What if...?!

Directions: Have you ever wondered what could have happened in life but didn't? What if the stories of our four explorers never ended as they did? Read the short summaries of our explorers and answer the "What if…" questions. Answer in 3-4 complete sentences telling why you believe that would have happened. ???



1902- During the month of November Robert F. Scott and Ernest Shackleton started the trip to the South Pole. They traveled across an ice shelf but ran into difficulties. After traveling two months, the men were suffering from snow blindness and scurvy. Althought forced to return home, they still covered 3100 miles.
??? What if these men would not have gotten sick?

1908 - Six years later, Shackleton and other explorers tried to reach the South Pole again. It only took them 30 days to pass up the previous efforts of Scott and his men. However, although only 97 nautical miles away, they had to abandon the expedition. The men were severely ill and undernourished.
??? What if these men would have tried to continue in spite of their sickness and lack of food?

1911 - Ronald Amundsen and his team of four men reached the South Pole on Decemeber 14th. Amundsen had researched and discovered a new route which took even less time - 57 days! After landing, he proudly planted a Norwegian flag and then returned to the Bay of Whales.
??? What if Amundsen had not attempted his exploration because of the two previous failures?

1912 - A little over 1 month later, Scott and others reached the South Pole only to find the Norwegian flag. This was discouraging news, especially because of their incredibly rough journey. As a result, all members of the crew died on the way home. Scott died in his own tent after using up all his fuel and food.
??? What if Amundsen had not left his flag planted at the discovery site?

1929 - Richard Byrd had flown only 10 hours from his base at the Bay of Whales. On November 28th, he became one of the 3 other men to be the first to fly over the South Pole.
??? What if Richard Byrd had never learned to fly?