It would be easier now…part 3: Titanic July 10, 2009
Posted by Wendy Wolfe in Educational Resources, Games & Simulations, Web resources.Tags: History, Interactive, Science, Titanic, Water
add a comment
Ahhh, the Titanic. We studied it before Kate and Leonardo were all the craze and it was interesting but with the resources available to us now would be so much easier to create an engaging learning experience! Of course the History channel would have an amazing resource. History’s main Titanic site connects visitors with video, the ship’s manifest, and an image gallery. There is also a link to an excellent interactive time line with links to a tour and images from before the disaster, an exploration of the most likely scenario showing how the Titanic hit the iceberg, and an introduction to the lives of survivors.
If looking at the voyage of Titanic, Discovery’s “On Board the Titanic” is a great next stop. Virtually follow the journey of one of five passengers on the Titanic. The site is not really interactive (you see images and video clips with their story in words on screen-some of the language is authentic…) but presents the stories of each passenger.
National Geographic also has resources, primarily focused on Robert Ballard’s expeditions to Titanic. Their “Titanic: The Real Deal in 3-D” allows for an exploration through video clips from a 1998 3-D filming of Titanic. The site, “Return To Titanic” is also interesting. It has video and images of the shipwreck Titanic and an interactive feature allowing visitors in virtually explore the shipwreck. With National Geographic does have a lesson plan focusing on shipwreck exploration in general inspired by Robert Ballard, though some of the links in the lesson are broken.
The BBC’s “Titanic Journey” would be another great place to explore. With a combination of video clips and quizzes, visitors learn about the science and history behind the creation and sinking of Titanic. There is even a “Ships Log” so if you are using the site with students, they can save video clips and notes relevant to their research while they investigate the site. Interestingly, this website follows the explorations by the Keldysh, the same research ship featured in the Science Museum of Minnesota’s current Titanic exhibit.
Finally, Snag Films has put online National Geographic’s Secrets of the Titanic. (the video I showed my students on VHS!) The video is interesting, and Martin Sheen is a great narrator.
It would be easier now… pt 2 – the Fitz July 9, 2009
Posted by Wendy Wolfe in Educational Resources, Games & Simulations, History, Water, Web resources.Tags: Edmund Fitzgerald, History, Lake Superior, Social Studies
add a comment
The Edmund Fitzgerald sank November 10, 1975 during a horrific storm on Lake Superior. My Albert Lea seventh graders learned about the Fitz during a month-long water unit (see our classroom below). For part of our unit, we read about the sinking and watched a video about the possible reasons the Fitz went down. While the mystery surrounding
the sinking makes the Fitz inherently interesting, it would have been much easier (and so much more engaging) to teach about the Fitz now.
The YouTube video for Gordon Lightfoot’s song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” would be a great introduction for the lesson. The website S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald Online would allow students to explore aspects of the ship and its crew of interest to them. With crew profiles, a time line of the ship, weather maps about this storm, and more, this would be a great introductory site to explore. NOAA (The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration) has a great overview of the maritime weather on the night the Fitz sank and as an extension, we could explore NOAA’s current Marine weather reports.
Also as part of our water unit, we studied the Apostle Islands. If we were interested in linking the sinking of the Fitzgerald to shipwrecks in the Apostles, this section of Wisconsin’s Great Lakes Shipwrecks site would be quite helpful.
It would have been easier to engage students now, and the experiences would be so much more rich.
“Museum Monday” returns (on a Tuesday): The Sceince Museum of Minnesota July 7, 2009
Posted by Wendy Wolfe in Games & Simulations, Museum Monday, Uncategorized, Web resources.Tags: Games, History, Science Museum of Minnesota, Titanic
add a comment
The Science Museum of Minnesota is a great organization and even if you’re not in Saint Paul, in addition to exploring some supporting information about the current Titanic exhibit, it has some great online learning activities to explore. For the health or biology class, explore what makes you sick with “Disease Detectives,” “Habits of the Heart,” and “Tissues of Life” and history meets science in the “Maya Adventure.” There are also science experiments for children at home, interactive lessons on sound, animals, insects, and more.
Every age group could easily enjoy exploring these resources, I wish science could have been this fun when I was a student!
Enjoy the museum!
