Industrial Revolution · 1825-1872

The railway age

In 1825 a steam locomotive pulls the first public train. Within fifty years railways cross continents from Britain to India, North America and Japan. Students trace the spread of the railway and how it changed time, travel and trade.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 1830 to AD 1872
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In 1825 a steam locomotive pulls the first public train. Within fifty years railways cross continents from Britain to India, North America and Japan. Students trace the spread of the railway and how it changed time, travel and trade.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Describe the first steam railways in Britain (1825-1830).
  • Trace how railways spread to Europe, the Americas and Asia by 1872.
  • Explain three ways railways changed daily life, such as standard time, travel and trade.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1830

The first lines

Open the map in 1830 and zoom in on northern England. Find Stockton, Darlington, Liverpool and Manchester. What do you think the first railways carried?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1840

Europe follows

Zoom out over Western Europe. The first lines opened near Brussels and Nuremberg in 1835, and between Amsterdam and Haarlem in 1839. Find these cities. Why did trading regions build railways early?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1872

Railways around the world

Open the map in 1872 and zoom out over the world. Find Bombay (first line 1853), Tokyo (1872) and the American West (coast to coast in 1869). Why did empires and new nations want railways?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Before railways, the fastest way to travel over land was by horse. How would a train change people's idea of distance?
  2. Towns once kept their own local time. Why did railways need everyone to use the same time?
  3. Railways let factory workers go to the seaside on cheap day trips. How did that change free time?
  4. Thousands of navvies dug cuttings and tunnels by hand. Who were they, and why is their work rarely remembered?
  5. In India the British built railways to move cotton, grain and troops. Who benefited most?
4

Game round

9 min

Play Abraham Lincoln in Rule History. Before he was president he worked as a lawyer for railway companies, and in 1862 he signed the Pacific Railway Act. Discuss: why did leaders see railways as the key to holding a country together?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.