Including Teaching Tips for All Grades.
Will Titanic, the movie, be this holiday season's blockbuster? Will its producers be swimming in profits by Christmas?
Or will the movie get lost in a sea of holiday releases and sink big-time to the bottom of the box office?
Whatever the case, now's a great time to teach about the Titanic!
Eighty-five years ago this month, the huge ocean luxury liner Titanic sank to the bottom of
the Atlantic Ocean....and, this year, the hype will be starting as the Christmas release
date nears for Titanic.
Talk about a teachable moment!
This is the perfect time to capitalize on all the buzz and to give a real purpose to your
students' Internet surfing! Few topics have as many interesting related Web sites as the
Titanic does. No matter what age students you teach, you'll find an ocean of sites to
excite them.
Why study the Titanic? Nic Wilson, a longtime Titanic buff who has created one of the most
comprehensive Titanic Web sites (see below), says "The Titanic disaster is a veritable
time-capsule of information about the way people lived in 1912." Wilson points to the way
people on the Titanic lived--in first class, second class, and steerage--as a reflection of
society at that time.
"My interest in the Titanic was sparked in my childhood when a teacher mentioned the ship,"
Wilson adds. "She was very emotional about it in a school assembly. She pointed out that the
number of people in that crowded auditorium was only a third of the number that perished on
the Titanic."
The Titanic is the subject of a new museum exhibit too. The exhibit---produced by WONDERS of
Memphis, Tennessee---opened in Memphis earlier this month. Exhibit visitors can see about
300 items from the doomed ocean liner, including a life jacket and the luggage of some of
its passengers. "A special Web site (see below) and a teacher's guide have been produced
for teachers to use as they prepare their students for a field trip to this historic
exhibit," says Tracy Paden, exhibit publicist.
So, pack up your students and take them to Memphis! Or--if that isn't in your plans--do the
next best thing. Let them explore the Titanic on the Internet. Following are a few tips for
smooth sailing through the sea of Titanic sites.
Literature Connections
For Young Readers:
- Polar: The Titanic Bear, by Daisy Corning Spedden (Little, Brown Co.), a charming story of the Titanic disaster told
through the eyes of a boy's teddy bear.
For Older Readers:
- SOS Titanic, by Eve Bunting (Harcourt Brace), will help give middle-grade and young-adult readers a real sense for the strict
class distinctions on board the Titanic.
Before you start. Pose a handful of questions for students to answer before they begin their
search. Guesses are encouraged! Then let them go. Watch a tidal wave of excitement build as
they verify or correct their answers to those questions. (Just for you, the correct answers
are included below in parentheses.)
- How many passengers were on board the Titanic when it sank? (about 2,500)
- In which ocean did the Titanic sink? (the Atlantic Ocean)
- How many pounds of meat were loaded on board the Titanic for its famous voyage? (75,000 pounds)
- How far beneath the sea was the wreck ot the Titanic found in 1984? (2-1/2 to 3 miles)
- Who was Colonel John Jacob Astor--and how is he connected to the Titanic? (He was the richest man in the United States at the time; he drowned when the Titanic sank.)
Sites to surf. Following are a few Web sites for younger students.
For Older Students
Before you start. A huge debate surrounds the raising of the wreck of the Titanic. "Taking
things from the ship is like robbing a grave," some experts say. "The Titanic should be left
alone out of respect for those who died," they add. Others disagree. "This is history, and
people should be able to see it," they say. "We need to save what we can before it's gone
forever." Invite students to use the information they find as they search the Web to
formulate their opinions about the Should the Titanic be raised? debate.
Sites to surf. Following are a few Web sites for older students.
Article by Gary Hopkins
Education World® Editor-in-Chief
Copyright © 1997 Education World
06/06/1997
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