The city of the ‘troubles’

but also the city of the solutions

but also the city of the solutions

at least in the shipyards

at least in the shipyardswhere the Titanic was builtTitanic

One of the greatest shipsever builtand

one of the most famous for sure

During this lesson you will learn:

• The transition between the First Industrial Revolution and the Second one through one of the shipbuilding highlights.

• The achievements in communication in the early 20th century.

• The accurate names of the parts of a ship and some differents types and names of them in the context of the World War I.

Oops!

• You need to remember some basic contents of Geography, such as latitude, climates and currents circulation.

But don’t panic!

The captain is hereto help you

and you can usethe lifebelt

at any moment

if you feel you’re drowning

(Just in case)

Come on!Welcome aboard!

Take it easy!

and reflect on the new news you are about to come across

1The Titanic in her

context

One of the most important

devices developed

during the First Industrial

Revolution was the steam engine

It was applied to transports

Boats and ships as well

At the beginning of the C 20th the oil engine and the electric

engine alike were already developed

but the big ships were still moved forward thanks to coal

and steam enginesas the engine that moved the Titanic’s propellers did

In the years prior to WW1 (1914-1918), European

countries didn’t trust each other in spite of being linked through a net of strategical

agreements

One cause was the race for reaching the most colonies

they could get for serving their own industrialization processes

After the Seven Years War (18th C), Britons ruled the seas and weren’t surpassed by any

other country in the ocean trade

But European armies and navies started to challenge to

each other during the‘Armed Peace’

in which the first dreadnought was built

The Great War was coming. The sinking of the Lusitania

(1917) was the turning point of the war because the USA

entered in it

2The sinking of the

Titanic

The Titanic was travelling from Portsmouth to New York. The

latitude of NY is 40° N, the same latitude as Toledo and

Lisbon

Due to the Labrador cold current, flowing southward,

the presence of icebergs (chunks of a glacier) is more

likely to be found in this latitude and not in front of

Lisbon

where the Gulf Warm Current flows northward and produces a mild oceanic climate instead of the continental and more

extreme climate that we find in New York

The hull could not resist the crash against the iceberg. By using a radio (recently

invented by Marconi and firstly trialed in Belfast) some of the passengers were saved by the

California

In a few hours, the impressive ship was a shipwreck

3Tasks

• In groups of three, compare the successes and the failures of different ocean expeditions:– The First trip of Columbus to America.– The trip of the Mayflower.– The Titanic.

• Try to answer these questions:– Would the Titanic have had the same influence on History if she

had reached her destination?– Is there any reason for the difference between their sucesses and

failures? Explain your answer.– How long did each of them spend in crossing the North Atlantic?

• Search and contrast the way of publishing the news of a catastrophe:– The last Concorde flight and the maiden voyage of

the Titanic.– Try to focus your view in:• Presence in press and dates.• Consequences .• Changes in technology.

• Do a writing on the last day of the Titanic as if you were:– A first class passenger.– A third class passenger.

• Tip: you can get inspiration from the James Cameron movie.

• Use the accurate names of the parts of a ship.

• Locate the Titanic in her technological and political context by doing an outline of the lesson.

Do your best!