Scholastic, 1991

Summary: The sea battle that resulted in the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck is recreated, personalized by the recollections of four survivors. The search strategies and technologies that resulted in the discovery of the wreck nearly 50 years later comprise the second half of the book. Exciting paintings and photographs, informative diagrams, and clarifying maps abound.

Level: Grades 5-7

Themes:

World War II;
Underwater;
Archaeology

Activities:

1. Make a web of the resources that you know from scrutinizing Ballard's book that he used to reconstruct the history of the battleship Bismarck. Add, in another color, other resources he could have and probably did use, but that are not clearly referred to. (Make a trial web first, so you can categorize several resources together under a more general heading.) [Information skills: listing, categorizing, evaluating information and authority, scanning and skimming/Thinking skills: knowledge, comprehension, analysis]

2.a. Examine The Discovery of the Bismarck, a more in-depth account of both the Bismarck's final battle and her discovery, also by Robert Ballard. Compare this book with Exploring the Bismarck. First, describe in writing the kinds of comparisons that can be made of these two accounts, including WHY certain things were added, left out, etc. Discuss and choose, depending on number of students involved. The discussion should include a plan of how the comparison shall be carried out. The comparison should then be completed and analyzed and a report written or presentation made.

b. Choose a book on another topic, either an archaeological or an historical account. Describe how you would modify it if you were planning to publish a similar work for a younger audience. Use some of the strategies that Ballard used if they are appropriate to your book. Be specific - give examples of what you mean. For instance........... [Information Skills: Inquiry and planning skills, interpretation, organization, communication/Thinking Skills: comprehension, analysis, synthesis, evaluation]

3a. When the sunken Bismarck was discovered, the paint had peeled from the forward deck, revealing a huge Nazi symbol. Why had it been painted over? Find out the names, meanings, and history of this symbol. Keep written track of the key words you use and the resources you explore. Prepare a page about this symbol, including photocopies or sketches of how it was used. Conference with your teacher or librarian about your search strategy.

b. Find out about one more of the pictured symbols. Try to improve your search strategy - again keeping written track of key words and resources. Prepare a page as you did before, and include a definition of symbol. Add a symbol to those pictured for other students to choose to research. Conference again. [Information Skills: Inquiry and pre-search skills, reference section skills, organization and production skills/Thinking skills: knowledge, application, evaluation]

4. Ballard used many kinds of 'visuals', including paintings and photographs, video screens and posters, maps and charts and sequential diagrams. Notice the helpful keys and captions that aid your understanding and invite you to explore the visual more closely. Look at the diagram on page 48. This is a comparison diagram, showing the depth of the ocean where the Bismarck sank compared to very high man-made structures such as the Empire State Building. Skim this book for statistics that have not been illustrated, such as the ship was a sixth of a mile long, the length of three soccer fields. Choose one that lends itself to a comparison diagram. Create an appropriate diagram, with a short, helpful caption, and other aids as needed, such as a scale or a key. (You may get some ideas from In One Day - see bibliography below. [Information skills: skimming and scanning skills, interpretation, production skills/Thinking skills: comprehension, application, analysis]

5. Collect sequential accounts of the August 1992 damage to the QE II off the New England shoreline. Make a mini-book, using Exploring the Bismarck as a model, of this disaster. Include as many visuals as would be helpful to the reader. Be sure to include credits - where you got your information for each visual. [Information skills: location and selection, organization, production skills/Thinking skills: knowledge, comprehension, application ,synthesis]

Resources

Ballard, Robert D. The Discovery of the Bismarck. Warner, 1990. An in-depth account of the final battle of the Bismarck and her discovery.

_____________. Exploring the Titanic. Scholastic, 1988.

_____________. The Lost Wreck of the Isis. Scholastic.

Macdonald, John. Great Battles of World War II. Macmillan, 1986. Descriptions and illustrations of major battles of the Second World War.

Parker, Tom. In One Day. Houghton Mifflin, 1984. A sampler of daily American statistics accompanied by scale drawings and contrasting analogies.

Great Plains National/Nebraska ETV Network. Reading Rainbow Sunken Treasure. Techniques for finding a Spanish Galleon off the Florida coast are contrasted with a video of Robert Gallant's search for the Titanic. Includes a taped interview with Gallant describing how he designed equipment to get inside the Titanic.

Prepared by Audrey Conant, Wayne Elementary School

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