Four kilometres below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean lies the most famous shipwreck in the world.
The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage on April 12, 1912, about 650 kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland.
More than 1,500 passengers and crew died after the supposedly “unsinkable” ocean liner hit an iceberg and sank.
Last year, scientists used sophisticated equipment to take very detailed photographs of the Titanic and the wreck site.
The photos were “stitched together” to provide an incredible visual record of every centimeter of the outside of the ship. Many of the photos will eventually be shown to the public.
Taking the photos was very expensive and risky because the wreck is in very deep and treacherous waters. Special remote cameras were used.
During the expedition more than $110-million worth of objects were brought up to the surface–about 6,000 objects including shoes, fine china and ship’s fittings.
The expedition, which cost at least $4-million, was organized by a company called RMS Titanic Inc.
Now, the company wants to be repaid for the expedition. Last week, a judge looked at the images to help decide how the company should get the money. She had already ruled that the company should be repaid. The images were used to show just how expensive and risky the expedition was—in other words, to prove that the company spent as much money as it says it did.
Some of the images were in 3-D so the judge, lawyers and visitors in the court had to wear 3-D glasses some of the time. Among the images they looked at were of some chain, some wooden items and the Captain Edward Smith’s private bathtub. Captain Smith died when he went down with his ship.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
Writing/Discussion Prompt
How do you think these images and artifacts will help us gain a better understanding of the Titanic?
Who, if anyone, should repay the company for the expedition?
Do you think this expedition was money well spent?
Reading Prompt
Read the title of the article, “Judge Looks At New 3-D Image of Titanic.” To understand this title, you need to have some background knowledge of who a judge is, what 3-D means, and what the Titanic is. Pick a friend, parent or teacher and explain how your background knowledge helps you to understand the title of the article.
Before reading the text:
1. Make predictions about what the article might be about.
After reading the text:
1. Were your predictions correct?
2. How did your background knowledge help you to understand the article?
Junior
Identify a variety of reading comprehension strategies and use them appropriately before, during, and after reading to understand texts (OME, Reading: 1.3).
Intermediate
Identify a variety of reading comprehension strategies and use them appropriately before, during, and after reading to understand increasingly complex texts (OME, Reading: 1.3).
Grammar Feature: Writing Numbers
When we write numbers, there are several rules that need to be followed. Four of the rules are:
1. Spell out numbers nine and under (e.g. one)
2. Numbers that are 10 or bigger should be written with numerals (e.g. 21)
3. Dates should be written with numerals (e.g. July 4, 2011)
4. Spell out any number that goes after a number written in numerals (e.g. 200-million)
Find all of the numbers that are written in the text and identify which rule they follow.
