Birth of the Railways: SDR200

Not only was the development of the steam engine locomotive a huge leap forward in engineering, but it revolutionised the way that people lived their lives ever since. From increased urbanisation to the standardising of time, railways changed societies at a global level in a similar way to the development of the internet. These resources teach children why the railway was invented through to some of its impact. There are a range of resources for each stage:

  • Main explanation video
  • Comprehension
  • Artefact focussed task
  • Digital skills task (linked to Spark resources)
  • An additional curriculum focussed task

The resources have not been written into a prescribed set of lessons; each school will have a different amount of time allocated to teach this. Instead, the resources offer teachers an opportunity to structure their time with the resources that best fit their needs.

A menu to choose from.

There is a teacher info button and five pages of resources, each linked from the hotspots below.


Click here to view the accessible version of this interactive content