Sinking of the Lusitania

By Kailey Webb, Jodi Samples, Shelby Parish, Maggie Dehnam, Caitlyn Webb

The goal of this escape room is for the students to plot the coordinates of where the Lusitania sank. The students will achieve this goal by examining primary resources (newspapers from when the Lusitania sank) and clues (poems created by the teacher) to find keywords that the students will give to the teacher to receive their first coordinate and “unlock” their next clue and primary resource. Students will use their new primary resource and clue to find their next set of keywords that will be told to the teacher for their final coordinate. Students will then be able to plot the coordinates for where the Lusitania sank on a map that shows them the relation of the ship to other ships and things at sea. This escape room is designed for students at a 5th grade level and is a great introduction to the topic of the Lusitania and other key events that took place during the first World War. In addition, this escape room allows students to get a brief introduction to primary resources and the benefits of using primary resources.

SS5H4 The student will describe U.S. involvement in World War I and post-World War I America.a. Explain how German attacks on U.S. shipping during the war in Europe (1914-1917) ultimately led the U.S. to join the fight against Germany; include the sinking of the Lusitania and concerns over safety of U.S. ships.

Step 1: Students will be presented with a manila folder that will have two primary resource documents and one clue in it. The students will need to read the clue and decipher what the clue is saying to determine what they are looking for in their primary resource. Students will then read their primary resource document and determine what the keywords that the clue asked them for. The students will come to the teacher and give the teacher their keywords. If they are correct, the students will be given another manila folder.

In 1915 on a Friday, The New York Tribune printed a tale Of the German Kaiser and the British watersAnd a group of letters on a ring from YaleThough unrelated to the Lusitania,These stories occurred on the same winter day.Words that began as “Light and Truth”,What now do these Yale rings say?

Clue 1

Primary Source 1

Primary Source 2

Step 2: In this manila folder students will have a coordinate, primary resource document, and a clue. The students will need to do what they did in the first step, which is to examine their clue and determine what the clue is asking for or telling them to do. Students will then examine their primary resource to find the keyword that the clue led them to. Students will come to the teacher and tell the teacher their keyword. If it is correct, the students will be presented with another manila folder.

In 1915 on a Friday, The Washington Times released the noticeOf the disaster that once was reported By the way of the wire to the Cunard lineAt this time a rumor was spreadThat the remains of a ship might not be there An unconfirmed announcement was made On what time that day?Coordinate 1: 51 degrees N (would be printed in large font on sheet of paper)

Clue 2

Primary Source 1

Primary Source 2

Step 3: In this manila folder the students will find another coordinate and a plotting graph that has ships and other items on it. The students will need to use the coordinates to plot the points on the graphing paper and determine where the Lusitania sank.

Both coordinates students found from their clues and primary resource documents and the plotting graph that they students received after solving their clues.

Need: Coordinate, graphing paper

Coordinate 2:

-8 degrees W (would be printed in large font on sheet of paper)

Plot the location where the Lusitania sank and you have Escaped! Congrats!

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