Industrial Revolution: Transport

Full lesson, designed for use with KS3 students to look into how new forms of transport developed during the Industrial Revolution.

Begins with a starter task, asking students to guess how long it would take to get from Manchester to London using various means of transport (modern day). Students are then asked to think about which method they would prefer to use and why. This starts them thinking about pros and cons of different types of transport (e.g., cost, speed etc…)

This is then compared to how long this journey would take in the 1800s using the three main different forms of transport the lesson is focused on: roads, canal and railway.

This is followed by teacher input, introducing them to what transport was like pre-revolution, and explaining how and why the road system developed during the 1800s.

Students’ first task is then to complete a mini series of annotated diagrams to show how roads improved at different stages.

They will then be given some information on the development of canals and railways, along with some maps to be shown on the board to display the extensive-ness of these networks in Britain. Students can then be asked to highlight ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ of each form of transport on their information sheet, to be discussed as a class afterwards.

The final slide includes links to three BBC videos on each form of transport, to be used as necessary depending on time remaining.

Includes lesson PowerPoint, two task worksheets and an information sheet. All can be edited to adjust lesson if desired.