Why did the British want an Empire?

This is the first in a short series of lessons focusing on the enquiry question: ‘Was the British Empire an empire to be proud of?’

The lesson is fully resourced with a variety of activities including:

• A stimulating picture collage starter task.
• Links to video clip introducing Elizabethan explorers.
• Discussion tasks on competing views on exploration and empire.
• Card sort / diamond 9 activity looking at the various reasons why Britain wanted an empire.
• Written tasks developing the skills of explanation and justification using the PEEL technique of paragraph writing.
• Short knowledge quiz plenary.