Introduction

Everyone is familiar with the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912.  Just how much do we really know about this event?  We have seen movies, read stories, and watched documentaries on this event.  This webquest will help you and a partner explore the events surrounding the unfortunate end of this ship.  In the process of completing this project, you will learn about the interesting facts and dramatic stories.  You will also discover numerous statistics pertaining to this event. The statistics reveal facts of their own.  It is up to you to discover some of these facts and share your results.
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Task

It is January, 2012, your final year of graduate school, and you are doing an internship with a major news magazine.  The editor has put you in charge of a possible feature story for the 100^th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.  You must research the history and events surrounding this unfortunate incident and give a presentation summarizing your findings and conclusions to the Board of Directors of the magazine.  You will be graduating from college soon so you want this to be the coup de gras of your internship so that you have a name for yourself while seeking employment in the news industry, possibly even at this magazine.
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Process

You will work with a partner to complete this project. You will have five class periods to work on the project. If additional time is needed to complete the project you will need to work on it before or after school.

The following list suggests steps you and your partner can take to complete the project.  You are certainly not limited to just these things!

Review background information regarding the Voyage, the Passengers, and the Crew.  This will make the project more meaningful and more interesting.  What else was going on in the world at that time?

  Explore one, or both, of the databases of information about the Titanic. The sites actually have several databases: passengers and crew; where they boarded; 1^st-2^nd-3^rd class; servants; types of crew; who died of what; home countries; etc.  See what you can find here: Did any survivors share the same last name as you or your partner? How many women and children were on board? How many passengers were the same age as you are now?  What percent of crew members survived? What nationalities were represented on the ship?  These are merely suggestions – explore what interests you.

  Using the databases and other sources, explore topics.  Construct tables and graphs where appropriate.  It is possible to import date into Fathom, Minitab, or Excel if you want to organize the data.  However, do NOT use Excel for graphs or calculations.  Possible areas of exploration are:
 

The mean/median income of the passengers by class and how these figures compared to the mean/median income in 1912.  Were there any significant differences?

The mean/median income of the crew and how these figures compared to the mean/median income of the passengers and/or the mean/median income in 1912.  Were there any significant differences?

The costs of various fares and how these fares compared to the appropriate mean/median incomes and the costs of other things such as houses and cars.  How does this compare with today’s costs?  Any significant differences?

How many people died?  Survived?  How did this differ by class?  By gender?  By age?  By passenger/crew member?  What about combinations of these categories?  Were sex and class independent when it came to survival?  Sex and age?  Age and class?  Were there any significant differences?
 

These are examples.  If you see other relationships of interest, feel free to explore them.  Also keep in mind the difference between statistical significance and practical significance.  Does this apply here?  Are there any reasonable explanations for any significant differences?  If so, be sure to discuss them.

  Prepare a written report on the results of your webquest. Include at least three historical facts that you and your partner found interesting about the ship, voyage, passengers, and/or crew.  Include at least three facts about the events of the world at that time.  Then cover your research topic.  Discuss reasons for your topic choice.  Show your data table(s) with chart(s) and/or graph(s), and your insights, explanations, hypotheses, calculations, decision rules, conclusions, and/or comments.  Be sure to have a reference page with a list of the references you used in completing the webquest in APA format.  Print two copies of this report.  Turn in a copy of your report BEFORE designing your Power Point presentation.

  Prepare a 5 minute Power Point presentation for class (7-15 slides) that summarizes your report. Include one or two historical facts that you and your partner found interesting about the ship, voyage, passengers, and/or crew.  Include at least one fact about the events of the world at that time.  Then cover your research topic.  Discuss reasons for your topic choice.  Show your data table(s) with chart(s) and/or graph(s), and your insights, explanations, conclusions, and/or comments. Turn in a handout copy of the slides of your presentation with a list of the references you used in completing the webquest. For each reference used, write a sentence or two describing how it helped you complete the webquest.

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Resources
The following lists are possible resources for completing this webquest. You may use any of these as well as any related, APPROPRIATE resources of your choice.

Background

Data

General Information

Encyclopedia Britannica Online
RMS Titanic’s Final Resting Place
San Francisco Virtual Museum
Titanic-Destination Cyberspace
Titanic Online

Encyclopedia Titanica
Titanic in the Classroom
Titanic: Human Factor

Titanic~The Unsinkable Ship…
The Grave of the Titanic
Titanic News Channel
The Titanic Disaster
1912 Mileposts

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Tips and Advice

  Spend the first day “surfing” the sites and learning as much as you can about the Titanic.  Read the history and stories surrounding this event BEFORE deciding on the data.

  By the end of the 1^st day or within the first 30 minutes of the second day, decide what data you would like to study.

  Spend the second and most of the third day analyzing your data and writing your report.  This report will vary in length depending on how much background information and how much research you do.  Just be sure that all criteria are covered.

  After turning in your report, begin designing your Power Point presentation.  This will probably take 1½ blocks.  Make it interesting but NOT too busy and annoying.  Remember, you do NOT “win” for using the most number of distracting audio files J.

  Spend approximately 30 minutes discussing with your partner how you will do your oral presentation.  This will accompany your Power Point presentation.  Remember, if you have Big Ben chiming every 5 seconds, it will be difficult for us to hear you J.

  USE YOUR TIME WISELY!  Now is NOT the time to discuss your upcoming social calendar J.

  Have FUN and LEARN because it is fun!
  
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Evaluation

Your grade will be based on the following:

  Written Report (40%) – all members of the group will get the same grade.

  Group involvement (20%) – your grade will be based on your involvement
     and efforts only.

  Power Point Presentation (20%) – all members of the group will get the
     same grade.

  Oral Presentation (20%) – your grade will be based on your part of the
     presentation only.

  Daily grades based on your completion of assessments forms for other group
     presentations.

Click HERE to see the detailed grading rubric for this project.
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Conclusion

Through this activity you have seen just one example of how statistics is used to link history and mathematics.  Statistics alone are simply numbers.  It is the heartwarming stories of the people involved in the event that give life to the data and make the study of these data and statistics interesting and worthwhile.  Hopefully, in the future, you will give much deeper thought to the “numbers” so frequently given to us, which lack careful analyses.
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WebQuest Designed by Tammy Keith, Newnan High School, Newnan GA, © January 2004