History – My Family and Friends: Local Transport Now and Then

OBJECTIVES:

To investigate local transport and to find out how it has changed over time.

RESOURCES:

Transport Survey | Local Transport Fact File | Assignment 1

Vocabulary:

Assignment

This lesson works towards Assignment 1. Please access Assignment 1 for details about what you will need to submit to your child’s tutor.

What to Get Ready

In this lesson, you will need a copy of your Transport Survey from the last lesson as well as the Local Transport Fact File. You may find it helpful to access your local museum or the museum website, which should show the types of transport that people have used in your local area in the past.

Introduction

Last lesson, you conducted a survey to find out the most popular forms of transport in your local area.

Today, you will be comparing transport from now with transport that people used in the past.

Main Activity

Think about the transport survey that you conducted last lesson:

Can you remember the different ways that people travel in our local area?
Which was the most popular?
Why do they use these methods of transport, do you think?
What did transport use to look like here 100 years ago?

Apply

Now print off the Local Transport Fact File. You will need your transport survey to help you here.

Filling in the boxes:

List the transport that you saw on your survey in the ‘Most popular transport in my local area’ box.
Draw a picture of the transport that you saw the most times on your survey for ‘Transport now’.
Underneath, draw a picture of transport that people used in your local area, perhaps 100 years ago. You may need to visit your local museum or website to find this information out.
At the bottom, write some facts about transport in the past. For example: We used horses and carts in our local area 100 years ago. You can still see the stable block in our town today.

Discuss with your child:

What is the same between transport now and then?
What is different between transport now and then?
Which do (or would) they prefer to use? Why?
What fuel do each use? Are they good for our environment?
Does the transport need an animal to help it move? What do you think about that?
Why do you think transport has changed?

Challenge

Are you able to visit or sit on an old method of transport? Maybe an old steam engine or a narrowboat?

What does it:

look like?
feel like?
smell like?
sound like?

What to Notice

While they are doing this activity, remember to praise your child for the skills they are using.

For example:

“You noticed that the steam engine needed a lot of coal to help it move.”

“You asked the museum staff questions about transport really clearly - nicely done!”