1. Home work
By Sabina East
Term 2 Week 3 – 4

2. Sir Edmund Hillary

3. Part 1
Write your own definition of what it takes and means to be
FAMOUS
Famous means:
Someone, something or someplace that is well
known to lots of people. They have done something
no one else has done before.

4. Part 2
Name the twelve New Zealanders

5. 1. Charles Upham 2. Peter Jackson 3. Sir Edmund Hillary
4. Robert Muldoon 5. Jonu Lomu 6. Dame Kiri Te Kanawa

6. 7. Ernest Rutherford 8. Sam Neil 9. Burt Munro
10. John Britton 11. Kate Shepherd 12. Richard Hadley

7. Part 3
Select a New Zealander that you consider to be famous (it may be a sportsperson,
politician, musician, entertainer, war hero, business person…). This person or their
achievements should interest you. Try to select someone that no – one else will
choose. Use the questioning sheet to help create a series of about 4 – 6 questions.
The questions should be open ended and lead to in depth research. You may need
some help to understand and process information that you find. When you have
selected a person, you will have the opportunity to search for and print some
information during class. Take care with the way that you present your findings
and information. The Reporting and Presenting page is a guide for your
information.

8. What were the conditions on the way up and down
Mount Everest?
Ed and Tenzing were held up at South Col for two days
because of the wind and snow. When they set off for the
summit one morning, Ed found that his boots had frozen
over night and he had to warm them up and it took 2
hours. Then he and Tenzing tried to reach the summit
wearing 14kg packs. They spent only about 15 minutes at
the summit. When they were coming down the mountain
they found that there tracks had been covered over with
snow, this made their descent slower.

9. How did they adapt to the different oxygen levels?
When climbing high mountains you need to adapt to the
decreasing oxygen levels. The higher you climb the less
oxygen there is in the air. Climbers need to spend time
at base camp to acclimatize before climbing higher. Most
climbers once they reach 3000m take the “climb high,
sleep low” approach. This means they climb to higher
altitudes during the day then come back down lower to
sleep. They then repeat this process at each higher
level. As they are acclimatizing they may still get altitude
sickness and it will slow them down from reaching the
summit. Acclimatization might take up to 4 or 5 weeks.

10. Were there any side effects of high altitude?
Yes there were!
If the climbers stayed up in high altitude too long, they
get tired, shortness of breath, headaches and
nosebleed.

11. What other achievements/projects has he done in
his life?
Ed climbed Mt Everest and was the first to the summit in
1953.
The first person to drive his tractor across the attic in
1958.
He was made Knight Companion of Most Noble Order of
the Garter in 1995.
He was awarded Order of New Zealand, the countries
highest honour.

12. He is on the $5 dollar note and some stamps.
Traveled up the Ganges River in India with a jet boat made
by Graeme Dingle.
The Prime Minister asked Ed to represent New Zealand in
India and was there from 1985 to 1959 as High Commission.
He also reached many other summits.

13. Why did Ed decide to build the schools and other
things?
He decided to build them because the Sherpas had
helped him get to the top of Mount Everest and he
could see they lived in very hard conditions. So in
return Ed decided to help them.

14. How have Ed’s efforts in Nepal helped improve
their lives?
He has helped their lives by building schools, hospitals,
medical clinics and air fields.
He was known as “Burra Sahib” or “Great Man” because he
greatly improved the Sherpas lives.