Titanic Unit Study

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Learn all about the fateful voyage of the Titanic ocean liner’s maiden trip across the Atlantic Ocean in this Titanic Unit Study.

This free unit includes lessons in history, language arts, math, and science all centered around the subject of the Titanic. 

If you can’t find these specific books about the Titanic, choose other books that are available to you with the same topics.  Daily reading and or read aloud assignments can be from these books.

Assignments for Titanic Unit Study:

Assignment I – Language Arts / History

1. Name three or more famous passengers

2. Choose 1 person from above and gather the following information about that person:

• Where and when they were born ( tell about the state or country where they were born)
• Their appearance (man or woman, old or young, tall or short)
• Their wealth or family background
• Did they survive?

3. Write two journal entries as if you were that person: one entry before they board the ship and one entry dated after they’ve been on the ship at least one full day.

Assignment II – History: Morse code

1. Go to this Morse Code Translator and type in your own message; listen to it in Morse code.

2. Who were the Marconi operators on the ship?

3. Did they both survive?

4. Make up some messages that may have been sent from the Titanic.

Assignment III – Language Arts: Food

1. Describe the kind of food that was brought onto the Titanic.

2. Make up a menu for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

3. How many dining areas were there?

Download the Printables for the Titanic Unit Study from the Free Resource Library

Assignment IV – Math: Lifeboats

1. How many lifeboats were there?

2. How many people could each lifeboat hold?

3. How many of the ship’s passengers could have gotten into a lifeboat? How many would be left?

4. How many lifeboats should there have been for all the passengers and crew?

5. Find facts on the number of passengers in one or two of the lifeboats.

• How many could more have fit in?
• What is the fraction of seats that were full?
• What fraction of seats were left empty?

6. How many days should the journey have taken?

7. How many nautical miles was it to New York?

• How many nautical miles did they travel?
• What percent of the miles did the Titanic sail?

Assignment V – Math

The Titanic set sail on its famous journey at 12:00 noon on April 10, 1912.
At 2:20 am Monday, April 15, 1912, the Titanic sank into the sea.

1. How long was the Titanic at sail from the time it first set sail until it finally sank?

2. There were 2227 passengers on board the Titanic at the time that it sank.

• How many people would all of these lifeboats hold?

3. When the Titanic left Queenstown, Ireland, it had 2208 people on board.

• How many people would have been without a lifeboat if all the boats were filled to capacity?

4. Only 705 people survived the sinking of the Titanic. How many could more people have been saved?

5. How many more lifeboats were needed to save all people aboard the Titanic?

Assignment VI – Science

Materials:

• About six to ten 6″ X 6″ squares heavy duty tin foil
• Pennies (or marbles)
• Large container with water
• Paper and pencil to record results

Procedure:
1. Make several tinfoil boats of varying shapes (v-bottom, round bottom, flat bottom).
2. Drop pennies into each boat, and record the number each boat held before sinking.
3. Look at the results, and see if you can re-design the boats to make them more buoyant.
4. Answer the following questions:

• Which shape can hold the most weight?
• What other materials could you use?
• Can they hold more pennies than the tin foil?
• What makes the boats sink?
• Does it matter where you drop the pennies into the boat?

Related Pages:

• Titanic Notebooking Page

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