Exploring the Lives of the Explorers



Matthew Peary

1. Why is Peary famous?
2. What did his travels prove?
3. How many toes did he lose?
4. What did he find on Greenland?

Matthew Henson

1. Why did Henson's family move to Washington D.C.?
2. What happened to Henson after his father died?
3. How did Henson become an experienced sailor by the age of 21?
4. How did his trip to Nicaragua change his life?
5. What survival skills did he learn from the Eskimos?
6. What happened to Henson after he reached the North Pole?

Roald Amundsen

1. What two "firsts" did Amundsen accomplish?
2. What was Amundsen's original goal?
3. Why did this goal change?
4. Who was he racing to the South Pole? Who got there first?
5. In what other ways did Amundsen explore the South Pole?

Robert Falcon Scott

1. When and where was Scott born?
2. What was Scott's family nickname?
3. How did Scott first become interested in sailing?
4. Describe Scott's first attempt at exploration.
5. How did Scott finance his explorations?
6. Describe how Scott met his death.

Richard Byrd

1. Where did Byrd go to school?
2. What flying technique did he pioneer?
3. After World War I, what did Byrd do that won him acclaim?
4. How did his involvment in polar exploration start?
5. Describe the circumstances under which Byrd almost died in the Antarctica.

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