KS2 History: Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Video summary

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

Isambard Kingdom Brunel tells the story of his life. He shows how he became an engineer and tunneled through Box Hill to build the Great Western Railway.

The story is told in the first person, and brought to life with a mix of drama, movement, music and animation.

We see Brunel as a child being taught by his father, following his dream to become an engineer.

Brunel becomes chief engineer on a brand new railway, one that will for the first time transport people from place to place.

This gives Brunel the chance to prove to the world what he and engineering can achieve.

We see how a tunnel is dug through Box Hill, the two sides meeting in the middle perfectly.

We see the first time passengers board the train from London to Bristol.

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Teacher Notes

Before watching the film

When using this film, it may be helpful to observe that the Great Western Railway between London and Bristol was not the first passenger route, as this fact is not included. Eight years earlier than the opening of the Great Western Railway, in 1830, the first inter-city passenger service opened between Liverpool and Manchester. However, given the main activity suggested below, you may wish to withhold that information from the class initially and only disclose it in during the concluding phase of the lesson.

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.

  • What lesson did Brunel learn from his father?
  • Brunel was the Chief Engineer on the Great Western Railway. What did this mean he had to do?
  • Why were people at the time reluctant to travel by railway?
  • Why was the Box Hill tunnel such a great achievement for Brunel?

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. However, the suggestions below relate solely to ways of developing the children’s historical knowledge and understanding.

Key Question: Which of Brunel's achievements was the greatest?

Historical enquiry
This short film concentrates mainly on just one of Brunel’s achievements: the building of the Great Western Railway. However, that is but one of his many successes. There is another BBC Teach video on Brunel, which complements this one, particularly in the final section describing the SS Great Britain. Any classroom follow-up will provide an opportunity for pupils to develop their research skills by exploring some of Brunel’s other engineering feats.

The Royal Museum Greenwich has a brief biography of Brunel. This identifies a number of possible topics for further research:

  • Thames Tunnel
  • Clifton Suspension Bridge
  • Paddington Station
  • Steamships: SS Great Western and SS Great Britain

The class could be divided into groups to research one of these achievements and present their findings to the class. It would be helpful for the pupils to have a guide of what they need to cover before researching:

  • Describe Brunel’s achievement.
  • In what ways was this better than whatever existed before Brunel’s work?
  • Who would have benefited from this achievement?
  • For how long was this achievement used?

Once the class has all the information about Brunel’s achievements, these four (noted above), plus the Great Western Railway, could be ranked to decide which was his greatest achievement. When making decisions such as these, it is important to have clearly understood criteria. For this topic, there are two possible criteria, intimated in the questions above, though as a teacher you may wish to focus on just one:

  • Innovation - to what extent was Brunel’s achievement original? Here the pupils are deciding whether Brunel was doing something which others had also done or whether he is attempting something not achieved before.
  • Effects - would this achievement be for the benefit of just local people, or would it affect people nationally or even internationally. Was the achievement long lasting, continuing over a period of decades and is it still in use today?

Learning aims or objectives

England

From the History national curriculumPupils should:

  • understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims.

Northern Ireland

From the statutory requirements for Key Stage 2: The World Around UsLinks can be made to other Learning Areas:

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

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

  • from making first hand observations and collecting primary data to examining and collecting real data and samples from the world around them.

Scotland

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

  • I can use primary and secondary sources selectively to research events in the past.

Wales

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

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

Principles of progressionDescriptions of learning for Progression Step 2

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

  • I have been curious and made suggestions for possible enquiries and have asked and responded to a range of questions during an enquiry.
  • I have experienced a range of stimuli, and had opportunities to participate in enquiries, both collaboratively and with growing independence.
  • I can collect and record information and data from given sources…
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