Shackleton's Journey of Endurance
|  |
Student Handout |
Weighty Decisions
In this activity, you are Sir Ernest Shackleton and your ship, the Endurance, has been frozen in the pack ice of Antarctica's Weddell Sea for nine months. It's clear that soon the Endurance will sink due to the pressure of the ice surrounding it. An enormous challenge is before you. What will you take with you and what will you leave behind?
Procedure
Below is a list of items that you can salvage from the Endurance before she sinks. You cannot possibly move everything across the ice, so you must choose wisely those things that are crucial. Twenty-seven men and 70 dogs are on your expedition. As you make your choices, keep in mind that you don't know how long you will be stranded. Check each item as 1st, 2nd, or 3rd priority in the boxes beside each. First priority items must be included for survival. Second and third priority items may be left behind because their function can be achieved through other means or because they take space away from more important items.
Endurance Inventory
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
Item
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
Item
|
|
|
|
Artist's oil paints
|
|
|
|
Radio
|
|
|
|
Books
|
|
|
|
Reindeer skin sleeping bag
|
|
|
|
Camera, film
|
|
|
|
Rifles, cartridges
|
|
|
|
Canned meat
|
|
|
|
Rope
|
|
|
|
Compass
|
|
|
|
Sail canvas
|
|
|
|
Cooking pots
|
|
|
|
Sextant
|
|
|
|
Cotton shirts
|
|
|
|
Ship's bell
|
|
|
|
Extra kerosene
|
|
|
|
Signal mirror
|
|
|
|
Extra lamp wicks
|
|
|
|
Sledges and dogs
|
|
|
|
Flare pistol
|
|
|
|
Soccer ball
|
|
|
|
Fresh water in canisters
|
|
|
|
Star charts
|
|
|
|
Journals and pencils
|
|
|
|
Stove
|
|
|
|
Knives
|
|
|
|
Tents
|
|
|
|
Matches
|
|
|
|
Tools
|
|
|
|
Medical supplies
|
|
|
|
Wooden crates
|
|
|
|
Pistols, cartridges
|
|
|
|
Woolen long underwear
|
|
|
|
Playing cards
|
|
|
|
|
Group Questions
Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.
What were the principles and guiding questions that drove your group's decisions? Which items were most difficult to agree on? How did your group resolve any differences of opinion?
|
