Make a Victorian timeline

Inspired by the theme of the Victorians, this activity supports the teaching of design and technology in context by looking at the key events that defined the Victorian era, and how they have influenced engineering developments and society today.

In this classroom activity learners will learn about the Victorian era and the changes to how people lived and worked during this time. They will then produce a timeline of key events that occurred from when Queen Victoria was born to when she died. For example, the opening of the London Underground and the development of the first national police force.

This teaching resource activity could be used as a main lesson activity to teach learners about the influence of historical events on engineering and society as a whole. It could also be used as part of a wider scheme of learning focussing on the history of design, technology and engineering, alongside other Victorian themed IET resources.

We’ve created this teaching resource design activity to support the delivery of key topics within history of design, design & technology (D&T) and engineering.

Activity: Producing a timeline of key events that took place during the Victorian era

Learners will discuss what the Victorian era was, when it occurred and why it was such an important period of time. They will then go onto producing a timeline of key events that occurred during the Victorian era, adding pictures to make the timeline more engaging to look at.

Tools/supplies needed:

Resources required:

• Pens and pencils
• Ruler

Follow our step-by-step guide to complete the Victorian Timeline activity

Learners will work individually to complete this activity.

• Produce a timeline of events that took place during the Victorian era
• Use the template provided to help
• Write a short summary of one way in which the Victorian era has influenced modern engineering and/or society. You must limit this to a social media post of one paragraph.

Extension

• Produce timelines for other key periods in the history of the United Kingdom. E.g. the Elizabethan era, the Georgian era.
• Produce a class display of different technological inventions that occurred during the Victorian era, and how they have influenced technology today.

The Engineering Context

Understanding about the history of engineering and design helps engineers to learn from past successes and mistakes. For example, learning about early photography or electric lighting helps us to understand the science behind these ideas and how this can be used and developed to make better products in future.

Suggested learning outcomes

This resource combines Design and Technology and Engineering with History, with the aim that the learners will be able to produce a timeline of key events that occurred during the Victorian era and understand how the Victorian era shaped engineering and society today.

Download our activity sheet and other teaching resources

All classroom activity sheets and supporting teaching resources are free to download, and all the documents are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs.

The activity sheet includes teachers’ notes, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

You can download our step-by-step instructions below as either a classroom lesson plan or PowerPoint presentation.

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