Shackleton's Journey Our learning journey

We began our learning journey with a letter from the Polar International Heritage Museum: “Our museum is preparing a brand-new exhibition titled Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Journey. The exhibition will open to the public in just a few weeks, and we urgently need a highly skilled team to help bring this remarkable story to life. After hearing excellent reports about your problem-solving skills, teamwork, and expertise, we would like to formally commission you as our Antarctic Expedition Advisory Team.” We didn’t hesitate for a moment... we immediately agreed!

First, we worked together to write thoughtful questions about Ernest Shackleton, his journey, and what his expedition to Antarctica would involve. We asked about the challenges the crew might face, the equipment they would need, and how they would survive in such a harsh and unfamiliar environment.

We explored Shackleton’s Endurance motto, 'By endurance we conquer', and reflected on the qualities it represented. Using this as a guide, we thought about our own values under different headings: Always… Never… …is all you need Be…

These prompts helped us brainstorm and ultimately create our own team motto, capturing the spirit and determination we wanted to embody.

Next, we wrote adverts to recruit members for our expedition. We were amazed to discover that over 5,000 people applied. It was incredible to think so many people wanted to join our adventure, and we had to carefully choose who would make the final crew.

Once we had appointed our crew mates, we explored the members on board Shackleton’s expedition and discovered there were 27 in total. Each of us then assigned ourselves a different crew member to focus on, learning about their roles, personalities, and contributions to the journey.

"This is already my favourite topic... ever!" T - Year 3

As part of our expert work, we designed our own ships and thought carefully about how they would survive the harsh, icy conditions of Antarctica. We considered the strength of the hull, how the ship would cope in the freezing conditions, and what we would need to keep the crew safe. After exploring our ideas and comparing them to the real expedition, we finally decided that Endurance was the best choice for our journey.

Before embarking on our expedition, we each created our own lucky charms to carry with us, just like explorers of the past who sought comfort and courage in small tokens.

In order to pack for our expedition, we had to think carefully about our individual roles and make sure we packed the correct equipment. For example, Frank Hurley, the Expedition Photographer, absolutely had to bring his camera to capture the adventure.

We then began our journey to South Georgia, stepping fully into our roles as expedition experts. Together, we studied maps and carefully planned the best route, thinking about distance, weather, ice, and safety. Every decision mattered, as we wanted to give our crew the greatest chance of success.

"My route was to South Georgia. I started by some ice shelves and went into dense pack ice. I then found loose pack ice so I went through the middle. I think that this was the best route because I went into open water... I just needed to avoid the Blue Whales!" B - Year 3

We discussed the challenges we would face on the journey, such as dangerous pack ice and extreme weather. Working as a team of expedition experts, we then generated possible solutions, thinking carefully about how to navigate safely and protect the ship and crew. This problem-solving helped us understand the real dangers of Antarctic exploration and the importance of teamwork and careful planning.