Published in the United States of America by Cherry Lake Publishing Ann Arbor Michigan www cherrylakepublishing com Consultants Neal Lopinot Director Research Professor Center for Archaeological Research Missouri State University Marla Conn ReadAbility Inc Editorial direction Red Line Editorial Book design and illustration Design Lab Photo Credits Shutterstock Images cover 1 Frank O Braynard Collection AP Images 5 Raymond Wong National Geographic Image Collection Glow Images 6 National Geographic Society Corbis 8 17 Dorling Kindersley Thinkstock 11 12 18 North Wind Picture Archives 15 Department of Antiquities AP Images 21 Adept Technology Inc Globe Newswire AP Images 22 US Coast Guard 27 29 Copyright 2015 by Cherry Lake Publishing All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Amstutz Lisa J author The science of a shipwreck by Lisa J Amstutz pages cm Disaster science Audience Age 11 Audience Grades 4 to 6 Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-1-63137-627-6 hardcover ISBN 978-1-63137-672-6 pbk ISBN 978-1-63137-717-4 pdf ebook ISBN 978-1-63137-762-4 hosted ebook 1 Marine accidents Investigation Juvenile literature 2 Shipwrecks Juvenile literature I Title VK199 A47 2015 910 4’52 dc23 2014004033 Cherry Lake Publishing would like to acknowledge the work of The Partnership for 21st Century Skills Please visit www p21 org for more information Printed in the United States of America Corporate Graphics Inc July 2014 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lisa Amstutz specializes in nonfiction for children The Science of a Shipwreck is her eighteenth book and her work has appeared in a variety of magazines as well Lisa enjoys learning fun facts about science and history to share with kids Her background includes a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in environmental science
TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 The Titanic Disaster 4 CHAPTER 2 How Ships Float 10 CHAPTER 3 How Ships Sink 14 CHAPTER 4 Studying Shipwrecks 20 CHAPTER 5 Making Ships Safer 26 TOP FIVE WORST SHIPWRECKS 30 LEARN MORE 31 GLOSSARY 32 INDEX 32
21st century skills library 4 The Titanic Disaster chapter 1 As long as people have traveled by sea there have been shipwrecks One of the most famous happened in 1912 the sinking of the Titanic Its builders called the ship practically unsinkable Sixteen watertight sections inside its hull could be sealed off if needed Up to four of them could flood without sinking the ship Bands played and crowds cheered as the huge ship pulled away from the dock in England for its first voyage
disaster science 5 At the time it was built the Titanic was considered one of the safest most modern ships in the world Disaster struck four days into the journey The night of April 14 1912 was dark and calm The Titanic steamed ahead By the time Captain Edward Smith’s lookout spotted an iceberg in the ship’s path it was too late The iceberg tore into the ship’s hull and the Titanic began taking on water The crew began loading the lifeboats but the lifeboats could only hold about half the ship’s passengers who totaled more than 2,200 In the
