The true story of a daring explorer and how he rescued his men from the most dangerous place on Earth
Learning Objective: Students will learn about Ernest Shackleton’s expedition to Antarctica; they will identify the problems Shackleton and his crew faced and the actions Shackleton took to solve them.
Test Your Knowledge: What Do You Know About Antarctica?
You’re about to read the play Disaster on the Ice, which takes place in Antarctica. What do you know about Antarctica? Take the quiz to find out! (Don’t worry if you don’t know the answers. By the time you’re done, you’ll be an expert!)
1. What is Antarctica?
Antarctica is one of Earth’s seven continents. It’s also the coldest, windiest, and driest continent on Earth. Its land is almost completely covered in ice—nearly 3 miles thick in places. But very little rain or snow falls there. That makes Antarctica a desert. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica was minus 144 degrees Fahrenheit !
2. True or False: Antarctica has 90 percent of the world’s ice.
Ice covers more than 5 million square miles of land in Antarctica. This ice sheet is the largest piece of ice on Earth! The rest of the world’s ice is found in Greenland and in glaciers on mountains around the globe.
3. What kinds of animals live in Antarctica?
Antarctica is home to many types of animals. Most of the world’s penguins live there. Seals, whales, birds, and insects can also be found in Antarctica. Polar bears, however, only live on the opposite side of the planet—in the Arctic!
4. True or False: No people live in Antarctica.
Though no people live in Antarctica permanently, scientists take turns visiting the continent and living there for short periods to study it. Thousands of tourists also travel to Antarctica every year to experience one of the wildest and most unique places on Earth.
Prologue
H1: More than 100 years ago, Ernest Shackleton had a dream.
H2: He wanted to be the first explorer to trek across Antarctica by way of the South Pole.
H1: The 1,500-mile journey over the frozen continent had never been done before.
H2: But to get to Antarctica, Shackleton would have to cross an icy sea.
H1: Thousands of people volunteered for this dangerous expedition. Only 26 were chosen.
H2: Shackleton and his crew boarded a sturdy wooden ship called the Endurance.
H1: They set sail from Argentina, a country in South America.
H2: Little did Shackleton know, there was a young stowaway on board.
Scene 1
University of Cambridge/Getty Images
Perce Blackborow, who snuck on board the Endurance, posing with the ship’s cat, Mrs. Chippy
October 1914
N1: The Endurance cuts through the sparkling ocean.
Captain Worsley: I hear the ice is quite thick this year.
Ernest Shackleton: Don’t worry. The Endurance was built to smash through polar ice packs.
N2: Frank Wild drags Perce Blackborow in by the collar.
Frank Wild: Look what we found hiding in a locker.
Worsley: Why, he’s just a boy!
N3: Shackleton glares at Perce.
Shackleton: How old are you?
Perce Blackborow: Eighteen, sir.
Worsley: There’s no time to bring him back. He’s with us now.
Perce: I’m a hard worker, and I learn fast.
Shackleton: You foolish lad! We may not live through this journey. We could freeze or starve or drown.
Perce: A life without adventure is no kind of life.
Shackleton (trying to scare Perce): When we get hungry, stowaways are the first eaten.
N1: Perce considers Shackleton’s chunky frame.
Perce: With respect, sir, the crew would get more meat off you.
N2: Shackleton hides a smile.
Shackleton: I suppose you can work in the kitchen.
Perce: You won’t regret it, Boss!
Scene 2
January–October 1915
N3: The ship makes its way through the Weddell Sea, off the coast of Antarctica.
N1: The sea is filled with ice floes—large pieces of floating ice.
Worsley: The farther south we go, the thicker the ice.
Shackleton: Aye, it looks like a big jigsaw puzzle whose pieces have floated apart. We must weave our way between them.
Worsley: Our progress is good though. We may reach Antarctica tomorrow.
N2: But soon, ice surrounds the ship on all sides.
Shackleton: Let’s plow through it. Full speed ahead!
Wild: The ice is too thick. We’re trapped.
Shackleton: Then we’ll break free.
Wild (shouting): We need all hands!
N3: Men hop down onto the ice. For several days, they attack the ice with poles and axes.
N1: Shackleton calls to Perce, who has climbed up the main mast of the ship.
Shackleton: Do you see any open water?
Perce: Nothing but ice, ice, and more ice!
Charlie Green: We’re stuck. What now?
Wild: Well, you and Perce will keep cooking three meals a day for 28 hungry men.
Green: Lucky us.
Worsley: All we can do is hope for the ice to open up.
Shackleton: Meanwhile, the ship will drift with the ice, wherever the winds and the water current take it.
N2: The Endurance remains locked in the ice for nine months.
N3: Each day, the men float farther away from their dream.
Jim McMahon/Mapman ®
Shackleton Expedition
1914-1916
Scene 3
October 1915
N1: The Endurance has drifted to a dangerous part of the sea.
N2: Huge masses of ice squeeze the ship, causing it to tilt.
Shackleton: Hold on, everyone!
N3: An ice floe slams into them. The ship’s frame groans like a wounded animal.
N1: Perce runs up to deck.
Perce: There’s a leak! We’re flooding down below, Boss.
N2: They hear a sickening crack.
James McIlroy: The support beams are breaking!
Shackleton: This may be the end of the Endurance.
Worsley: What about the expedition?
Shackleton: Saving the crew is more important.
N3: The deck starts to break beneath their feet.
Shackleton: Abandon ship! Take the lifeboats and whatever food and gear you can grab.
N1: From the ice, the crew watches as the Endurance is crushed.
David Merron/500px Prime/Getty Images
The Place
Antarctica is a continent about the size of the United States and Mexico combined. Its land is almost completely covered in ice—nearly 3 miles thick in places. Antarctica is surrounded by huge masses of floating ice.
Scene 4
George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images
Ernest Shackleton
November 1915–April 1916
N2: The men set up camp on the floating ice.
N3: They shiver as freezing wind invades their tent.
N1: Suddenly they hear a shout.
Wild: The ice is splitting!
N2: Perce runs out of the tent as the floe cracks underneath him.
N3: Shackleton grabs him before he slides into the water.
Shackleton: I won’t let the icy water swallow you, lad.
Perce: Phew! Thanks, Boss.
N1: For months the men live through howling blizzards and biting rain.
N2: Finally, the ice loosens.
Shackleton: It’s time! Let’s put the lifeboats in the water and row for our lives.
ullstein bild via Getty Images
The Disaster
In the early 1900s, there was a race to be the first to reach the South Pole. Ernest Shackleton never made it, but he did come as close as 112 miles. The photo at far right shows the Endurance being crushed by ice in 1915.
Scene 5
April 1916
N3: The three lifeboats toss about in the rough Southern Ocean.
N1: Chunks of ice hurtle toward them in the moonlight.
N2: The men are in bad shape. Their lips are cracked and bloody.
N3: Their beards and clothes are crusted with ice.
Green: We’ve been rowing for six days. I can’t go on.
Wild: Just a little farther, mate.
Green: I’m so thirsty.
Wild: There’s no more fresh water.
Shackleton (to Worsley): I’m afraid some of the men won’t survive one more night on the open sea.
Worsley: The nearest land is Elephant Island. Though it’s only a tiny dot in this massive ocean, we must try to find it.
N1: Waves crash into the boats.
McIlroy: The water is up to our ankles!
Wild: Keep bailing or we’ll sink!
N2: Perce tugs on McIlroy’s sleeve.
Perce: Doc, I . . . I can’t feel my feet.
McIlroy: Hold on, lad. Hold on.
Frank Hurley/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images
The crew plays soccer on the ice.
Scene 6
April 1916
N3: The next morning, they see the jagged cliffs of Elephant Island.
Shackleton: We made it!
N1: They row to a bleak rocky shore and drag the boats onto the windy beach.
N2: Perce, his feet frozen, has to be carried.
N3: Shackleton gathers the crew.
Shackleton: This is our first land in 18 months.
All Crew: Hooray!
Shackleton: But this is a remote island. No ships come here.
Worsley: It’s true. No one knows we’re here. No one is coming to rescue us.
Perce: What can we do?
Shackleton: Six of us will take one lifeboat and attempt to sail to South Georgia Island. There we can get help.
Wild: How far is that?
Worsley: About 800 miles.
Green: Are you leaving the rest of us here?
Shackleton: I will get a ship and come back for you all.
Green: If you make it.
Shackleton: I will make it or die trying.
McIlroy: Take Perce, Boss. His frostbite needs treatment.
Shackleton: We can only take the strongest.
Perce: It’s all right. I don’t want to be a burden.
N1: Some days later, Shackleton, Worsley, and four others sail away from Elephant Island.
N2: From the beach, the remaining 22 men watch them shrink to tiny specks in the monstrous sea.
Frank Hurley/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images
When the Endurance became trapped in ice in 1915, the crew worked hard to try to set the ship free—but they were not successful.
Scene 7
August 1916
N3: The crew lies in a small hut they made of stones and two overturned lifeboats.
N1: Four months have passed since Shackleton left.
Green: Will they ever come back?
Perce: Boss won’t give up on us.
Green: If he dies, so will we, one by one.
N2: McIlroy unwraps the bandages on Perce’s left foot.
McIlroy: Even though I amputated your toes, the frostbite has spread.
N3: They sit silently.
Perce: Hey, what’s the first thing you’ll eat when you get home?
McIlroy: Apple pudding with cream on top.
Perce: I’d love a fresh peach.
Green: I’d give a foot for some eggs.
N1: The men shoot a look at Green.
Green: Oh! Sorry, Perce.
Perce (smiling): It’s OK. I just can’t stand being useless.
Green: Listen, mate, you happily did every task I ever gave you. That kind of attitude is worth more than muscles sometimes.
N2: Wild bursts into the hut.
Wild: A ship! I see a ship!
N3: Out on the water, Shackleton looks through binoculars at the camp.
N1: Worsley stands next to him, anxious.
Worsley: How many men do you see?
Shackleton: Six. No, eight! More are coming!
Worsley: How many, Boss?
Shackleton: 18 . . . 19 . . .
N2: McIlroy and Green carry Perce out of the hut.
Shackleton: 22! They’re all there! Alive!
N3: In a small boat, Shackleton rows toward shore.
Shackleton (shouting): Are you all well?
All Crew (shouting): All well!
N1: Shackleton reaches the beach. The men surround him, laughing and hugging.
Shackleton: Still glad you stowed away, Perce?
Perce: I’ll never regret it. (He pauses.) And I never doubted you’d come back.
N2: Shackleton’s face is full of emotion.
Shackleton: That’s the highest compliment, lad.
PA Images via Getty Images
The Rescue
The men wave goodbye as Shackleton and five others leave Elephant Island to get help (circled in orange). Shackleton never gave up on rescuing his crew. It took more than four months for him to get back to them on Elephant Island. Shackleton didn’t know if he would find the men alive. Incredibly, not one crew member was lost.
Epilogue
H1: Not a single crew member was lost during this epic journey.
H2: When Shackleton and his men made it back to South America, they were treated like heroes.
H1: Perce was eventually able to walk again.
H2: Five years later, Shackleton set out once more. But he never did cross Antarctica.
H1: His heart gave out on South Georgia Island, and he was buried there.
Perce: They say our journey is one of the greatest survival stories of all time. And it was because of our Boss.
Write to Win
Choose a character in this play, and write a descriptive journal entry from his point of view. Explain the problems you’ve encountered on the expedition and how they were solved. Send it to “Shackleton Contest” by April 1, 2022. Five winners will each receive a $20 gift card to the Scholastic Store Online.
This play was originally published in the February 2022 issue.
Table of Contents
SEL Focus, Close Reading, and Critical-Thinking Questions
5. Differentiate and Customize
Striving Readers, Advanced Readers, Multilingual Learners
1. Preparing to Read
Preview Text Features, Introduce Vocabulary, Set a Purpose for Reading
2. Reading the Play
SEL Focus
Perseverance
Explain to students that perseverance means not giving up, even in a trying situation. Talk about how the crew of the Endurance showed perseverance: Despite having their ship destroyed, being stranded on the ice, searching for land in lifeboats, and waiting for Shackleton to return, they did not give up hope. Ask: What do you think helped the crew have perseverance? (Answers will vary, but students might say that believing that Shackleton was committed to rescuing them helped them stay strong.) When you’re in a difficult situation, what helps you have perseverance? Put students in groups to come up with ideas.
Close-Reading Questions
Critical-Thinking Question
3. Skill Building and Writing
Featured Skill: Problem and Solution
Assign the Problem and Solution Skill Builder (available in higher and lower levels) and have students complete it independently or together with a partner. This skill builder will help prepare students to respond to the writing prompt on page 25.
4. Collaboration Station
Differentiate and Customize
To help students keep track of the action of the play, guide them to create a timeline of Scenes 1-7. On their timeline, they can write the date(s) listed in each scene heading, then write a sentence to say what important event happened to the Endurance or its crew. They can also look at the map on page 22 for help.
The caption on page 23 points out that in the early 1900s, there was a race to be the first to reach the South Pole. Have students do research to find out more about this competition, who was involved, and who ended up being first to arrive at the South Pole.
Since this play takes place in a polar setting, it’s a great opportunity to teach words about cold and ice—especially if students come from countries with warmer climates. In the play, students can find the words and phrases frozen, ice, polar ice packs, freeze, ice floes, icy water, and frostbite. Go over the meanings of these, then introduce additional cold-weather words, such as icicle, freezing, frosty, frigid, arctic, snowy, snowfall, and so on. (You can challenge students to use these words as they describe the cover of the magazine!)
Can't-Miss Teaching Extras
Extend students’ knowledge of polar explorers to the top of the world! Have them read “Frozen Dreams” to learn about Matthew Henson, co-discoverer of the North Pole.
Students can find out more about Antarctica in this article from Britannica Kids. They’ll learn all about the continent’s history and climate, as well as its inhabitants.
Today, scientists from all over the world travel to Antarctica to conduct research. Studying ice cores allows scientists to discover more about climate change. Learn about this unique process and how it can help us understand the Earth’s rising temperatures in this article from NASA Climate Kids.
Just a few years before Shackleton began his expedition in 1914, two different explorers, Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott, embarked on a dangerous race to reach the South Pole. Your more-advanced students will love this animated video from TED-Ed, which chronicles the men’s journeys. (Note: The video starts after a short ad.)
