Earth over Antarctica. It looked like a hole as he noticed that the previously thick layer of ozone had thinned in one area. Ozone is a type of oxygen in the upper atmosphere which helps to screen the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation which could affect all forms of life on Earth. Ultraviolet rays are known to cause skin cancer and eye cataracts. The thinning continued and was obvious each spring. By 1990 this discovery had raised serious concerns among the international community. High levels of chlorofluorocarbons, known for short as CFCs, were identified as the problem. CFCs create chemical reactions which destroy ozone. CFCs are chemicals that are used in aerosol sprays, refrigerators and airconditioners. As a result of this research there has been a big effort to reduce the use of CFCs around the world over the past 10 to 15 years. Scientists have observed that in recent years the ozone hole over Antarctica seems to be shrinking but it will take 50 years or so just to repair the damage which has already been done. When you think that the icecap in Antarctica contains about 70 per cent of the world s fresh water you will understand why glaciologists study the history of the icecap as well as monitor its current state. For instance, if the climate were to become warmer in Antarctica and the icecap began to melt it would have a big effect on the level of the world s oceans. Imagine what would happen to all the Antarctica 84 Supervisor notes

93 places that are at present built at sea level! It is a real concern that it is becoming much warmer in various places around the world. It is believed that the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil and gas puts more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and this keeps a lot of the heat in instead of allowing it to escape into the atmosphere. So scientists keep a watch on the melting of the icecap and record their findings. Scientists have been drilling deep down into the ice at two sites in Antarctica. These ice cores have been drilled to depths of over metres and the contents of some of these cores are thought to be as old as years. Those cores have been cut into sections and sent to scientific laboratories around the world. There, scientists study the cores to obtain information that helps them learn more about the weather and the atmosphere over the ages. To obtain more information about changes in the climate, Russian, French and American scientists began drilling deep into the Antarctic ice near the Russian base at Vostok in They stopped 130 metres from an enormous lake of fresh water called Lake Vostok. This lake is under three kilometres of ice and has remained untouched for millions of years. There is now disagreement amongst the scientists. The Russians and the French want to go ahead and drill down into the lake over the next couple of years. The American scientists are urging them to wait as they are concerned that the process of drilling could contaminate the lake and may destroy any evidence of life which could be there. The drilling raises concerns for the environment as well as bringing new information. Millions of years ago, Antarctica had a much warmer climate. Geologists have found evidence of this in the ice cores. Rocks and fossils have also given geologists clues that show Antarctica was once the centre of a massive landmass that they have called Gondwanaland. They believe that Antarctica was joined to Australia, New Zealand, South America, India and Africa and that over millions of years these continents have gradually drifted apart. There are no trees or bushes in Antarctica so plant biologists study what plant life there is, which are lichens, mosses and algae that grow on the rocks. They grow very slowly, perhaps one and a half centimetres every hundred years. If they are destroyed they could take more than the average human lifespan to grow back again. There are no large animals living permanently on Antarctica. Penguins come on land to lay their eggs but have to go to sea to feed. Seals also come on land to rest and breed. Zoologists and marine biologists study the seabirds, penguins and seals when they come onto the land. To read what the scientists were doing with the penguins at Mawson in 1992, return to your Student booklet and find the book, Antarctic Journal. Activity 14 Track 21 Removing resources Ships to process the whales, known as factory ships, were moored at South Georgia and other islands. The whales and seals were killed and the meat, skins, oil and anything else that could be, was sold. Later, penguins were killed for oil. The seven species of penguin in the Antarctic are now protected. There are six different kinds of seals in the Antarctic. In the past, however, fur seals and elephant seals were killed in such numbers that they very nearly became extinct. As seal populations fell it was no longer profitable to make the dangerous trip to Antarctic waters and the industry declined. Antarctic seals have not been hunted since the 1960s and there has been an effort by many people around the world to prevent sealing beginning again now that the numbers have increased once more. There is a Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals which prohibits seal hunting. Australians are forbidden by law from taking seals. Antarctica 85 Supervisor notes

94 The same pattern developed with the killing of whales as with seals. Many species of whale go to the seas around Antarctica to feed in the summer. In the many hours of daylight a small sea plant called phytoplankton grows in vast numbers. One species of whale feeds on it but mostly the small prawn-like creatures called krill feed on the phytoplankton. It is krill that most of the whales come for. It is their main source of food. Seals, seabirds, squid and other fish also feed on krill and so do penguins, but penguins feed on the fish and squid as well. The whaling industry was established in 1904 and continued for the next sixty-odd years. In the beginning they killed humpback whales as they tend to swim close to shore. Then, as whaling boats were improved, the whalers hunted the blue whales further out to sea. When their numbers declined they began killing the sei and fin whales. At first the whalers would kill the most profitable species and when their numbers were too low to make it worthwhile any longer, they would move on to the next profitable ones until all species of whale were very low in number and some were nearly extinct. The International Whaling Commission was set up in 1946 to try to control the killing of whales. It was not very successful and the killing went on. It wasn t until the 1970s, when concerned groups around the world began protesting, that many people became aware of the situation with whales. Blue and humpback whales are now protected, however, the Australian government is opposed to all whaling. Japan and Norway still kill minke and sperm whales which they say is to allow them to do scientific research. Afterwards the whale meat is sold for high prices in shops in Japan and Norway. Although sealing and whaling have declined since the 1960s, the Antarctic fishing industry has replaced it. As with sealing and whaling, overfishing of the most profitable species took place first, then, as numbers of that species fell, the next profitable fish was taken, and so on. As each species dies out, of course, those species depending on it as a source of food are threatened as well. Overfishing of a particular species affects the whole food web. Also, with certain fishing practices many other species that are not used for food are caught and die in the fishing nets. Then there are seabirds like the albatross, which are caught on the long fishing lines as they feed on the fish. Another problem is that countries like Japan, Poland, Russia and Korea are nowadays taking large quantities of krill, the main food source of baleen whales. Krill are used for a variety of things like stockfeed, fish food in fish farms and sometimes in food for humans. Turn off the audio and talk to your supervisor about what you have just learnt. Activity 15 Track 22 Pollution past and present Over the years, as people have visited Antarctica, there has been a build-up of rubbish of all kinds. The disposal of garbage in most places was not being done to the standards that are required today, so it is not surprising that there was little concern about dumping rubbish in a remote place like Antarctica. In Antarctica there was no garbage collection service and there were no pipes to pump the sewage to holding tanks where it could be broken down into a state less harmful to the environment before it was released. When the bases were established, the rubbish and waste, which could include anything no longer of any use, such as broken-down vehicles, oil drums, bottles, vegetable peel or sewage, was just dumped in the snow or in the sea near the base. Most of the rubbish even the food scraps is still there. The bacteria which break down foodstuffs in warmer climates are greatly slowed down in the cold. Antarctica 86 Supervisor notes

95 Something as small as a banana skin can take up to 100 years to decay completely. You might like to put a banana skin outside and see how long it takes to break down in the climate where you live. Today, Antarctica s Environmental Protocol still allows food waste and sewage to be dumped in the sea there, but all other forms of waste have to be taken out by ship. All the countries which have signed the Protocol are committed to protecting the environment. Most of the waste which is created now must be removed from Antarctica. It has been agreed that all the waste which has been accumulated over the years must be gradually removed as long as it doesn t cause any further harm by removing it. With more and more tourists visiting Antarctica each year there is concern that there could be increasing damage to the environment from their waste as well as the risk of an oil spill from one of the cruise ships. This has already happened on a couple of occasions with damage to plants and animals in the sea as well as to breeding grounds for penguins, seals and seabirds as a result of pollution. The United States of America s McMurdo Station has the largest population in Antarctica at any one time. It has been there 40 years and over the years the area around Ross Island, where it is located, became very polluted. A program to clean it up was begun in A large amount of rubbish was collected and returned to the United States. In spite of this, the effects of the earlier contamination are likely to be around for a long time yet. The main concerns therefore are how to fix up past mistakes and how to reduce mistakes in the future. Turn off the audio and return to your student booklet. Activity 16 Track 23 Bruno: John: What are the benefits and risks from human interaction? You will now hear from John French. Have you any thoughts about what should happen with Antarctica in the future? Well I guess the preservation of it as it is, has got to be one of the highest priorities. It is, as they say one of the last unspoiled wildernesses left on the planet and, you know, if they start mining and drilling for oil and minerals, exploitation in Antarctica, that can only be a bad thing. I can t see if, you know, you get the sort of things that happened in Alaska with the Exxon (Valdez) or it s such a harsh environment but it s also so fragile that looking after Antarctica preserving it for future generations has got to be the highest priority for Antarctica, in my opinion. You will now hear from Karen. Bruno: Karen: Given your experiences in Antarctica, what message do you have for students about what should happen with Antarctica in the future? Well, it s a splendid place and so many people want to see it, cos it s different and it s beautiful like other tourist attractions in the world. So as long as people go down there and they respect the place and look after it, it should be available to who wants to go down. However, at the moment, of course it s a financial thing, really only rich people can go down as tourists, cos it s very expensive. Unless you re lucky enough to be chosen to go to work there. So, as long as if people get the chance to go down there, they respect the place and don t ruin it, and you don t want it to get too touristy in a way but you still would like people to go down and experience cause you know how fantastic it is, and that no-one should stay at home, sort of thing. As long as they don t ruin it. Turn off the audio now. This is the end of the recording. Antarctica 87 Supervisor notes

96 Antarctica 88 Supervisor notes

97 Supervisor feedback The feedback you provide will assist teachers to assess your student s progress and plan future learning experiences. Please mark the scale and comment in the spaces below. Student s name Did your student: locate places using degrees of latitude and longitude Activity 2 (Tick along line) with with independently difficulty help suggest possible reasons for the territorial claims on Antarctica 3 contribute suitable suggestions for an impact statement 4 suggest explanations for various aspects of the cover of Antarctic Journal 6 record descriptive words heard in interviews 7, 8 select appropriate information from expedition accounts 10 Antarctica 89 Supervisor notes

98 Did your student: explain why people from various occupations are required in Antarctica Activity 11 (Tick along line) with with independently difficulty help appreciate the necessity of learning skills from other occupations 12 find information on scientists research work in Antarctica in Antarctic Journal 13 identify all aspects of household waste for recording 13 recognise that a variety of creatures are dependent on the same food source 14 show an appreciation of the consequences of dumping garbage around the bases in Antarctica 15 Antarctica 90 Supervisor notes

99 Student s name: Antarctica Workbook Antarctica 19 Workbook

100 Map of Antarctica Adelaide Australia Tasmania Hobart Macquarie Island INDIAN OCEAN South Magnetic Pole Commonwealth Bay (Australia) Summer base Cape Denison Mertz Glacier Dumont d Urville Ninnis Glacier (France) Adélie Land Cape Adare Ross Sea Scott Base (NZ) McMurdo (USA) Ross Island Wilkes Land Bay of Mt Erebus Whales Antarctic Circle PACIFIC OCEAN _ (Australia) Ross Ice Shelf Edward VII Land Davis Sea Shackleton Ice Shelf Denman Glacier Helen Glacier Mirny (Russia) Vostock (Russia) Bellingshausen Sea Gaussberg South Pole Peter Island Auster Rookery Bechervaise Island Vestfold Hills _ (Australia) Zhongshan (China ) (Australia) Alexander Island Antarctic Peninsula Graham Land South America Weddell Sea South Shetland Islands South Sandwich Islands South Georgia Island Antarctic 1 Workbook

101 Antarctic 2 Workbook

102 Write the names of two countries that claim territory in Antarctica. Then write below each one why you think that country wanted to claim territory and whether you think it had good reasons to do so Antarctica 3 Workbook

103 Look at the map of Antarctica on page 1 of the Workbook and then answer these questions. 1. Which of the three Australian bases on the continent of Antarctica is furthest south? 2. What is the approximate latitude for the Australian base which is furthest south? 3. What is the line of latitude closest to Casey Station? 4. What are the names of two other bases along the same line of latitude as Casey? (The bases belong to countries that sent explorers to Antarctica in the 1800s.) 5. What is the name of the Australian summer base which is at 67 S and 142 E? Antarctica 4 Workbook

104 Word bank Below, write words which describe Antarctica. Antarctica 5 Workbook

105 Poem about Antarctica or Description of Antarctica Antarctica 6 Workbook

106 Notes on explorers from the 1900s: Scott s Discovery expedition Shackleton s Nimrod expedition Amundsen s Fram expedition Antarctica 7 Workbook

107 Scott s Terra Nova expedition Mawson s Aurora expedition Antarctica 8 Workbook

108 One of the 1900s Antarctic explorers you learnt about Name of the expedition and its leader Purpose of the expedition Factors which were a problem and how they were overcome or not e.g. weather, transport, food, clothes, shelter, planning, communications etc. Do you think this expedition failed? If yes, write why you think it did. If no, write why you think it didn t. Antarctica 9 Workbook

109 Changes in living and working conditions in Antarctica since the time of the 1900s explorers. Antarctica 10 Workbook

110 Record of rubbish from your house in one week. Antarctica 11 Workbook

111 Food web Antarctica 12 Workbook

112 Exposition plan 1. Introduction stating the side of the argument you will take. 2. Arguments with evidence 3. Conclusion summing up how your evidence supports your point of view. Antarctica 13 Workbook

113 Exposition Antarctica 14 Workbook

114 Human interaction in Antarctica Scientific research Studying weather Studying wildlife Studying plants Investigating ice cores Examining rocks and fossils Living on bases Exploration Tourism Benefits Risks Antarctica 15 Workbook

115 Human interaction in Antarctica Whaling Fishing Mining Benefits Risks Antarctica 16 Workbook

116 My ideas for the protection of Antarctica Antarctica 17 Workbook