I Survived! The Sinking of the Titanic

This program was done in April, 2015 near the 103rd anniversary of the sinking.  Around the room we had books displayed and paper clocks depicting the important moments in Titanic's voyage.

Once all the kids entered we gave them each a boarding pass similar to one passengers on the Titanic received.  Each boarding pass had a different person listed, along with the class they sailed in, and information about them.  We then went through and told them whether or not they survived the voyage.

Next we read aloud the first chapter of I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912.

After we showed the kids some brief YouTube videos.

Video: Last Survivor Remembers Titanic Hitting Iceberg (Edith Rosenbaum)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRAGMW4n4mc (3:20)

We only played brief snippets of the the following, just enough to give the kids a taste of what Morse code sounds like, especially in "conversation."

Video: See and Hear Morse Code

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5uyK5MrsTs

Video: Morse Code Conversation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8Ed0TSp0gs

Science Experiment/Craft: Boat Making

Kids had a chance to make boats out of tinfoil and then test to see how many marbles their boat could hold before sinking.

Activity: Morse Code

We had some activity sheets kids could complete with various sayings in Morse code.  One was from the Magic Tree House: Tonight on the Titanic.  http://www.magictreehouse.com/teachersclub/resource_center/pdfs/17-save-our-ship.pdf

Science Experiment: Iceberg

We froze a balloon full of water to simulate an iceberg.  We placed it in a large bin of water so kids could see how much of the ice was below water and how easily it would be to hit one.  They could also feel the water temperature.

Remains of ice berg with tinfoil boat being tested.

Attendance: 27, 15

Evaluation: The kids really enjoyed this program.  The tinfoil boats, although messy and wet, always go over well.  The videos and iceberg demonstration really brought the sinking to life.  They liked learning whether or not their character survived the sinking, but putting the boarding passes together was time consuming.  We originally did this program in 2012 for the 100th anniversary of the sinking, so much of the legwork was done (clocks, boarding passes--although I had to make additional ones as we had higher attendance at this program).