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TEKS: 3.3A

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Escape the Titanic

Your Mission: As you read the panels, use your knowledge of fractions to escape the sinking Titanic!

September 2021
By Karina Hamalainen; Illustrated by Nate Powell

12:00 p.m., April 10, 1912

You’re excited for your trip to America! You step onto the world’s biggest ship—the RMS Titanic. This is the first time she’ll sail.

A black-and-white drawing of a huge steam ship with the word "Titanic" written on its hull

You’re writing a story for The Daily Times newspaper. You’ll be traveling first-class for the next six days.

There will be tea, dancing, and games! What could go wrong? 

Black-and-white drawings of people drinking coffee, dancing, and playing games

7:00 P.M., April 14

You’ve been invited to dinner with Captain Smith tonight!

Black-and-white drawing of people sitting around a dinner table with a tablecloth and wineglasses

"I’ve never seen so much silverware in one place. I hope I use it all correctly."

A table setting with eight forks, seven knives, four spoons and six glasses

What is the total amount of silverware (forks, knives, and spoons)?

How many are forks?

What fraction of the total pieces are forks?

11:30 P.M., April 14 

After your meal, you walk on the deck with Captain Smith. Ten minutes later, you hear a shout.

Black-and-white drawings of a shocked-looking captain looking out at the ocean, and a ship crashing

"Did the ship just hit an iceberg?"

"Iceberg right ahead!"

You head belowdecks with Captain Smith and shipbuilder Thomas Andrews to inspect the ship’s inner hull for damage.

You learn that the Titanic has a design flaw: The bulkheads don’t go all the way to the ceiling. Water is spilling over from each bulkhead to its neighbor. Now, 5 of the 16 bulkheads are full! The ship is starting to tilt—filling the bulkheads even faster!

Drawing of a captain and another person standing at a control board and looking scared

"Water is leaking into the Hull. The bulkheads are filling up with water—They're not working like they should! "

"This is your captain: Ready the lifeboats!"

A drawing of a scared looking person turning around quickly from a board covered with dials

"We have maybe two hours before the titanic sinks!"

At this time, around 11:45 p.m., what fraction of the bulkheads are full of water?

12:15 A.M., April 15   

In the radio room, operator Jack Phillips is calling for help. He uses Morse code, a written language that uses dots and dashes to represent letters of the alphabet. There are two codes for help: “CQD” and “SOS.”

A drawing of a person tapping on a telegraph machine

"CQD CQD SOS . . . Come at once. We struck an iceberg. Sinking.

 -.-. --.- -.."

The messages "SOS" and "CQD" spelled out in Morse code.

What fraction of the symbols in “SOS” are dots?

What fraction of the symbols in “CQD” are dashes?

1:05 A.M., April 15

You rush to the lifeboats. Before you know it, a crew member helps you into Boat 6. It launches with only 28 people, many fewer than the 65 people it can carry. 

A drawing of people running around on a ship's deck, climbing into smaller boats

"In you go, Mrs. Brown!"

"Arrgh!"

A drawing of a big crowd of people in a small boat being tossed around on stormy ocean waves

Eventually, the crew launches all 14 wooden lifeboats, both emergency cutter boats, and 2 of the 4 collapsible boats. What fraction of the total boats were used?

3:30 A.M., April 15

You row away from the sinking ship. Later, you learn that 1,503 people were still on board. You see something in the distance. Soon you hear shouts. The crew of the RMS Carpathia heard the SOS signal. They’re here to rescue you! You escaped the Titanic!

"I was strolling on her deck barely two hours ago. Now she's slipping into the sea. I’m lucky to be alive. "

Write your own fraction of a set using any information on pages 14 through 19.

MATH TALK

How did the number of lifeboats play a role in this tragic event?

Searching For The Titanic
Watch a video about the Titanic.
Audio for Escape the Titanic
Listen to the read aloud audio for this article.
Fractions at the Bakery
Make fractions using tape diagrams to help serve customers loaves of bread.

Fractions of a Set

A fraction is a number that shows part of a whole. Sometimes the whole represents a set, or a group of objects. The denominator represents the total number of objects in the set. The numerator represents a specific number of those objects. 

Example

What fraction of the letters in the name Titanic are vowels?

Titanic
3 vowels
7 total letters

numerator  3/7  denominator

 

 

All About The Titanic

The numbers behind the tragedy of the “Unsinkable Ship”

  • At the time of its launch, the RMS Titanic was the largest moving humanmade object in the world! The Titanic set sail from England to New York City on April 10, 1912. But four days into its journey, the Titanic struck an iceberg. The iceberg tore gashes into the ship’s hull. Watertight compartments—called bulkheads—were supposed to keep the “unsinkable” ship afloat, even if there was a leak. But due to a design flaw, the ship’s bulkheads filled with water. The Titanic sank with about 1,500 people still on board. It was one of the greatest tragedies at sea of the 20th century.

The Sinking of the Titanic: 

  • April 14, 1912, 11:35 P.M.
    Iceberg is spotted, but it’s too late
  • 11:40 P.M.
    Titanic hits the iceberg
  • April 15, 1912, 12:15 A.M.
    First distress signals are sent
  • 12:20 A.M.
    Carpathia rushes toward Titanic
  • 12:45 A.M.
    First lifeboats are lowered
  • 2:18 A.M. 
    Front of Titanic dips under the water
  • 2:20 A.M. 
    Titanic fully sinks
  • 3:30 A.M.
    Carpathia crew rescues 706 survivors

Titanic by the Numbers

  • $7.5 million 
  • Cost to build the ship in 1912. In today’s dollars, that would be about $200 million! 
  • 52,310 tons
  • Weight of the massive ship
  • 175 Feet
  • Height from the ship’s bottom to the top of the steam funnels 
  • 26 miles per hour
  • Top speed of the ship

WORDS TO KNOW

  • Bulkhead: A tall, vertical wall in a ship that makes a watertight seal
  • Hull: The outer frame of a ship
  • Morse Code: A written language that uses dots and dashes to represent letters of the alphabet
  • Cutter Boat: A small sailing ship with a single mast, a tall pole with a sail
  • Collapsible Boat: A lifeboat with canvas sides that could be folded down for storage

Continue the Learning Journey

  • Play the game “Fractions at the Bakery” (above) to practice working with fractions.
  • Rewatch the video “Searching for the Titanic” (above). Then create a timeline of the history of the Titanic using the information in the video. Use the timeline on page 19 as an example. You can also add drawings or photos to your timeline!
  • Gather a set of similar items, like a box of crayons, buttons, or LEGO® bricks. Create different fractions of a set for your item based on their characteristics. For example, you may sort your buttons by the number of holes they have or small versus large. Create as many sets as you can, and write a fraction to represent each set.
Fractions
Fraction of a Set or Whole

Teaching Resources
Games (1)
Text-to-Speech