Polar Exploration Then & Now

Question 1

When a scientist wants to pinpoint the exact spot of a research camp on the Arctic ice, which pair of methods correctly shows what a Heroic‑Age explorer would have used and what a modern polar researcher uses today?

Accepted Answer

A compass and a hand‑drawn map; a GPS receiver and satellite images

Answer

A GPS receiver and satellite images; a compass and a hand‑drawn map

Answer

Dog‑sled tracks and counting days walked; an ice‑breaker ship and heated tents

Answer

A telescope for star navigation and a sextant; a radio and a hot‑air balloon

Question 2

Which statement most accurately shows how traveling over the polar ice has changed from the early 1900s to today?

Accepted Answer

Early explorers pulled sleds by hand and used dog teams, while modern researchers pinpoint locations with GPS and travel on ice‑breaking ships that have heated laboratories.

Answer

In the early 1900s scientists rode motorized snowmobiles across the ice, and today they still rely on dog sleds and compass navigation.

Answer

Heroic‑Age explorers used hot‑air balloons to map the pole, whereas modern teams use submarines to collect ice samples.

Answer

Both past and present explorers depend on satellite phones to call for help, but only modern teams have unheated tents.

Question 3

Which statement correctly identifies a present‑day polar researcher and shows that today's polar research teams include people from many different countries?

Accepted Answer

Glaciologist Liz Thomas studies Antarctic ice and works with researchers from the United States, Norway, and Japan.

Answer

Explorer Roald Amundsen led a sled team across the Arctic using only Norwegian crew.

Answer

Marine biologist Sylvia Earle studies tropical oceans with a team from the United States only.

Answer

Polar physicist James Clark Ross mapped the Antarctic coast in the 1800s with a British crew.

Try three questions

When a scientist wants to pinpoint the exact spot of a research camp on the Arctic ice, which pair of methods correctly shows what a Heroic‑Age explorer would have used and what a modern polar researcher uses today?

Which statement most accurately shows how traveling over the polar ice has changed from the early 1900s to today?

Which statement correctly identifies a present‑day polar researcher and shows that today's polar research teams include people from many different countries?

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