Navvies
Key Stage 2Introduction
This lesson explores how the canals were built, the people who built them and the techniques involved in keeping them watertight.National Curriculum
Science
- The pupils will give reasons, based on evidence from comparative and fair tests, for the particular uses of everyday materials, including metals, wood and plastic
History
- The pupils will carry out a local study
- The pupils will study a significant turning point in British history
Learning Objectives
- To understand the principle of a fair scientific test.
- To understand the meaning of the word 'permeability'.
- To design a fair test to investigate the water permeability of different materials.
- To draw conclusions about which materials would have been best for lining the bottom and sides of a canal to make it watertight.
Differentiation
- All children will learn that some materials are more permeable than others.
- Most children will learn the principles of a fair test, and which material was most watertight.
- A few children will learn that the most watertight material was the most suitable for lining canals, and why it was chosen by the navigators for this purpose.
Additional Resources
| File Description | Download |
|---|---|
| For historical background on the role of navvies in canal building we also have a Navvies Information Sheet | Download 2020 fact sheet KS2 navvies rev Dec 2020 |