Review some of the background information on the Titanic, its voyage, its passengers, and its crew. This will help to give life to the statistical research you will do in the project.

Explore a database of information on the passengers and crew of the Titanic. The suggested site actually has two databases, one for passengers and one for crew. Use the "Instructions for searching" link on each page to view the explanation of fields on each database. Pose questions to see what you can find here: Did any survivors share the same last name as you or your partner? How many children were on board? What percent of crew members survived? What nationalities were represented on the ship?

Using the database as a source, construct spreadsheet tables with appropriate graphs to illustrate each of the following statements about the titanic tragedy:

• More men survived than women.

• The rule "women and children first" was followed in loading the lifeboats.
  

On your spreadsheet, include an explanation of how the statistics can support these seemingly opposite statements. Turn in a copy of this completed spreadsheet to the instructor. (Make sure your name and your partner's name are on the sheet!)

Using the database as a source, construct spreadsheet table(s) with appropriate graph(s) to illustrate a topic of importance to you and your partner. Some possible ideas are focusing on percentage of survivors by class and/or gender and/or age ranges and/or nationalities. You may also focus on statistics for a specific group of people (women, children, or crew). These are simply examples; be creative and decide on a topic of your choice.

Prepare a 5 minute computer generated slide show presentation for class (6-10 slides) on the results of your webquest. Include one or two historical facts that you and your partner found interesting about the ship, voyage, passengers, and/or crew. Then move on to the research topic you selected. Include reasons for your topic choice, your data table(s) with chart(s) or graph(s), and your insights, explanations, conclusions, and/or comments. Turn in a handout copy of the slides of your presentation with a list of the references you and/or your partner used in completing the webquest. For each reference used, write a sentence or two describing how it helped you complete the webquest.