The Titanic~ 100 years

One hundred years ago~ the RMS Titanic set sail on its maiden voyage from Southampton~ England to New York City. Dubbed the "unsinkable" ship~ the Titanic hit an iceberg at 11:40 PM ~April 14~1912~sinking into the cold Atlantic Ocean shortly afterwards at 2:20AM.Thousands were still aboard the ship when she went down~with those dying from the cold water temperatures in a matter of minutes. 1514 people lost their lives when the ship sank.710 survivors were rescued by the RMS Carpathia that received the distress calls~ arriving a few hours later only to find the Titanic was already gone.Following this tragedy~ a maritime law was established stating that there needed to be enough lifeboats for all passengers and crew aboard a ship~ not the case for the Titanic. The establishiment of the International Ice Patrol was also started soon after the sinking of the Titanic to monitor icebergs in the shipping lanes of the Atlantic Ocean. In 1985~ seventy-three years after its sinking~a U.S.-French expedition led by Robert D. Ballard~ discovered the remains of the Titanic~about 400 miles east of Newfoundland in the Atlantic~ at a depth of 13~000 feet. In 2012~ UNESCO~ the cultural body of the United Nations~placed the wreckage under its protection~to help to preserve the site.

Discussion:
1. Do you think people should be taking items from the wreckage of the Titanic?
2. If you had a relative that had died on the ship~ would you like the Titanic's resting place to be disturbed?

Activities:
Learn more about the Titanic at these links:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/04/120406-titanic-100-anniv...
https://kidskonnect.com/history/titanic/
http://www.titanic-facts.com/
http://www.gailhennessey.com/index.shtml?iceberghunter2.html(learn about the International Ice Patrol by reading a career survey of someone that is part of the IIP)

Gail Hennessey

http://www.gailhennessey.com