St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School

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Values Project - Lesson Plan Title:

The Building of the Great Western Railway

Subject:
Geography

Keywords:
Great Western Railway

Resources:
Oxford Geography Project Book1,pp 62-63.

Year Group:
    7

Values:
Justice and Stewardship

Teaching and Learning Styles:
Map Work, Group discussion, class discussion.

Context in which the lesson is set After a unit of work on map skills in the first half term we cover the topic of settlement and shopping using the Oxford Geography Programme as our core text. We then follow with a unit covering an in-depth study of the growth of Bristol as an example of the growth of settlements. Integral to this is fieldwork, following a trail on foot to observe and begin to analyse the areas of change and type of activity now found in the centre of Bristol. The docks field work is a half day and is combined with a boat trip around the city docks.

Following this a look at transport development and our understanding of the earth's shape & distances is taught.
What the lesson is about Investigating the growth of the Great Western Railway (GWR), its route & the factors, both human & physical that affected the choice of that route. The implications of the development of new transport routes
Expected outcomes Knowledge & understanding:
The location & development of the GWR. The physical landscape through which the railway runs. The issues considered at the time & the people affected by the building of the railway, for better and for worse.
Skills
Plotting the route of the railway on an outline map. Matching cause & effect. Identifying issues
Details of Teacher and Pupil Activities

These activities can be covered in one lesson.


The teacher introduces the development of rail transport in the 19th century & the desire to link London with the Port of Bristol to encourage trade for Bristol's docks. Pupils read page 63 and answer Questions 1 & 2a & b. The questions can than be reviewed verbally. Which was better for the railway company & why? (15 mins)


Explain that the building of any transport route will benefit some but others will lose out. There are issues of fairness (justice) and care for the environment (stewardship).
In pairs work with a set of cards. The yellow cards (numbers) show an issue or conflict, the pink cards (letters) show an event or action resulting from this or relating to this. Look for examples of fairness/unfairness & environmental issues. Allow extension card sets to those who are able (10 mins).
Draw together & share findings:


Justice
How was the development of the railways a benefit to people (in Bristol, London and towns on route?)
Who was against the railway and why?
Can you give examples of fair/unfair responses to concerns?
Could a better answer be found?

Stewardship
What environmental issues did the railways bring?
How were they dealt with?
Questions on board, answer in books.
Justice
a) In what ways(s) was the building of the GWR fair or unfair?
b) What could be done to improve this?
Stewardship
a) What environmental issues or conflicts were there with the building of the GWR?
b) How were these environmental issues dealt with? Were they good solutions?

GWR Matching Cards. Teacher note.
Differentiate
Mainstream: 1,2,6,9,10,12 and J,F, L,H,A,G.
Extension: 3,4,5,7,8,11 and E,I,C,D,B,K.
Matches
1-L,2-J,3-E,4-I,5-C,6-F,7-D,8-B,9-H,10-A,11-K,12-G
Justice: Fair/unfair issues
Card nos. 2,5,6,8,10,11,12

Stewardship: Environmental issue/conflicts
Card nos. 1,3,4,7,9
Extension Work Further lessons in this series.