Douglas Mawson Quiz

When Douglas Mawson started planning his 1914 expedition to Antarctica he needed to prepare carefully.

Imagine you lived around that time. How well would you have done if you were helping him with the planning?

Q1.

The most important problem Mawson faced was how to survive the cold. Many people have died in Antarctica. What equipment would you buy if you had to provide the survival equipment for the 1914 expedition?

The most important things to buy would be ...

HiNT > Click here for the Mawson website. Use the Antarctica book to find information about living in the cold.

Q2.

Moving around on snow and ice is a bit tricky. Today scientists use snow-mobiles, aeroplanes and other machines. What equipment would you select for Mawson's 1914 expedition?

HiNT > Search the Mawson site for Antarctic travelling equipment.

Q3.

Use the website link below to find out about Douglas Mawson's Epic Sledge journey in Antarctica. His friends were killed, and Mawson himself almost died too. If you click on the places on the map in the correct order, you can read the story. (You can also listen to someone reading Mawson's diary.) What were his biggest problems, and how would you have solved them?

HiNT > Click here to go to the Mawson site. Then find information about his Epic Sledge Journey.

Q4.

Not only did Mawson have to survive in Antarctica, he also needed to tell people what he discovered. One way to do this was to take photographs and movie films. Use the Mawson website to find out about the problems taking photographs in the cold of Antarctica in 1914.

What recommendations would you make to Mawson that would allow him to get the best pictures?

HiNT > Click here to go to the Mawson site and look for photography in the Antarctic pages of the website.

Now go ahead to collect your answers.

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