On April 15, 1912, about 400 miles south of Newfoundland, the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg and quickly took on water. 1500 lives were lost when the British luxury liner RMS Titanic sank during its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City. The disaster and the mythology that quickly surrounded the sinking of a modern "unsinkable" marvel are still fascinating today. Learn more at today's Titanic picks.
The law firm of Anderson Kill & Olick created this mock trial website "to help illustrate in a fun interactive manner how the U.S. legal system works and the important role played by the people who serve on juries." Using facts based on the Titanic tragedy, the plaintiff is a survivor suing White Star Lines (the Titanic's owner) on behalf of her fiance, a victim whose body was never recovered. There is a teacher guide explaining how to run the mock trial in a classroom in as little as forty-five minutes, or spread out over a week.
"Inquiries held in the United States and Great Britain alleged that the Leyland liner Californian, which was less than twenty miles away all night, could have aided the stricken vessel had its radio operator been on duty and thereby received the Titanic's distress signals." Britannica Encyclopedia presents an excellent, illustrated slide show and a single-page hyperlinked overview that will be a good resource for school reports.
Was the 1997 James Cameron Titanic movie that won eleven Oscars based on a true story? No, the movie told a fictional love story "intertwined with a chronicle of the April 1912 Titanic sinking." How realistic was the movie? For answers to we turn to Chasing the Frog, a website that examines movies based on true stories. Visit to compare and contrast the movie characters with their real counterparts. Note: not all the films reviewed at Chasing the Frog are appropriate for children.
Among the unidentified victims recovered from the Titanic wreckage was a two-year old boy whose plight so moved his rescuers that they arranged a funeral service and a headstone on his grave dedicated "to the memory of an unknown child." This PBS website follows DNA scientists as they use modern methods to identify a handful of previously unidentified Titanic victims, including the "unknown child" who turned out to be Finish one-year old Eino Panula.
"Titanic's Passengers All Rescued" was the Syracruse Herald headline on April 15, 1912. Unfortunately this was an optimistic overstatement. Powered by NewspaperArchive.com, Titantic Archive allows you to search and read scanned reproductions of original newspaper accounts about the Titanic from dozens of U.S. papers. The site also includes a Titanic timeline (from 1902 to 2001) and a brief history of the ship.
Buy Titanic Printable for $2.00
or try a FREE trial of the Printables ClubThe following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints. Enjoy!
National Geographic: WORLD Magazine: I Survived the TitanicPBS: Lost Liners | RMS Titantic, IncTitanic Science |
Or try our newsletter feed.
 Get educational website recommendations in your mailbox every week: Or try our full-content newsletter feed.Our Privacy Pledge: your email address is never shared with anyone. |
Surfnetkids Headline Feed | Newsletter Feed | List of All Surfnetkids Feeds