INTRODUCTION:

    On Sunday night, April 14, 1912 at 11:40 P.M., 400 miles off the coast of New Foundland, the "unsinkable" RMS Titanic ship began a fatal plummet to its watery grave. Plunging unavoidedly into a head-on collision with a giant iceberg, this majestic ship went down with very little resistance. Carrying along with it some of the world's finest passengers as well as many commoners, the Titanic did not discriminate when death claimed many lives. Of approximately 2,227 passengers on board Titanic, only 705 survived.

TASK:

• Students will begin by researching information regarding the ship, passengers, and crew onboard the Titanic.
• Students will write a biographical sketch of individuals onboard the Titanic.
• Students will report to the class the requested information  they found on their individual passenger.

RESOURCES: You may use the following websites to complete your venture...

 http://www.discovery.com/stories/science/sciencetitanic/sciencetitanic.html

 http://www.titanic-online.com/index_03.html

 http://titanic.gov.ns.ca/index.html

 http://www.pbs.org/lostliners/titanic.html

 http://members.aol.com/MYGSite4/Titanic.Artifacts.html

http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/1999/Nov-04-Thu-1999/lifestyles/12268869.html

http://www.execpc.com/~reva/html3.htm

http://home.interlynx.net/~dclarke/Titanic.html

http://members.aol.com/MNichol/Titanic2.index.html
 
 
 
 

1.) Teacher begins the classroom discussion in regard to the social structure of passengers on the Titanic. Ask students if First Class passengers were traveling for the same reason as Third Class passengers. Ask them to describe what daily life might have been like for First Class, Second Class, and Third class passengers.

2.) Using information about the Titanic from the online resources listed above, students will investigate the passengers.

3.) In their research, students will be directed to follow the specific guidelines:
 

• Search for information about a passenger aboard the Titanic.
• Identify their gender, social position, and occupation.
• Try to identify the reason for booking passage on the Titanic. Were they coming to America for business, for vacation, to settle and start a new life, etc.?
• Record any relevant information regarding the passenger.For instance, were there any acts of heroism.
• Find out if this person survived the shipwreck. If the passenger survived, what information about the person's life after the sinking?


4.) The student will write a two-page biography of their passenger providing all of the information requested. (Provide online references.)

5.) After performing the search, each student will share with the rest of the class the background of their passenger and any relevant or unique information regarding them.

Evaluation:
 
 
 

CRITERIA	BEGINNING (1 pt)	DEVELOPING (2 pts)	ACCOMPLISHED (3 pts)	OUTSTANDING (4 pts)
Did you complete all of the research?	Less than 1/2 of the required information	At least 70% of the required information	At least 80% of the required information	At least 90% of the required information
Did you use credible resources?	1 credible resource provided	2 credible resources provided	3 credible resources provided	4 or more credible resources provided
Was the biography   consistent and original (relevant)?	The biography lacked consistency and originality.	The biography was consistent, but not original.	The biography was consistent and original.	The biography was consistent and original. It was very engaging.
Was the presentation clear and engaging?	The presentation was somewhat clear.	The presentation was clear and engaged most of the audience.	The presentation was clear and engaged all of the audience.	The presentation excelled and involved all of the audience.

Conclusion: In this activity, you have learned how to do an online research regarding a specific and relevant event. Through this research, you should now understand that the sinking of the Titanic is more than about a great ship going down or a captivating Hollywood movie, but that it involved real lives and real people who were greatly affected by this tragedy.