A Story to Tell  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Your Challenge:

A.   Introduction

The RMS Titanic was the most luxurious ship of her time.  She has since become a ship of intrigue to later generations.  Her owners, the White Star Line, boasted that she was unsinkable.  She had all the modern conveniences, including a gym, Turkish bath and pool.  For 1912 that was an accomplishment!  People from all over the world yearned to travel on her.  Indeed, she carried some of the wealthiest people on her maiden voyage-the only one she ever had.  What would a reporter have written about if one traveled on the Titanic?  Who would the reporter have spoken to?  Today you’re that reporter.  You will travel back in time to gather information and write the story of the century-a first hand look at the Titanic and those who sailed on her.

 

B.    The Challenge:

You are a reporter traveling on the RMS Titanic in the year 1912.  The newspaper you work for needs a story about the famous “unsinkable ship” and you are the one assigned to cover it.  Your editor believes people will be interested to read about the passengers, crew and other miscellaneous information.  After all, there are some famous people traveling on the ship.  Your job, then, is to locate a variety of passengers and crew and interview them.  Your editor (the principal of the school) will choose the story that is the most well written and researched and it will be presented as the feature article in the class newspaper’s next special edition.  All the stories will be displayed on the “Titanic” bulletin board.

 

Your Journey:  Starting Your Search

To find your information, visit these sites:

1.      Site:  Titanic Stats-Trivial and Not So Trivial Information on the World’s Greatest Passenger Liner

http://my.execpc.com/~reva/html3d

2.      Site:  Stories from the Titanic

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/6683/

3.      Site:  Encyclopedia Titanica

http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/index.php

 

            *Note:  Directions for all these websites are included on the pages upon which you are to record the required information.

 

Your Report:  Sharing Your Results

A.     The students will answer the questions given and incorporate them into a newspaper article about the Titanic.

B.     The students will summarize into a newspaper article the information they locate.

C.     The newspaper article will delve into the lives of the passengers and crew-who they were, where they lived, etc.  It will also provide some miscellaneous stats about the ship to give readers a glimpse into the wealth she carried.

 

 

Part I:  Website:  Titanic Stats-Trivial and Not so Trivial Information on the World’s Greatest Passenger Liner.

               URL:  http://my.execpc.com/~reva/html3d

 

            Directions:  Scroll down through the website to find the required information.  Answer the following questions:

1.      How many egg spoons were there? 

2.      How many blankets were there?

3.      How many potatoes were on board?

4.      How many tea cups were there?

5.      How many soufflé dishes?

6.      How many fine towels were on board?

7.      How many bags of mail were there?

8.      Where was the China being shipped to?

9.      How many grand pianos were there?

10.  Was there an automobile on board the Titanic?  If so, what type was it?

11.  When was the construction on the Titanic begun?

12.  What was the total horsepower of the Titanic?

13.  Tonnage gross?

14.  Length?

15.  Beam?

16.  How many 1st class passengers were there?

17.  How many 2nd class passengers were there?

18.  How many 3rd class passengers were there?

19.  What were the salaries of each crew member listed?  What would be the equivalent of Captain Smiths’ and Stewardess Robinson’s salary today?

20.  How many lifeboats were there?

21.  How much did it cost to build the Titanic in 1912?  How much would it cost today?

22.  What was the Titanic’s distress signal?

23.  Name 1 Titanic survivor alive today.

24.  What was the most interesting piece of information you found on this website?

 

 

Part II:  Website:  Stories from the Titanic

                URL:  http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/6683/

 

            Directions:  Click on the title.  Scroll down the entire page and click on ENTER.  Scroll down again and click on The Story of the LaRoches.  Find the required information and answer the following questions.

 

1.      The first paragraph provides a list of nationalities.  What are they?

2.      The first paragraph names the only Japanese passenger on board.  What was his name?  Which class did he stay in?  Was he the only Asian in that class?  In which class were the other Asians traveling?

3.      Scroll down to paragraph 9.  What country were the LaRoches traveling to?

4.      In paragraph 9 you will find a reason for the LaRoches leaving their home country.  What was it?

5.      Do you think it was unusual for a black family to be traveling on the Titanic?  Why or why not?

 

Part III:  Website:  Encyclopedia Titanica

                 URL:  http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/index.php

 

            Directions:  In the middle column, under the heading “Passenger Lists and Biographies,” click on 1st class.  Next click on “high detail” on the right side.  When the list of passenger names appears, click on a name of a person that you would like to learn about.  This is your “interview” portion for the article.  You will need to choose 1 person from 1st class, 1 person from 2nd class and 1 person from 3rd c lass to interview.  To find the person from 2nd class, simply click on the Back button on the tool bar 3 times to get to the main menu and then click on 2nd class under “Passenger Lists and Biographies.”  Do the same for 3rd class.  Determine if they survived the sinking and remark about this in your article.  Also find their dates of birth and death, if applicable.  Provide a brief description of each person-what their occupation was, why they were traveling on the Titanic and any other remarkable facts or information you can find.  Remember-there must be 3 people total-one from each class.

 

 

            Reporting Your Information

          You will now write your own newspaper article for the special edition.  Use what you have learned about newspapers in class to write your article.  Include a description of the ship and some of the items on board.  You will also write about 3 people you “interviewed” on the trip.

 

 

            Scoring Rubric

          Scoring is as follows:

                        To gain full credit (3 points), all items must be accurate and included in the article and the pages turned in from the webquest.  The article needs to be creative and well-written with few grammatical errors.

                        To gain partial credit (2 points), the majority of the information requested is present in the article and webquest pages but there is some creativity lacking and the article is sloppy with some grammatical errors.

                        For 1 point, many pieces of information are missing, the article is sloppy, uncreative and has many grammatical errors.

 

            Checklist of items to be present in the article and webquest pages:

                        ___  All questions from Titanic Stats are answered.

                        ___  All questions from “Stories From the Titanic” are answered thoroughly.

                        ___  3 people were “interviewed” at Encyclopedia Titanica, 1 from each class.

                        ___  A picture was drawn to place in the article.

                        ___  Proper newspaper writing techniques were employed (ie. there is a byline, the heading gives the title of the article and subheadings are in bold, larger letters).