Titanic Topic

Science Lesson 2

How do Ships Float?

In this Titanic Buoyancy lesson for KS2 children, your class will explore buoyancy and why ships float when a paper clip sinks in water. Your Year 5 & Year 6 children will investigate the Archimedes Principle, buoyancy and water displacement as they find an answer to this question.

During their independent learning, they can then express what they have found out about buoyancy in relation to the Titanic, as well as carry out a practical investigation into water-tight bulkheads.

During the plenary, they will then use what they have learnt to explain why the Titanic sunk after an iceberg pierced holes in the side, filling the hull with water.

• Lesson plan
• Slides
• Activity ideas
• Differentiated worksheets
• Teacher notes
• Instructions cards

Science Lesson 3

Ice Melting Experiment

Practise planning and executing an investigation with your KS2 class as they plan an experiment to find out how salt affects ice as it melts. Challenge them to use their understanding of solids and liquids to explain what is happening.

During the teaching input, your class will find out how scientists today measure the melting ice caps and use this as the starting point for considering what can speed up or slow down ice melting.

They can choose an enquiry question to explore through practical experiments, making sure to follow scientific processes appropriately as they do so.

• Lesson plan
• Slides
• Activity ideas
• Teacher notes
• Differentiated worksheets

English Lesson 2

Creating Suspense and Action in Writing

Explore how authors use different writing devices and structures to build up to and create tension and suspense in their writing. Discuss different model texts with your class as they pick out devices and skills to use in their own writing of the next part of their recount. Why not try extending this lesson over a few more sessions to give your class the opportunity to really get to grips with each of the writing devices for this chapter?

English Lesson 3

Changing Mood in Writing

Challenge your class to use their learning from the previous two lessons to create a switch in moods as events unfold in the final chapter of their recounts. Discuss how the sentence structure and word choices can help the children as authors create a mood for their readers which matches the events happening to their character as they are rescued from the Titanic disaster.

English Lesson 4

Writing a Titanic Newspaper Report

In this Titanic News Report KS2 English lesson, your Year 5 or Year 6 children will explore how people all over the world found out about the Titanic disaster, and discuss how news reports convey important information. They will then be given the chance to analyse a televised news report in order to start planning and writing their own script for a Titanic news report, as if the technology were available at this time.

This ready-to-teach Titanic News Report lesson provides everything you need to challenge your class to create their own televised Titanic news reports, including a detailed lesson plan, a slideshow for the teaching input, differentiated activity ideas, and a range of printable resources to support your children as they write their scripts.

English Lesson 5

Recording a Titanic News Report

Put your class’s plans into action as they record their Titanic news broadcast as a either a televised or radio news report. Challenge them to think about the key differences in these two mediums and think about how to make the filming and editing process more efficient using a shot list. This lesson could be extended over several sessions to give your class the opportunity to really get to grips with filming and editing video or sound recordings.

English Lesson 6

Titanic Newspaper Report KS2

Download this ready-to-teach Titanic Newspaper Report KS2 English lesson to challenge your Year 5 or Year 6 class to analyse the advantages and disadvantages of different news mediums, before converting a script for a televised news report into a written Titanic newspaper report.

During the teaching input (using the included slideshow to guide you and your class through the learning), your children will discuss how the differences in the audience and medium of a report can change the way it is written, as well as explore the features of a newspaper report.

Your class are then challenged to write their own Titanic newspaper reports, drawing on everything they have learnt. You can do this over one session or extend it out across several sessions to give children more time to get stuck into their reports.

History Lesson 2

Titanic Historical Sources

Explore Titanic sources of information with your KS2 class in this ready-to-teach History lesson for Year 5 & Year 6 children as they learn how we know about the Titanic and explore the reliability of different sources. The lesson starts by challenging your class to think about all the different sources they could use to find out about the Titanic, then goes on to explore what primary and secondary sources are, and the type of information that can be found out from each. It also helps consider the accuracy of information from different sources.

They then have the opportunity to explore lots of Titanic sources for themselves, including artefacts, newspaper reports, telegrams, letters, recounts and more! They will consider what they can and can't learn from these sources, and pose questions for further learning.

History Lesson 3

Inside the Titanic

Take a step into the passengers’ shoes as you venture inside the Titanic and investigate the facilities on board for the different classes. During the teaching input for this Inside the Titanic KS2 History lesson, your class will have the chance to take a peek into what the interior of Titanic was like, and how the experiences on board were different depending on your class and wealth.

During their independent learning, your Year 5 or Year 6 children can carry out some further research into what life was like inside the Titanic using a variety of sources, collating their findings in a variety of ways. Alternatively, they can read some fictional letters from passengers aboard the famous ship to create passenger profiles.

History Lesson 4

Titanic Passengers

Introduce your class to some of the Titanic passengers on board the famous ship in this ready-to-teach KS2 History lesson for Year 5 and Year 6. During the teaching input, the included slideshow presentation will pose some questions about the Titanic's passengers and how we know about them, before looking in more detail at some famous Titanic passengers, including Captain Smith, Margaret Brown and Thomas Andrews.

They can then go on to carry out their own research about Titanic passengers for themselves, presenting the information as a fact file, social media profile or biography. Alternatively, they can hot seat being different Titanic passengers based on what they have found out.

History Lesson 5

Who is to blame?

Who is to blame for the sinking of the Titanic? Allow your class to explore and investigate the different reasons that were uncovered during official inquiries for the Titanic’s sinking. Focusing on the huge and unnecessary loss of life in the disaster, have your class debate over who, or what, was to blame for so many people losing their life when the Titanic sank.

This ready-to-teach lesson comes with a detailed lesson plan with differentiated activity ideas, a slideshow for the teaching input, and a range of printable resources to help your class answer the question, 'Who is to blame for the sinking of the Titanic?'

History Lesson 6

Titanic's Legacy

Download this Titanic Legacy KS2 History lesson for Year 5 and Year 6 to explore with your class what changed in the maritime industry after the sinking of the Titanic. Your class will have the chance to look into the different ways ships have been made safer for people on board and measures that were put in place to ensure this kind of disaster could be prevented in future. Your children will also be asked to reflect on why the changes were made and whether the changes would still have been made if the Titanic hadn’t sunk.

The final lesson in this Titanic History series comes ready to teach with an easy-to-follow lesson plan, a slideshow for the teaching input, differentiated activity ideas and a range of printable resources to support children as they learn about the legacy of the Titanic.