Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Scott Of The Antarctic



Mrs. Shuwarger's Fifth Grade Class: I'm so pleased you got the bookmarks. I've heard from many of you and it was my pleasure to send them to you.

My last post had to do with our visit to Scott Base, the New Zealand base that is about 4 Km from McMurdo. I've talked about Scott Base before, in earlier posts. Scott was such a well-known and historic figure that a movie was made about his exploration of Antarctica.

My question to the class is:
Who is Robert Falcon Scott? Why do you think New Zealand's base was named in honor of him?

As long as I brought up the subject of Scott, let me share with you a quotation attributed to him in which he reflects on Antarctica, "Great God, this is an aweful place." Do you think he mean "awful" as in horrible, or "aweful" as in full-of-awe?

He also said, "Every day some new fact comes to light - some new obstacle which threatens the gravest obstruction. I suppose this is the reason which makes the game so well worth playing. " In this quote Scott puts forth the opinion that it is overcoming serious challenges successfully that makes life interesting. Have you ever tried real hard to do something and finally succeeded? How did it make you feel? Afterwards, did you feel it was worth the effort?

Below are pictures of Scott, including one when he was 13 years old.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

DEAR DR. SHUWARGER,
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE COOL BOOKMARKS!!! THEY ARE AWESOME! I HOPE YOU WILL KEEP SENDING OUR CLASS(MRS. SHUWARGER'S) STUFF LIKE THAT!
LOVE,
GSG

Anonymous said...

Dr. Shuwarger,

Thank you for the Nacreous Clouds bookmark. I love it.

Jeanine

ellen said...

Hi Don,

Just wanted to send you some warm thoughts from VA. I have forwarded your blog to Jack's science teacher to see if they can coordinate it with some of their studies. I saw your Mother and Dad last week and they are doing great. Stay safe and warm if possible.
Ellen

Anonymous said...

Dear Dr. Shuwarger,
This is the answer to your question you asked. Robert Falcon Scott was a British Royal Naval officer and explorer who led 2 expeditions to Antarctica. I think the New Zealand base was named in honor of him because the people there thought that he was a a great explorer because he had led 2 expeditions to Antarctica.
I hope this is the right info. By the way J.P. and D.C. say hi!
I wrote you 2 times before!
Love(from Mrs. Shuwarger's 5th grade class),
GSG

Polar Doc said...

GSG and Mrs. Shuwarger's 5th Grade Class,
You need to tell me more about Scott....it gets more interesting. As for why Scott Base is named for him....you should connect it with something that happened to Scott and where it occurred. Take the weekend to look into it. Post another comment when you have it figured out.

Anonymous said...

Dear Dr. Shuwarger,
Thank you for the cool bookmarks. I saw you liked my post about the seals. The class loves the map and poster of the animals in Antarctica. Be safe. Thanks again.

Sincerely,
RPM

Anonymous said...

Hi Dr. Shuwarger,
I hope you are having a great time at McMurdo station. Thank you so much for the bookmarks and thank you for the blog as well. The bookmarks are EXTREMELY cool. Hope you have a safe time.
Your penguin,
Peter

P.S. Mrs. Shuwarger is having a hard time trying to talk to her cats at dinner. kkk