Facts for Fact-Finding Mission

Fact-Finding Facts

Slide 2: What can I find out about my hero’s life before he or she became famous?

Ernest Henry Shackleton was born February 15, 1874.

He was born in Ireland.

His father was Henry Shackleton and his mother was Henrietta Gavan.

He had one brother and eight sisters.

Instead of going to school when he was very young, he had a governess at home.   Later he went to a nearby preparatory school.

Slide 3: How did my hero become famous?

He left home at sixteen to become a sailor.

In 1901, he gained fame by going on a failed expedition to try to reach the South Pole with Robert Scott.

In 1908 his Nimrod Expedition got to within 97 miles of the South Pole.

He was knighted by King Edward VII of England, becoming Sir Shackleton, after his Nimrod Expedition.

Slide 4:  What obstacles (problems) did my hero face?  or What makes my hero admirable?

Ernest’s mother became an invalid when he was young, so he had to be raised by his father and various female relatives.

During the Antarctic Winter,  it was dark for four months (there was no daylight).

His ship, the Endurance was beset (surrounded by ice) then sunk.

Stranded in the ice pack, he and his crew did not touch land for 497 days.

Even when they did reach land, Shackleton and his men had to cross a never-before-crossed mountain range.

He nearly died on the expedition with Robert Scott, and had health problems after that.

Slide 5: What are his or her major accomplishments?

He participated in four expeditions to Antarctica.

He was a great leader who worked hard to keep up the morale of his men to keep them alive.

Shackleton kept a diary and encouraged his men to keep diaries, too, so there would be a record of the expedition.

The book South,  Shackleton's account of the 'Endurance' expedition, was published in 1919.

His Endurance Expedition was shipwrecked, but he brought all of his men home alive.

Slide 6:  What can I learn about his or her personal life (family, hobbies,  etc.)?

On April 9, 1904 he married Emily Dorman.

Ernest and Emily had three children: Raymond, Cecily, and Edward.

Because Shackleton didn’t have a regular income, his wife and children lived on Emily’s inheritance from her father.

He adored his children, but was often harsh with them because of his high expectations.

Shackleton enjoyed smoking cigars.

Question #6: What other interesting information have I found out about him or her?

Shackleton is buried on South Georgia Island near Antarctica.

Ernest tried being a journalist and a politician and investing in boat chartering and gold, but all of those attempts  to make money failed.

By age 24, Shackleton had earned the right to command a ship.

His team was the first to climb Mount Erebus, a volcano on the Antarctic Continent.

Slide 7: The last slide will be the bibliography, also called the works cited list.

Bogus “Facts”  -- These would not go on the PowerPoint.

I would like to explore Antarctica.

Shackleton was awesome.

Shackleton did many brave things.

There are many famous Irishmen.