KS2 History: Alexander Graham Bell

Video summary

This short film is for teachers and review is recommended before use in class.

Alexander Graham Bell tells the story of his life and describes how he invented the telephone.

Told in the first person, and brought to life with a mix of drama, music and animation.

As a boy, Bell was fascinated by sound; he grew up with a mother who was almost deaf, and a father who helped deaf people to speak.

He and his brother came up with a machine that could (almost) replicate the human voice.

When he was asked to work on ways to improve the telegraph machine, Bell hit upon another idea.

He thought that rather than sending a code along an electrical wire, it might be possible to send the actual sound of a human voice along a wire.

With the help of a man called Watson they built a device that just might work.

An accident proved him right, and the telephone was born.

This clip is from the series True Stories.

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Teacher Notes

Questions to consider whilst watching the film

Depending on the focus of your lesson, you may wish to ask the following questions after the video or pause the short film at certain points to check for understanding.

  • Why was Bell interested in how sound works from an early age?
  • What challenge was set by his father? Was Bell successful in meeting that challenge?
  • What did Bell do before he became an inventor?
  • What was the telegraph machine and why was Bell asked to improve it?
  • Why did Bell need the help of Watson?
  • How did Bell’s first telephone work?
  • What were the first words spoken by Bell on his telephone?
  • Do you agree with Bell when he said that ‘the world now simply couldn't do without’ the telephone?

Learning activities to explore after the video

History is a subject which can lend itself to a wide range of cross-curricular links. As a teacher, you will have a greater awareness of how this topic may act as stimulus for learning in other subjects.

For example, this clip could be used to provide the content for a group role-play activity on the life of an inventor, such as Alexander Graham Bell. The groups could be given a storyboard while watching the film to plot each key stage of an inventor's life. Pupils could then use this to prepare and rehearse a play on the making of an inventor and perform to the class. This would help pupils to empathise with a historic character and engage with the finer details of the era.

The video could also be used to develop the children’s historical knowledge and understanding. It is possible for there to be some follow-up activity solely on Bell himself, but for a full lesson it is likely that the study will need to move beyond one person and explore the subsequent history of telephones. If you wish to focus on Bell, this Bitesize guide has further information and visual sources about Alexander Graham Bell and it raises the interesting question, 'Was Alexander Graham Bell really the first person to invent the telephone?'

Key Question: How has the telephone changed over 150 years?

Chronological understandingThere are opportunities here to develop the pupils’ chronological understanding and this activity will provide an overview for the main activity below. An internet search will provide timelines and images showing the evolution of the telephone over the last 150 years, which can be used for an activity in which pupils sequence a wide range of images along a timeline, and identify some of the key turning points in terms of telephone design.

Concept of change and continuity
With the whole class having an overview of the history of telephones, the pupils could then research the key developments. Either one group could look at one development, or within a group, each individual pupil could research a different one. The topics for exploration could be as follows:

  • The first telephones
  • The public call box
  • The move from switchboard operation to subscriber trunk dialling
  • Developments in the home landline telephone: the rotary dial to push button; the move to cordless telephones
  • The first mobile phones
  • The smartphone

For each of these topics, the pupils would need to identify how each innovation improved the telephone. As a concluding plenary activity, once the class has knowledge of each of the developments, they could evaluate which is the most significant improvement.

Curriculum Notes

Learning aims or objectives

England

From the history national curriculumPupils should:

  • develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, establishing clear narratives within and across the periods they study.
  • understand historical concepts such as continuity and change.

Northern Ireland

From the statutory requirements for Key Stage 2: The World Around UsPupils should be enabled to explore:

  • Change over time in places.

Teaching should provide opportunities for children as they move through Key Stages 1 and 2 to progress:

  • from identifying similarities and differences to investigating similarities and differences, patterns and change.
  • from sequencing events and objects on a time line in chronological order to developing a sense of change over time and how the past has affected the present.

Links can be made with the other learning areas:

  • Language and Literacy: researching and expressing opinions and ideas about people and places in the world around us, past, present and future.

Scotland

From the Experiences and Outcomes for planning learning, teaching and assessment ofSecond Level Social Studies:

  • I can investigate a Scottish historical theme to discover how past events or the actions of individuals or groups have shaped Scottish society.
  • I can discuss why people and events from a particular time in the past were important, placing them within a historical sequence.

Wales

From the new Humanities Area of Learning and Experience
School curriculum design for History should:

  • develop rich content across the time periods, through which learners can develop an understanding of chronology through exploring … change and continuity.

Principles of progression
Descriptions of learning for Progression Step 2

Enquiry, exploration and investigation inspire curiosity about the world, its past, present and future:

  • I have experienced a range of stimuli, and had opportunities to participate in enquiries, both collaboratively and with growing independence.

Human societies are complex and diverse, and shaped by human actions and beliefs:

  • I can identify aspects of life in my community that have changed over time.
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