Teaching Ideas for a Titanic Topic

If your children are learning about the Titanic on the anniversary of its sinking (15th April), or at any other time of the year, try some of these teaching and activity ideas!

English:

• Research a passenger or a member of the crew of the Titanic, and write a diary entry from their point of view. This Kiddle page has lots of useful information about “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” for example.
• Write a fictional story set on the Titanic.
• Write a letter from a member of the crew to their family.
• Create a word wall of vocabulary associated with the Titanic.
• Write a newspaper article reporting the Titanic disaster. This page has some fantastic examples of how it was reported in the USA while this one looks at the coverage in Britain.
• Work in pairs or small groups to create a role play based on the Titanic.
• Illustrate and write a Titanic-themed comic strip.
• Create an advert for the Titanic. This page shows two of the posters used at the time.

Maths:

• Compare the size of the Titanic to a modern cruise ship. This page has lots of measurements you could use.
• How many lifeboats were there, and how many people could they hold? How many more were needed?
• Estimate and measure distances related to the Titanic’s journey (e.g., from Southampton to the iceberg).

Science:

• Try this simple iceberg investigation.
• Try a buoyancy investigation.
• Learn about the properties of steel, wood and iron, the three main materials used to build the Titanic. Why were they chosen?
• Write a report explaining how wireless communication worked on the Titanic. This page from the Science Museum has plenty of information.
• Try this great experiment from the Primary Science Trust, investigating the effect of icy water on heart rate.
• Make a compass from a needle.

Computing:

• Use Google Maps to create a map of the Titanic’s journey.
• Use presentation software to create a digital timeline of the Titanic’s voyage with key facts and events.
• Take a virtual tour of the Titanic.
• Try translating Morse Code.

Design Technology:

• Design a life jacket with modern materials to test its buoyancy.
• Create a design for a safety feature that could have helped the Titanic.
• Look at the blueprints for the Titanic. Scroll down this page to see them. Compare them to images of the ship. Discuss how blueprints are used to plan a project.
• Research the life of Maria Beasley, who invented the life rafts on the Titanic. Our Inventors and Inventions Pack includes a comprehension text about her.

Art:

• Make a pencil sketch of the ship.
• Look at this painting from the time. What do you notice?
• Create a mixed media artwork that shows an aspect of the Titanic disaster.
• Use calligraphy to create a ticket for the Titanic.

Music:

• Listen to some popular music from the time:

• Compose a piece of music inspired by the Titanic’s story.
• Try creating rhythmic patterns based on Morse Code.

• Create sound effects to accompany the story of the Titanic.

Geography:

• Map the Titanic’s intended route and where it sank. This page shows the journey.
• Learn about the Atlantic Ocean.
• Choose two places that were part of the Titanic’s journey and compare them. What is the same, and what is different?
• Make a list of navigation methods (such as SatNav, using the stars etc.) Which methods were available to the Titanic? Which methods did they use? This video is a good explanation:

History:

• Download our Titanic Pack for ready-made resources and a comprehensive guide.

• Create a timeline of the Titanic’s construction, voyage, and sinking. This page has lots of information.
• Make a table comparing the facilities for first, second and third class passengers on the Titanic.
• Research the life of an important person such as the captain, Edward Smith.
• Use this fantastic lesson from the National Archives using primary sources.
• Write a list of the changes that were made after the Titanic disaster, to make sea travel safer.
• Watch the following video showing the wreck. Discuss whether people should visit the wreck and whether artefacts should be recovered from it.

• Examine some Titanic artefacts on the National Maritime Museum’s collection. What can we learn about the voyage and the people from them?
• Watch this news footage of the disaster:

Physical Education:

• Create a dance sequence using part of the Titanic story.
• Play quoits.
• Learn how to stay safe in and near water.
• Try this fun Morse Code activity.

Languages:

• Learn vocabulary about ships in the language you are studying.
• Learn some simple phrases in Swedish, a language spoken by a lot of the people on the Titanic.

PSHE:

• What safety procedures do we follow? Why do we have safety procedures?
• Discuss how it might have felt to be on the Titanic, before and during the disaster.