Document-Based Questions - Debra J. Housel, M.S. Ed. 2008

Shipwrecked in Antarctica
True Survival Stories

Ernest Shackleton was a British explorer who hoped to be the first to travel across Antarctica. In 1914, Shackleton and his crew of 27 seemed ready for the adventure as they packed food, tents, and warm clothes onto the ship Endurance. The men did not know how apt the ship’s name was. They would face an incredible ordeal that would require endurance.

When the Endurance was just 100 miles from Antarctica’s shore, ice floes closed around it. The ship could not move. It was stuck for 10 months. Then millions of tons of ice started to crush the ship. The captain made the men get off and take all the supplies they could carry in three rowboats. The men had to trek through freezing winds on the cold, barren ice pulling these boats. At night they slept in sleeping bags on the ice. One night the ice cracked beneath a sleeping man. He fell into the icy water, but Shackleton plucked him out. They had no extra clothes, so the man walked around for hours until his clothing dried. If he had stopped moving, he would have frozen to death.

Sometimes large leopard seals chased the men. They followed the men’s shadows through the ice and then burst through cracks in the ice with their jaws opened wide showing their huge, saw-like teeth. The men shot and ate them. They caught fish, too.

After 497 days on ice and water, the captain and crew made it to Elephant Island. It was covered with rocks and ice. Most of the men stayed there, but Shackleton and five men rowed away in a small boat. They rowed for 800 miles through Earth’s most stormy seas. Exhausted, they landed on South Georgia Island. This island had a whaling town. But they landed on the wrong side! The men had to cross steep mountains that had never been crossed before. They had just a rope. On the way down, Shackleton tied the men together, and they slid down 2,000 feet. Upon reaching town, he immediately got a ship and headed back for his men. But the seas were so rough that it took him three months and four attempts to get close to Elephant Island.

Meanwhile the men on Elephant Island had lost hope. They had waited for four months. Perhaps the little rowboat had sunk. If so, no one would know where they were. Then they saw sails coming toward them. They waved and cheered. Their leader had come for them at last! Every man had survived.

1. Shackleton and five men set out in a rowboat to go to

a. South Georgia Island.

b. Antarctica.

c. Endurance.

d. Elephant Island.

2. Which was not a danger faced by the men on the expedition?

a. falling through the ice

b. drinking too much alcohol

c. being eaten by a sea leopard

d. freezing to death

3. Why were the men better off on Elephant Island than they had been on the ice floes?

a. It was much warmer on Elephant Island.

b. They could find more things to eat.

c. They were on land and therefore wouldn’t fall through the ice.

d. They were more likely to be seen by a passing ship.

4. Shackleton’s ordeal ended when he set foot on South Georgia Island. True or False? Explain.

5. What really interested Ernest Shackleton? How do you know? Include details from his death notice.

6. Which part of this survival story is the most amazing? Why?