Language Arts Virtual Classroom - Home



-----------------------

Mills Park Middle School Reading Article

Mark It Up Monday: What Really Happened to the Titanic?

Instructions: COMPLETE ALL QUESTIONS AND MARGIN NOTES

Questions: Answer in COMPLETE SENTENCES unless otherwise instructed. Lists and charts are the exception and may be answered in phrases.

Read the following article carefully and make notes in the margin as you read.

Your notes should include:

o Comments that show that you understand the article. (A summary or statement of the main idea of important sections may serve this purpose.)

o Questions you have that show what you are wondering about as you read.

o Notes that differentiate between fact and opinion.

o Observations about how the writer’s strategies (organization, word choice, perspective, support) and choices affect the article.

Your margin notes are part of your score for this assessment.

Student _________________________________Class Period______________________

Notes on my thoughts, reactions and questions as I read:

What Really Happened to the Titanic?

Scientists have a new theory about the tragic April night 100 years ago

[pic]

The Titanic was the largest ship in the world in its time. (Universal Images Group / Getty Images)

One hundred years after the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic on April 14, 1912, experts are still debating what caused the tragedy. Now, new research by British historian Tom Maltin points to an unusual optical illusion that may have hidden the iceberg that caused the Titanic’s deadly crash.

Maltin read weather records, testimony from survivors, and the ship’s logs to research his theory. The Titanic, he says, sailed from warm Gulf Stream waters into the freezing Labrador Current. There, the air column was cooling from the bottom up, creating layers of cold air below layers of warmer air. This is called a thermal inversion.

The thermal inversion, Maltin says, caused light to refract, or bend, abnormally downward. The refraction created mirages: Objects appeared higher—and therefore nearer—than they actually were, before a false horizon.

The area between the false horizon and the real horizon appeared as haze. The iceberg was hidden in the haze, so those aboard the Titanic didn’t see it until the ship was about to collide with it. As Titanic First Officer William McMaster Murdoch recalled, “That iceberg came right out of the haze.” But by that time, the Titanic was too close to avoid hitting it.

Shortly before the Titanic hit the iceberg, it sailed into the view of another ship, the Californian. But the refraction of the light made it appear too near and too small to be the Titanic—the largest ship in the world at the time. The Californian signaled the Titanic by Morse lamp, which uses flashes of light to send signals. The Titanic, now in trouble, also signaled the Californian by Morse lamp. But the thermal inversion disrupted the signals and the distress rockets the Titanic shot into the air. The Titanic finally sank at 2:20 a.m. local time on April 15.

Although some experts agree with Maltin’s theory, others say the Titanic sank simply because it ignored several warnings of heavy ice and because it was going too fast in dangerous waters. Whatever the cause, people remain fascinated with the Titanic, and researchers and historians will likely come up with new theories for years to come.

[pic]

PHOTO: An optical illusion may have hidden the iceberg that destroyed the Titanic. (Ocean Memorabilia Collection / The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY)

MAP: The Titanic crashed where the warm Gulf Stream meets the Labrador Current in the Atlantic Ocean. (Jim McMahon)

Mills Park Middle School Reading Article

Mark It Up Monday: What Really Happened to the Titanic?

Notes on my thoughts, reactions and questions as I read:

Mills Park Middle School Reading Article

Think About It Tuesday: What Really Happened to the Titanic?

Answer each comprehension question.

1. On what month, date, and year did the Titanic sink?

2. List three types of historical documentation used to determine that an optical illusion may have hidden the iceberg from view.

3. Name the individual who was the First Officer of the Titanic.

4. Name the other ship that was in the vicinity of the Titanic when it sank.

2. Based on the context of the article, define each of the following terms and use each in a sentence.

thermal inversion

define:

sentence:

Morse lamp

define:

sentence:

mirages

define:

sentence:

Mills Park Middle School Reading Article

Think About It Tuesday: What Really Happened to the Titanic?

3. The information provided in the article suggests that the Californian signaled the Titanic and the Titanic signaled the Californian. Each had a purpose in sending those signals. Explain those purposes.

4. Nearly everyone you talk to will know something about the Titanic. The final paragraph of the article uses the term fascination to describe how people consider the Titanic. Why do you think people are so enthralled with the voyage of the Titanic? Answer in a paragraph.

-----------------------

Walters, J.M. What really happened to the Titanic? Scholastic News. April 13, 2012. Walters, J.M. What really happened to the Titanic? Scholastic News. April 13, 2012.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download