Section 1: Who lived here in 1841?
Ask the children to find 1841 on the class time line. Ask them who they think might have lived in the local area in 1841 and how they could find this information. Introduce the idea of a census, and discuss what information might be on it. Give the children copies of a census return and ask them to list the headings under which information is collected.
Give the children returns from 1841 for the local area. Ask them to record the name and one other field of data (age, occupation, place of origin, size of family). Discuss with the children their findings, helping them to identify patterns and draw conclusions about the area in 1841.
Ask children to produce graphs for fields they have investigated.
View related objectives and outcomes
Section 2: Who lived and worked here in 1891? What has changed since 1841 and why?
Give children census returns from 1891, and ask them to research the same fields as in the previous activity. Ask them to list findings to report to the class.
Discuss with children what has changed since 1841. Are any of the same families still living in the same homes? Are there more people living in the area who were born elsewhere? Have people's occupations changed? Discuss why some of these changes might have taken place, encouraging the children to speculate on the basis of their own knowledge.
Let the children see pictures showing changes in transport and industry in the Victorian period and ask the children to describe some of the main changes at a national level.
Show them pictures of transport and industry in the local area in the Victorian period, eg railway stations, canals, mills, factories.
Discuss with the children whether changes in transport or changes to industry were the most important in their local area.
View related objectives and outcomes
Section 3: How did the arrival and expansion of the railways affect our area?
Tell children about the arrival of the railways in the locality, or the nearest point to the locality. Discuss how they might have affected people living in the area, who would have benefited and who would have lost out. Ask children to compare maps from 1841 and 1891, eg number of houses, number of streets, site of railway line or station.
Divide the children into groups. Give each group the name of a family in the census in 1891, and ask them to consider, and make a list of, the benefits and disadvantages of the railways to that family.
Give each child a role card stating a person's name, occupation and point of view about the proposed building of a railway through the locality. Ask the children to prepare arguments that they can role-play in a debate.
Organise a class debate and vote on whether or not they favour the building of the railway.
View related objectives and outcomes
Section 4: What evidence of Victorian times remains in our area?
Explain the characteristic features of Victorian buildings, eg typical windows, doors, roofs, building materials, showing pictures of local examples. Explain about the expansion/decrease in local population during the Victorian period. Discuss with the children where Victorian buildings might be found, using local maps.
Arrange a visit to look at local Victorian buildings. Ask the children to record the external features of buildings, eg by sketching, taking photographs, recording on video.
On their return to school, show children pictures of the same buildings in the nineteenth century. Ask them to identify those that have remained as they were, those that have changed, and how they have changed, eg replacement doors, windows, conversion, cladding. Discuss with the children reasons why the buildings might have been changed.
View related objectives and outcomes
Section 5: How did life change in our locality in Victorian times?
Discuss with the children what they have learnt about their locality in Victorian times. Focus on the main changes that occurred in the locality over the period and the causes and effects of these changes. Use flow diagrams, other charts and a collection of pictures to illustrate what they discuss.
Identify categories, eg population, place of origin of inhabitants, occupations and sources of employment, buildings.
Ask the children to choose one of the categories and use a range of sources to find out about and summarise the changes that took place.
View related objectives and outcomes
|
