The Story of Titanic
The Story of Titanic
The Story of Titanic
Contents
The Great Ship: History and
Shipbuilding Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Sinkers and Floaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Buoyancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Design a Ship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Watertight Bulkheads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
The purpose of this guide is to explore the story of Titanic primarily Survivor Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
from the scientific point of view. The emphasis is on hands-on investi- Survivors’ Testimonies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
gation for students. How could 66,000 tons of steel float in the first Estimating the Angles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
place? How could an iceberg sink the “practically unsinkable”? What Testing Eyewitness Memory . . . . . . . . . .39
modern scientific techniques can answer these and other questions? Could More Have Been Saved? . . . . . . .40
All activities are coded to the appropriate National Science Standards The Fate of Titanic
and National Social Studies Standards. Several activities promote and its Artifacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
open-ended problem solving. Relevant background information is Rust in the Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
provided for each activity, along with additional resources such as Rust on the Titanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
books, websites and videos that expand on the activity. Artifact Conservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
For more information about the exhibition, check out the Titanic Science Web site at www.titanicscience.com
Acknowledgements Content Reviewers: The Maryland Science Center acknowledges the generous
John Eaton, assistance of the following during the design and development of
Writer: Titanic Historian Titanic Science:
Jeannine Finton Charles Haas,
Graphic Design: Titanic Historian Partners: Video Footage: Major Funding:
Alton Creative Dr. D. Roy Cullimore,
Evaluation: Microbiologist
Randi Korn & Dr. Timothy Foecke,
Associates Material Scientist
SOCIAL STUDIES
Science as Inquiry
Physical Science
Life Science
SCIENCE
Activities
The Great Ship
Sinkers and Floaters • •
Buoyancy • • •
Displacement • • •
Design a Ship • • • •
Watertight Bulkheads • • • •
What Sank the Titanic?
Making an Iceberg • •
Plotting Icebergs and Locations • •
Calculating Iceberg Frequency • • • •
Water Pressure • •
Rivet Failure • • • •
Create Your Own Photomosaic • •
Photomosaic of Titanic • •
Communication
What We Have Here is a Failure
to Communicate • •
Wireless Radio • •
Survivor Stories
Survivors’ Testimonies • •
Estimating the Angles • • •
Testing Eyewitness Memory • • •
Could More Have Been Saved? • • • • •
The Fate of Titanic
Rust in the Classroom •
Rust on the Titanic • • •
Artifact Conservation • • • •
• Width: 93 feet
Introduction to Titanic Above: Photograph of Titanic’s massive rud- • Size of propellers: The 2 outer
der and propellers. Note the relative size of propellers had a diameter of 23
Titanic and her sister ship Olympic, the man standing beneath them. feet. The center propeller had a
owned by the White Star Line, were diameter of 17 feet.
designed to set new standards of luxury passengers, most of them emigrants,
for trans-Atlantic travel. They weren’t would find the accommodations more • Rudder: 78 feet high, weight 101
intended to be the fastest, but they were comfortable and the food more plentiful tons
to be the largest, able to accommodate than anything they had previously
• A total of 3 million rivets (1,200
more freight and pas- known in their lives. In
tons) held the ship’s steel hull
sengers than their addition to carrying
together
faster competitors. passengers, Titanic was
They could guarantee also designed to carry • Engines: two four-cylinder steam
a week’s crossing in cargo. reciprocating engines and one
spectacular condi- low-pressure turbine engine.
tions. The first class The Harland and Wolff Total horsepower was 46,000
accommodations shipyard in Belfast,
included elaborate suites decorated in a Ireland, handled actual construction. • 159 furnaces (stoked by hand)
variety of styles. First-class passengers Harland and Wolff had built ships for burned coal to operate 29 boilers
could also enjoy a gymnasium, swim- the White Star Line since 1870. The ships
ming pool, squash racket courts and were constructed on a cost-plus basis.
Turkish bath. Second class accommoda- Instead of providing a construction
tions on Titanic were better than first budget up front, the White Star Line
class on many other ships. Third class executives would tell Harland and Wolff
Floaters Time:
30 minutes
Group Size:
Dishpan or bathtub
Water
Procedure:
1. Weigh a large dishpan and record its weight.
2. Place a coffee can into the dishpan.
3. Fill the can to the very top with water. Wipe the outer surface of the can and dish-
pan dry.
4. Weigh a large block of wood or other object that floats.
5. Place it in the can. What happens? (The water will be displaced and overflow into
the dishpan.)
6. Remove the coffee can and block from the dishpan.
7. Now weigh the dishpan with the water in it. Calculate the weight of the water by
subtracting the weight of the dishpan and compare it to the weight of the object.
(The two weights should be the same.) Repeat this activity with several other
objects that float.
To sum it up, large metal ships float because they weigh the same or less than the
water they displace. The trick is to keep it that way!
The National Science Education Standards When the Titanic was designed, the
expectation was that something
Science as Inquiry: would make one hole in the side of
Abilities necessary to do scientific the ship. Watertight doors would
inquiry lower, sealing the bulkhead. With
Science as Inquiry: waterproof bulkheads extending up
Understanding about scientific through several decks of the ship, a
inquiry single hole might cause one or two
Physical Science: compartments to flood, but the
Properties of objects and materials remaining ones would remain dry.
Earth and Space Science: While this would increase the weight
Properties of earth materials of the ship, the ship would still displace enough water to allow it to float. No one
Science and Technology: expected something that would cause an opening or openings to extend through sev-
Abilities of technological design eral compartments at one time.
Science and Technology:
Understanding about science and At the time that the Titanic sank, most people believed that the iceberg inflicted a
technology continuous 300-foot-long gash down the side of the ship. Only one expert, a naval
architect named Edward Wilding, who worked for Harland and Wolff (the builders of
the Titanic), believed otherwise. In testimony given in 1912, Wilding asserted that the
iceberg damage could have been very small, consisting of a series of small openings,
perhaps only three-quarters of an inch wide. He arrived at this conclusion after study-
ing the survivors' testimonies. In his opinion, since the ship flooded unevenly in six
compartments, each compartment must have had its own opening to the sea. He held
that a gash as long and large as commonly assumed would have sunk the ship in min-
utes rather than hours. His testimony was ignored by the media and public and people
continued to believe that an
enormous gaping gash sank
the ship.
In a 1996 expedition
to the ship, scientists
used new sonar tech-
nology to see through the Titanic contained 16 watertight compartments.
45 feet of mud that covered
Titanic’s bow. Working something like a medical ultrasound, sound waves created an
acoustic image of the starboard (right) bow. They found that Titanic’s wound was in
fact a series of six thin slits, some less than an inch wide. The total area of damage was
only about 12 square feet—about the size of a human body, just as Edward Wilding cal-
culated 84 years earlier.
Procedure:
1. Cut the side off a two-liter bottle. Place
it on its side with the cap in place. This
will be your boat.
bottle
2. Add enough weight to the boat so that
it floats evenly with the cap half cov-
ered by water.
3. Remove the cap. Time how long it takes
the “boat” to sink.
4. Dry the boat and weights.
5. Cut the bottoms off two other 2-liter
weights
bottles. Insert them into the boat to cre-
ate watertight bulkheads. Tape them in place.
6. Add the weights from before, spreading them evenly between the 3 compartments.
7. Remove the cap and time how long it takes the boat to sink.
8. Can you figure out a way to keep the boat floating with one compartment
flooded?
What
Icebergs come in a range of sizes
and shapes.
• Growlers:
• Bergy Bits:
• Small:
14-50 feet (5-15m) high and 47-
200 feet (15-60m) long
• Medium:
51-150 feet (16-45m) high and
201-400 feet (61-122m) long
• Large:
151-240 feet (46-75m) high and
401-670 feet (123-213m) long
IceBERG ScIENCE • Very Large:
Over 240 feet (75m) high and 670
An iceberg in the North Atlantic feet (214m) long
Background on Icebergs
is that of the 15,000 to 30,000 icebergs
The story of the iceberg that sank Titanic produced yearly by the glaciers of
began about 3,000 years ago. Snow fell Greenland, only one percent (150 to 300)
on the ice cap of Greenland. The snow make it to the Atlantic Ocean. Once an
never melted. Over the course of the iceberg reaches the “warm” water (32-40°
next forty to fifty years, it was com- F) of the Atlantic, it usually lasts only a
pressed into ice and became part of a gla- few months. Very few icebergs are found
cier—a river of ice. Due to its enormous south of the line of 48 North latitude.
weight, the glacier flowed toward the sea Titanic’s iceberg collision took place at
at a rate of up to sixty-five feet per day. approximately 41° 56’ degrees North lati-
Like the snow that formed it, the glacier tude and 50° 14’ degrees West longitude.
ice was fresh water ice.
About 7/8ths (87%) of an iceberg is below
When the glacier reached the sea, huge the water line. No one is exactly sure
chunks or slabs were weakened and bro- how large Titanic’s iceberg was, but
ken off by the action of rising and falling according to eyewitness reports it was
tides. One of these became Titanic’s ice- approximately 50 to 100 feet high and
berg. The iceberg slowly made its way 200 to 400 feet long. It was tall enough
down the coast of Greenland through to leave ice chunks on one of Titanic’s
Baffin Bay and the Davis Strait into the upper decks.
Atlantic Ocean. Most icebergs melt long
before reaching the ocean. One estimate
Iceberg Time:
Overnight preparation, 30 minutes in
class
Ruler
Clear aquarium
For middle school and high school
Group Size: students, Wax pencil and Graph paper
Classroom demonstration
The National Science Education Standards
Locations Time:
One class period
Procedure:
1. Have students locate key locations in Titanic’s story. Write the names on the map.
The National Social Studies Standards
• Belfast, Ireland—where it was built
• Southampton, England—where the journey began
Time, Continuity, and Change: • Cherbourg, France—first stop
Identify and use various sources • Queenstown, Ireland—second stop
for reconstructing the past, such as • West coast of Greenland—where the iceberg formed
documents, letters, diaries, maps, • Path of iceberg down the coast of Greenland, past Labrador
textbooks, photos, and others. • New York, USA—destination
People, Places and Environments: 2. Have students plot the locations of the icebergs and ice fields reported to Titanic on
Interpret, use and distinguish vari- April 14 using the student worksheet and map.
ous representations of the earth, 3. Plot the location of Titanic’s location per its distress call and the final location of
such as maps, globes, and photo- the wreck.
graphs.
People, Places and Environments:
Use appropriate resources, data
sources and geographic tools such
as atlases, data bases, grid systems,
charts, graphs, and maps to gener-
ate, manipulate, and interpret
information.
People, Places and Environments:
Locate and distinguish among
varying landforms and geographic
features, such as mountains,
plateaus, islands, and oceans.
blinker signal.
Latitude
B. 1:42pm, Baltic to Titanic. “Greek steamer Athinai reports passing icebergs and large Longitude is a measure of location
quantities of field ice in 41° 51’N, 49° 52’...Wish you and Titanic all success.” east or west of the Prime Meridian.
The Prime Meridian is 0°, the line
C. 1:45p.m, Message from Amerika to the United States Hydrographic Office, relayed on the opposite side of the world is
by Titanic. “Amerika passed two large icebergs in 41° 27’N. 50° 8’W on April 14.” 180°.
D. 7:30pm, Californian to Antillian, overheard by Titanic: “42° 3’N. 49° 9’W. Three large The first number in a measurement
bergs 5 miles to the southwards of us.” of latitude or longitude is given in
degrees. If the location is more spe-
E. 9:40 p.m, Mesaba to Titanic. “From Mesaba to Titanic. In latitude 42° to 41°25’N, lon- cific, the second number is given in
gitude 49° to 50° 30’W saw much heavy pack ice and great number of large icebergs, minutes—divisions of 60, just as on
also field ice, weather good, clear.” This message was never sent to the bridge a clock.
because the radio operator on duty was busy with passenger messages.
F. 10:55 p.m., Californian stopped for the night due to heavy field ice at 42° 5’N, 50°
7’W. It attempted to inform Titanic of this but was cut off by Titanic’s wireless
operator.
Frequency Procedure:
1. Distribute a copy of the Calculating
to take evasive
action and
Additional
Resources
Iceberg Frequency information on the avoid collision.
following page. After all, the For information
The National Science Education Standards 2. Have students create a bar graph showing ocean is huge about icebergs,
Earth and Space Science: in the years 1900 though 1911. plenty of room tures of the iceberg
Structure of the Earth system 3. Have students calculate the average num- to maneuver. believed to have
Earth and Space Science: ber of icebergs spotted south of 48° sunk Titanic, and a
Earth’s history North latitude in the North Atlantic in A couple of key complete month
Science in Personal and Social April in 1900-1911. factors played a by month report
Perspectives: 4. Have students compare the average num- role in Captain from 1900 to the
Natural Hazards ber of April icebergs in 1900-1911 with Smith's decision present, check the
Science in Personal and Social the number of April icebergs in 1912. to maintain his International Ice
Perspectives: 5. Have students make independent deci- speed. First of Patrol website at
Risks and Benefits sions about what they would have done all, it was com- www.uscg.mil/lant
that night. They should use both the mon to spot area/iip
*Data reported by the International Ice Patrol: Iceberg Count Data South of 48° N in
the North Atlantic.
Paul Matthias
These images show six separate openings
in the hull, most of them just thin slits.
Some of the slits were only as wide as a
human finger. The damage totaled no
more than 12 square feet, as was predicted
in 1912 by Edward Wilding, a naval
architect. Each of the gashes was along a
riveted seam—a place where two separate
plates were held together by metal rivets.
TITANIC
F E D C B A
4
To understand how quickly water pressure increases with depth,
3
2 conduct the following experiment.
1
Procedure:
1. Punch or drill four holes in the container.
2. Place pieces of tape over the holes.
3. Fill the container with water. Ask students to make a pre-
diction—what will happen when the tape is removed? Will the
water stay in? Will it come out of all the holes equally?
4. Place the container above a sink or dishpan.
5. Remove the tape. What do you observe? (The water will shoot out the holes. The
water pressure at the top of the container is less, so the water doesn’t shoot out as far.
The water pressure at the bottom is greater, causing the water to shoot out further.)
The series of openings in Titanic’s side included ones just below the water surface and
some 20 feet down. Which would flood fastest due to water pressure? (The lower ones)
There is an appreciable difference in the water pressure between the top and the bot-
tom of the container, a distance of only a few inches. The difference between the pres-
sure at the top of the ocean and twenty feet down is considerably more.
One area of inquiry has focused on the strength of the materials used in Titanic’s construc-
Failure tion. Most of Titanic’s structure was made of iron in various forms. The plates that formed
the ship’s hull were made of steel and the rivets that held the plates together were made of
wrought iron. Lines of rivets held metal plates together, much like sewing thread holds
together two pieces of cloth. Investigations have shown the strength of the steel used in
the hull plates to be within normal limits for 1912, but at least some of the rivets were sub-
standard. Dr. Tim Foecke of the National Institute
of Standards is conducting an ongoing investiga-
The National Science Education Standards tion of the rivets.
Science as Inquiry: Pure iron is a soft metal. A soft metal will crumple
Abilities necessary to do scientific or bend on impact but still hold together, while a
inquiry brittle one will break apart. The rivets were sup-
Science as Inquiry: posed to be made of wrought iron, which is iron
Understanding about scientific with 1 to 2 percent slag fibers running through it.
inquiry Under construction. Notice the horizon- Slag is a by-product of metalworking and can
Physical Science: tal seams where steel plates were consist of a variety of substances (silicon, sulfur,
Properties and changes of proper- riveted together. The impact with the phosphorus, aluminum, etc.) depending on its
ties in matter iceberg separated these seams. source. Slag gives iron strength but also increases
Science and Technology: its brittleness. Small amounts of slag (1-2%) make
Abilities of technological design wrought iron, which is strong but not brittle. Modern forensic investigation, led by Dr.
Science and Technology: Foecke, of rivets taken from the wreck show that the slag content in some of the rivets was
Understandings about science and very high—between 6 and 10 percent, and the slag was present in large chunks, rather than
technology small fibers. This combination made the rivets brittle and more prone to break under
History and Nature of Science: stress—such as hitting an iceberg.
Science as a human endeavor
How did such poor quality rivets find their way onto Titanic? In 1912, the production of
wrought iron was still an art, rather than a science. Apprentices learned by working with
master craftsmen, with few of the techniques written down. It’s much the same as a master
chef demonstrating recipes without writing them down. Experience shows the chef how
to tell when something is done by look, feel or smell—a process he/she teaches to appren-
tices. It was the same for iron workers in 1912. Modern iron work includes a number of sci-
entific tests to ensure the quality of the metal produced, but in 1912, it was up to the indi-
vidual iron worker to recognize when the product was ready.
In 1912, the process went like this. A “pig” of molten iron was formed. Then slag was added,
the whole thing heated and tools like little rakes were drawn by hand through the melted
iron to take the slag that was floating on top and draw little fibers throughout the iron as
is it cooled.
Dr. Foecke hypothesizes that, in the drive to make enough rivets for both Titanic and
Olympic-—ships that were one third larger than anything before—it’s possible that the
manufacturer unintentionally didn’t allow sufficient time to work the wrought iron
enough to evenly draw the slag into little fibers throughout the iron. The wrought iron
produced would be like an incompletely mixed gravy, with lots of (microscopic) lumps.
Another plausible idea is that the manufacturer needed more workers and hired some peo-
ple who were not as experienced. Dr. Foecke and his colleagues are currently researching
1912 methods of rivet production to see how likely these scenarios might have been.
How much did the substandard rivets contribute to the tragedy? At this point, fewer than
100 rivets from Titanic have been studied. This is enough to know that some of them were
substandard, but not enough to show whether or not they caused a problem. If only a
small percentage of the 3 million rivets were bad and they were scattered randomly
throughout the ship, then they probably made no difference. On the other hand, if most
of the rivets were bad or if bad rivets were concentrated in certain areas, then those seams
would have opened more easily and the openings extended farther, which would have
caused Titanic to sink faster.
Procedure:
Advance preparation (can be done by the teacher or students)
1. Weigh out 10 grams of angel hair pasta and break it into small pieces.
2. Weigh out 75 grams of clay.
3. Mix the pasta pieces into the clay. Knead it until the pasta is
thoroughly mixed through the clay.
4. Roll out the clay into thin rods, 5 ml in diameter and 4 inches long.
Note: Working with the amounts listed above will give enough pasta/clay
mixture for several rods.
5. Repeat the above steps with the linguini.
6. Allow rods to air dry overnight.
In this experiment, the pasta is taking the part of slag and the clay represents the pure iron.
The angel hair rods and the linguini rods have the same weight of pasta mixed into them,
but the size of the pasta pieces is different. Ask students to predict which rods will be
stronger. Why? (Students may assume that the larger, thicker pieces of linguini will add to
the strength of the clay)
7. Take a small plastic cup. Punch two holes on opposite sides. Tie a length of string to
both sides to form a basket.
8. Take one of the rods, place it across a gap between piles of books or between two desks.
Suspend the basket from the rod.
9. Add weights to the basket until the rod breaks. Record how much weight it took to
break the rod.
10. Conduct several tests with angel hair and linguini rods. Average the results. What hap-
pened? (On average, the rods with linguini will break under less weight than the rods
with the angel hair. The larger linguini pieces create clumpy areas of weakness, much
as the larger chunks of slag did in the inferior rivets found in Titanic.)
Photomosaic
photomosaic technique Measuring tape
Estimated Time: Ladder
2 class periods A large object with lots of detail such
Group Size: as a classroom or fire truck
Small group (3-4 students)
Procedure:
1. Take a picture of your object from far enough away to include the whole.
2. Take a series of pictures of your object from a set distance such as four feet. If you
use a disposable camera, read the instructions to determine the closest distance you
can be for a clear picture. Start at the bottom left and work your way to the right,
slightly overlapping the area of each image.
3. When you get to the right side, go back to the left side and stand on a ladder, just
high enough to overlap the top of the image below.
Photomosaic of the planet Mercury. 4. Continue until you have photographed the entire object.
5. Develop the pictures.
6. Fit the close-ups together to make one large image. Compare it to the single photo-
graph of the object. Look for letters, numbers or words in both. In which image is it
possible to see the smallest print? (photomosaic) Which image has more detail?
(photomosaic)
Note to teacher: Give younger students a copy of the original image and let them place
the mosaic pieces on top of it as an aid.
2
1
10
Communication
Radio as a means of communication was During the first three days of the trip,
in its infancy in 1912. There were fewer Titanic received at least seven radio mes-
than 100 commercial stations in the entire sages concerning icebergs. It also received
United States and less than 400 shipboard a blinker message about ice from a ship it
stations. Titanic’s communication system passed one night. Titanic’s distress mes-
was state of the art. It had the most power- sages were heard by several ships as well as
ful radio shipboard transmitter available a land based station in Cape Race,
with a range of 500 miles. Most other Newfoundland. Her distress rockets were
ships at the time didn’t have a radio at all. seen by at least one ship. Yet with all of
Even ships with radios usually only had this, it wasn’t enough to avert the deaths
sets with a range of less than 200 miles. of over 1,500 people.
The Ship That blinker light to nearby ships. It also Lord also went to his cabin.
Stood Still by had rockets and flares. The rockets
Leslie Reade. 1993. looked much like fireworks. The crew and officers of the Californian did see a ship to its
Communication, such as company south. They tried to send a blinker message to the other ship, but
identification, was handled by using never felt that they got a response. They did see white rockets—
different colors and patterns of explosion. Titanic could identify eight in number—go up but apparently assumed that an
itself as a White Star Line ship by lighting this pattern: "A green unknown ship was signaling Titanic, which they knew was
pyro light, followed by a rocket throwing 2 green stars being fol- somewhere to the south. No one woke the radio operator to ask
lowed by another green pyro light." Distress rockets were always him to try to find out what was going on. It wasn’t until almost
white and sent up one at a time at short intervals. 6am that the captain decided to wake the wireless operator and
ask him to try to contact the ship to their south. At this point,
Believe it or not, there was a he received the news that Titanic had struck an iceberg and sunk
"mystery" ship to the north of during the night. In less than an hour, the Californian was able to
Titanic that night. It was close move to the last known coordinates of Titanic, just in time to see
enough to be seen from Titanic Carpathia picking up the last of the survivors.
and from its lifeboats. Titanic’s
officers estimated that this Was Titanic’s mystery ship the Californian? Was Californian’s
unknown ship was about five mystery ship the Titanic? This is one of the most debated points
A blinker light was used to
send Morse code messages miles away. They tried communi- in the Titanic story, with passionate arguments on both side of
at night. cating with it using the Morse the story. At the very least, it demonstrates the problems that
code blinker lamp. The officers ships in 1912 experienced in trying to communicate without the
stared at the lights of the other ship, but never felt that they use of the wireless.
received an answer.
Titanic also sent up eight distress rockets. These were white rock-
ets that burst into stars with a loud blast.
Both Phillips and Bride stayed on Titanic As the Carpathia approached land, hun-
to the end and eventually made it into dreds of operators tried to establish con-
Collapsible Lifeboat B. Jack Phillips died tact with the ship. There were so many
but Harold Bride made it to the unregulated signals interfering with
Carpathia. Although wounded, with each other that it was impossible to dis-
badly frozen and crushed feet, he tinguish one from another.
worked with the radio operator on the
Carpathia to send numerous messages.
To understand what wireless messages sounded like in 1912, students can construct a
simple wireless transmitter.
Procedure:
1. Ask students to bring in inexpensive
AM radios from home.
4. Ask each team to turn on its radio to the AM band and turn the dial all the way in
one direction so that all they hear is static.
Wireless Radio 6. How far can the wireless transmit? (Results may vary from just a couple feet to over
20 feet) How can you increase/decrease the signal strength? (Signal strength can be
modified in several ways. Tightly wrapping the wire around the fork or wrapping it
more times around the fork will increase the signal. The size and strength of the
battery will also make a difference) Can different teams pick up each others
signals? (Probably) Have students work out ways to avoid interfering with each
other’s signals. (Taking turns, decreasing the signal strength)
Continued from previous page...
7. Have each team work out codes for different actions, such as smiling or waving.
Have one person secretly transmit the code and the others in the team respond.
Were they successful? If not, why not?
Group Size:
Individual
The National Science Education Standards
Life Science: Due to the continuing fascination with Titanic, it's easy to
Additional
Regulation and behavior access biographies and the original testimonies of Titanic Resources
survivors. Read some of the biographies or testimonies to
find out how people survived and what happened to them Story of the Titanic
The National Social Studies Standards
after their experience on Titanic. as Told by its
Time, Continuity, and Change: Survivors, Dover
Demonstrate an understanding One place to start is at “Encyclopedia Titanica,” www.ency- Publications, 1960
that different people may describe clopedia-titanica.org, which contains biographies of most
Titanic Voices:
the same event or situation in of the passengers and crew of Titanic, with direct links to
Memories from the
diverse ways, citing reasons for the contemporary newspaper articles and sometimes their testi-
Fateful Voyage by
differences in views. monies at either the American or British Inquiries. In addi-
Donald Hyslop,
tion, the "Titanic Inquiry Project" at www.titanicinquiry.org Alastair Forsyth,
contains the complete texts of the American and British Sheila Jemima.
Inquiries into the disaster, referenced by witness name. 1994
Augustus Weikman
Angles
perception can differ from person to Blindfolds
person based on factors such as prior
experience and position.
Time:
One class period
Science as Inquiry: One of the puzzling aspects of Titanic’s sinking has been the
Additional
Abilities necessary to do scientific variety of different angles that people claim for the ship as it Resources
inquiry sank. Some people say it was perpendicular to the sea (90°)
Science as Inquiry: while others say it was 45° or 60°. The latest computer models Discovery
Understanding about scientific put the angle of descent at much less (12°). With a ship the size Channel video-
inquiry of Titanic, even this slight angle of descent would be enough tapes. Contact
Discovery Channel
Life Science: to raise her propellers out of the water. It also agrees with
School at
Regulation and behavior Charles Lightoller’s testimony that he swam from the bridge
888-892-3484 to
area of Titanic to her crow’s nest. For the bridge and crow’s
obtain informa-
nest to be at the same level, the angle would be around 12°.
tion on additional
The National Social Studies Standards resources.
Procedure:
Time, Continuity and Change: 1. Ask for 5 volunteers. Send them out of the room. Testimonies of
Demonstrate an understanding 2. Position the table so that it is touching the floor at an Charles Lightoller,
that different people may describe angle. Use the protractor to measure the angle. John Thayer Jr.
the same event or situation in 3. Blindfold the volunteers, bring them in and have them lie
diverse ways, citing reasons for the down in varying positions around the table.
difference in views. 4. Remove the blind folds and tell them to observe the table and write down their esti-
mates as to the angle.
5. Compare their answers to the actual
measurement. How accurate were they?
Eyewitness
pletely accurate
tion, increases the accuracy of memory but
Materials:
decreases the amount of information that
Odd clothing, noisemakers, objects
Memory
witnesses remember. In other words, wit-
1-3 assistants
nesses under stress tend to experience tun-
nel vision. What they remember of the
things they focus on may be very accurate,
but they can’t see the big picture.
The National Science Education Standards
The second procedure tests the suggestibility of memory. Students have plenty of time
Science as Inquiry: to accurately observe the scene, but when asked about something not in the scene,
Abilities necessary to do scientific they will try to please the questioner by remembering something that wasn’t there.
inquiry
Science as Inquiry: Titanic survivors probably experienced both of these. Certainly the sinking of the ship
Understanding about scientific was stressful enough for people to pay attention, but that same stress caused them to
inquiry focus on smaller pieces of the event. When asked about something that they probably
Life Science: witnessed, they might not remember it or might subconsciously manufacture a
Regulation and behavior memory.
Procedure, variation 1
The National Social Studies Standards 1. In secret, dress an assistant (another teacher or school staffer) in a distinctive set of
clothing. Provide the person with a noise maker(s) or other objects.
Time, Continuity and Change: 2. While you are conducting your class as normal, have the assistant make a short sur-
Demonstrate an understanding prise appearance—perhaps running through the class.
that different people may describe 3. After the assistant has left the room, give each student a sheet of paper and ask them
the same event or situation in to record what just happened. They should try to be as detailed as possible, includ-
diverse ways, citing reasons for the ing information about what the person looked like, dressed, and acted.
difference in views. 4. Collect the results and compare them to the actual assistant.
Procedure, variation 2:
1. Have two assistants act out a scene such as eating a picnic lunch. Let the class
observe for 3-5 minutes.
2. Have the assistants leave the room.
3. Ask students questions about the scene and have them write down their answers on
a sheet of paper. Include both questions that really could have been observed (how
many people were there) but also have questions about objects not in the scene
(what color was Joe’s hat).
4. Compare results. Many people will vividly remember the hat, even though it wasn’t
actually present, just because a question was asked about it.
Ask students what these experiments show about the memory of Titanic survivors?
(They could be incomplete, inaccurate.) How can we improve our confidence in an eye-
witness memory? (Compare to other accounts, try to ask open-ended questions that
don’t influence the witness, evaluate whether or not the witnesses prior experiences
would make them able to make accurate observations about the circumstance)
Have
to develop means which might have
increased survivorship during the
Titanic disaster.
Could More the scene until after the screaming stopped. A few people were able to locate floating
objects buoyant enough to support them until they were picked up by lifeboats that
returned to the scene after Titanic disappeared.
Have Charles Joughin (left), chief baker, threw at least 50 deck chairs
Been Saved?
overboard. He eventually survived by clinging to an overturned
lifeboat.
Passengers on board the Bremen, a ship that passed the site of the
sinking a week later, reported the following:
“New York, Wednesday. The North German liner Bremen, which arrived here (New York)
this morning, reports having passed seven icebergs on Saturday last (4/19) in the locality
where the Titanic disaster occurred. Many bodies were seen floating in the water around
the spot where the liner sank. All bore lifebelts. Some of them are described as clasping
the bodies of children, and others as still gripping deck chairs and other objects. The offi-
cers of the Bremen estimated that in one group there were two hundred corpses.”
Consider: Exhaustion or
Unconciousness
What materials might be on the Water Expected
Temperature Survival Time
Titanic that could float or be made
32.5°F <15 min. <15-45 min
to float? 32.5°-40° 15-30 min. 30-90 min
What other resources are available 40°-50° 30-60 min. 1-3 hrs
Only 705 people were saved. If Titanic had been filled to capac-
ity, it would have taken 63 lifeboats to evacuate everyone.
The Fate of Titanic Since its sinking, Titanic and its con-
tents have existed in an environment
drastically different than found on
The same properties that make iron a good conductor of electricity (free electrons)
cause it to corrode quickly in a moist environment. Iron and oxygen (found in air and
water) exchange electrons more easily in the presence of water. Salt water provides an
even better environment for corrosion.
Procedure:
1. Fill two small containers with water. To one, add a teaspoon of salt.
2. Put a nail into each container.
3. Observe the nails in each of the containers daily for a week. Which nail shows signs
of rust first? (Teacher note: it should be the nail with salt that accelerates the corro-
sion of the iron nail. If however, the plain tap water quickly shows signs of the nail
rusting then maybe there are rust problems in the hot water heater and pipes!)
the Titanic
photographic slide film. Thread
Time: Soil
Class period to set up, one week to run Aquarium water
Group Size: Microscope or slide projector
Small group (3-4)
Dr. Roy Cullimore and his assistant, To determine whether there were bacteria pres-
Lori Johnston ent, Dr. Cullimore performed a simple test. He
took unexposed color slide film and developed it.
He then put the black slides into bags made from Aida cloth. Aida cloth is woven with
evenly spaced small holes, providing a way for the bacteria to enter the bag. If bacteria
were present on the Titanic, they would consume the protein emulsion on the slide
film. The colors released would stain the Aida cloth, signaling that it was time to pick
up the experiment. The slides could be viewed under a microscope or by using a slide
Rust on Procedure:
1. Purchase a roll of slide film and get it developed immediately. The resulting slides
A section of Titanic on the ocean To determine just what kinds of bacteria were present, Dr. Cullimore
floor, covered with rusticles collected samples of rusticles, which he took back to his laboratory.
So far, he has found that the rusticles are extremely complex struc-
tures, inhabited and created by a variety of different microbes that
include iron-related bacteria, sulfate-reducing bacteria and fungi.
Iron related bacteria (IRB) live on organic matter present in water. As
they grow, they create a coating in which they deposit iron oxides,
giving the growths an orange to brown to black color.
The interior of the rusticle contains a complex system of channels that move water
throughout. When dried, a rusticle typically has an iron content of 20-30 percent.
Titanic began as iron ore that was mined, refined into steel and shaped into a ship. The
rusticles are returning it to iron ore.
Rusticles are currently attached to over 80% of Titanic’s hull. Preliminary calculations
indicate that as of 1996 the mass of rusticles may weigh 650 tons, which would
include as much as 175 tons of iron. Dr. Cullimore and others calculated that the inter-
nal minimum surface area of the rusticles was almost 6,280 square miles.
Eventually the rusticles will mine enough of the iron out of Titanic’s structure that
the ship will collapse. When that will occur is still under study. Estimates range from
15 to 450 years.
Conservation
to conserve and restore them. White paper
Time: Paper clips
One class period Pencils
Group Size: Tape
Individual or small group Glue
Staplers
The National Science Education Standards
Once the objects arrive at the lab, they are washed repeatedly in deionized water to
leach out salts from the surface. Salts and other impurities that have accumulated
deep within an object require a variety of special treatments, based on the material.
Electrolysis is effective for restoring metal objects. Conservators place metal objects
in chemical baths, wiring them to a negative battery terminal, and covering them
with a metal cage connected to a positive terminal. The current pulls the negative
ions and salt out of the artifact, effectively removing the corrosion. Electric currents
can remove salts from paper, leather and wood as well. These materials are also treat-
ed with chemicals to remove rust and fumigated if they appear to be contaminated
with mold. Polyethylene glycol, a water-soluble wax, is injected into wood and
leather objects to fill the spaces left by the water as it evaporates.
Nobody expected that paper would have survived so long at the bottom of the
ocean, but the Titanic is a treasure trove of sheet music, personal letters, postcards
Artifact regulated. Along with conserving an object for the future comes the question of
whether or not it should be restored to its original condition. The conservators work-
ing on the Titanic artifacts have chosen to do a minimum amount of restoration,
Conservation believing that the story of the wreck is best told by allowing the objects to show the
signs of their internment two and a half miles below the surface of the ocean. The
immense pressure at that depth has crushed hollow-handled knives and forks and
pushed corks into wine bottles.
Are there any objects in which the goal of conservation may be in conflict with the
goal of restoration (the paper clip may break). Do you think that this problem occurs
for scientists? (Frequently! The conservators for Titanic artifacts have decided to only
restore them enough to conserve them. They feel that the wear and tear that the
objects demonstrate tell people an important part of the Titanic story.)