Investigating the Titanic:
A WebQuest



Complete the following tasks listed below. A resource site has been provided for each question or task to be completed.   Successful completion of the tasks will result  in more people being allowed in your lifeboat. Remember: The more people in lifeboat, the more lives we can save. It is up to you!

 
  1. A Timeline is provided here: Timeline. Study this timeline. Then proceed to Titanic Timeline 2.  Using this timeline, make a list of the most important situations for your own timeline.  List at least 10 incidents.  Use the Timeline template to produce your timeline.

    Add one person to your lifeboat.
  2. Not much is known about the Titanic's sister ships, the Olympic and Brittanic. Use the resource provided to gather enough information to construct a simple chart comparing and contrasting the Olympic, Brittanic, and the Titanic. Use the template.  Check this site for answers: Sister Ships

    Add one person to your lifeboat.

    Here is a     template to write your answers on for the following questions.
  3. Not much is ever mentioned about the role of the Engineers aboard the Titanic before and during the disaster. Make a list of the engineer's duties during the Titanic voyage before she struck the iceberg and after she struck the iceberg. One cannot argue the fact that these were very brave and courageous men.

    Add one person to your lifeboat.
  4. Was the Titanic really an American ship and not British? What do you think? Provide for us the necessary information so that we may make an educated decision. American VS British

    Add one person to your lifeboat.
  5. Of those that perished, many names go unmentioned. Choose a name from the list provided and research that individual. Give a very brief summary of what you have found. Passenger List 

    Add that person to your lifeboat.
     

  6. What did the Titanic look like?  Look at the Titanic and its lifeboats here.  Draw a picture of what you see.      Titanic

    Add one person to your lifeboat.
  7. Why four funnels instead of three? Did it function? Was a fourth funnel added because it looked better than three? What do you think?  Find the answer here.

    Add one person to your lifeboat.

 

So many stories have surfaced over the years surrounding the Titanic disaster. Using the link provided, briefly describe the REAL story behind the story. 
  • Was there really a man who dressed as a woman to secure himself a seat on one of Titanic's lifeboats?
     Try #13 for this answer.

 

  • Was the Titanic carrying in its hold a cursed mummy en route to its wealthy purchaser?  Go here.
  • An insurance scam? The old switcheroo? Please shed some light on this.    Try this site
  • What uncanny coincidence are we talking about here? It was written that this would happen long before the ship was built, only the name of the ship was Titan? Too close for comfort.
    See the answer     here.

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Conclusion
The story of the Titanic and the iceberg had grown into a legend of the sea. It took her discovery in 1985 to begin to find the truth behind the myth. One of the things that makes the Titanic so fascinating is that she represented the best of technology when she set sail on her ill-fated voyage in 1912, and it took the best of technology in the form of sonar, satellite tracking, and deep-dive technology to locate her grave 73 years later.




For Extra Credit: On your own, choose one of the following tasks. Extra Credit Tasks are to be completed two weeks after the Titanic WebQuest deadline.
Build an unsinkable boat. What would it be made of? How would it be shaped? How will you test your hypothesis? How much weight ("passengers") could it carry? etc.
 
Detail through expression what it might have been like aboard the Titanic between 11:40 P.M. (when the ship grazed the iceberg) to 2:18 A.M. when it disappeared below the sea.
Draw an illustration of Jason finding the bow of the Titanic at the bottom of the sea at a depth of 12,460 ft. The ship was found in several pieces. Then draw what the Titanic might look like after another 100 years on the ocean floor.
 
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This page written by Nancy Valente