The Railway Revolution

Explore how the lives of people living in Britain changed thanks to the developments of steam engines and the growth of the railway network across the country.

Find out how steam engines work, the great breakthroughs made by industrialists and how the first underground railway was constructed.

This scheme of work for primary children in lower Key Stage 2 includes detailed lesson plans, engaging slides with images, maps, diagrams, graphs and tables of information for children to study as well as a range of worksheets and other printable activities.

Before the Railways

Imagine what life was like before cars, trains or aeroplanes! In this lesson, children are given a taste of what transport in Britain was like before the Industrial Revolution. They'll then consider some of the problems with the transport available at that time, as the need to transport goods and people grew rapidly.

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Steam Power!

The invention of the stationary steam engine changed everything! This lesson focuses on how the development of steam engines and better materials and technology meant that railways were soon to become a practical means of transport.

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The Railways are Coming!

Improvements in the design of steam engines meant they were finally small enough, powerful enough and reliable enough to be used to power locomotives. Find out all about the creation of the first passenger railways and how steam-power changed transport in Britain forever.

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Railway Mania

In this lesson, children will find out about how the railways rapidly spread across Britain, and consider how this new, fast, affordable mode of transport changed the lives of British people. As with all of these lessons, there's a choice of two activities, where children can explore the ideas shared on the included slides in greater depth.

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The Tube

Learn all about the extraordinary achievements of the engineers who built the world's first underground railway, and imagine what it must have been like for the first passengers in those dark, smoky, steam-filled tunnels!

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Now, and the Future

In this lesson, children will find out all about how the railways have continued to develop beyond the Industrial Revolution, up to the present day and beyond. After this, you have the option whether to challenge children to design a carriage for a future railway line or demonstrate what they have learned over the course of the lessons in this series.

View Lesson 6