[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Lessons | The National Archives

Our lessons are single stand-alone investigations mapped to the curriculum that can be covered in a single period or followed up for homework. Each lesson has a PDF for easy printing and supports text resizing for whiteboards. Use them 'as is' or adapt them to fit your group's needs.

Medieval 1066 - 1485
- A Medieval Mystery
  Can you decode the dark secrets of this cartoon?
  
  Key stage 3 - 4
- Domesday Book
  What can we learn about England in the 11th century?
  
  Key stage 2 - 3
- Chertsey
  What was Chertsey like in the Middle Ages?
  
  Key stage 2 - 3

Early Modern 1485 - 1750
- Henry VIII Court Rules
  How did Henry VIII get up in the morning?
  
  Key stage 2 - 4
- The Royal Seal
  What can it tell us?
  
  Key stage 2 - 3
- The King, the Crown and the Colonel
  How did Thomas Blood try to steal the crown jewels in 1671?
  
  Key stage 3
- - William Shakespeare
    What can we find out about his life?
    
    Key stage 3
  - Gunpowder Plot
    Can you uncover the plans of the plotters?
    
    Key stage 2 - 3
  - The Great Plague of 1665-6
    How did London respond to it?
    
    Key stage 3
  - Kirk o' Field
    What happened in 1567?
    
    Key stage 2 - 3
  - God Blew and They Were Scattered
    Did God really help the English defeat the Spanish Armada?
    
    Key stage 3
  - Elizabethan Propaganda
    How did England try to show Spain planned to invade in 1588?
    
    Key stage 2 - 3
  - Fire of London
    What happened?
    
    Key stage 1 - 3
  - Native North Americans
    What was early contact like between Europeans and Natives?
    
    Key stage 3
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Empire and Industry 1750 - 1850
- Captain Cook in Hawaii
  What happened on his final voyage?
  
  Key stage 3
- Slavery
  How did the Abolition Acts of 1807 and 1833 affect the slave trade?
  
  Key stage 3 - 4
- 1834 Poor Law
  What did people think of the New Poor Law?
  
  Key stage 2 - 3
- - The French Revolution
    How did the British react to July 1789?
    
    Key stage 3
  - 1833 Factory Act
    Did it solve the problems of children in factories?
    
    Key stage 2 - 3
  - Rebecca Riots
    What happened during them?
    
    Key stage 3 - 5
  - Bussa's Rebellion
    How did the enslaved Africans of Barbados rebel in 1816?
    
    Key stage 3 - 4
  - Helyntion Beca (Welsh)
    Beth a ddigwyddodd yn ystod
    
    Key stage 3 - 5
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Victorians 1850 - 1901
- Census Detective
  What can you find out?
  
  Key stage 2
- Victorian Homes
  Was there much difference between rich and poor homes?
  
  Key stage 2 - 3
- A Victorian Prison
  Why were Victorian Prisons so tough?
  
  Key stage 3 - 4
- - Florence Nightingale
    Why do we remember her?
    
    Key stage 1 - 2
  - 19th Century People
    What can we tell from this photograph?
    
    Key stage 2 - 3
  - Trimdon
    What was it like living in a late 19th century mining town?
    
    Key stage 2 - 3
  - Say "Cheese"
    What can Queen Victoria's family photographs tell us?
    
    Key stage 2 - 3
  - Past Pleasures
    How did the Victorians have fun?
    
    Key stage 2 - 3
  - Victorian Children in trouble with the law
    Did the punishment fit the crime?
    
    Key stage 2 - 3
  - Victorian Family History
    How can we find out about the life of a Victorian child using family sources?
    
    Key stage 2
  - Rob Roy
    A Victorian Railway Accident
    
    Key stage 2
  - 19th Century Mining Disaster
    What happened at the Trimdon Grange Mining Disaster?
    
    Key stage 2 - 3
  - Mining Explosion
    The Trimdon Grange mining accident
    
    Key stage 2
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Early 20th century 1901 - 1918
- Jutland: Death at Sea
  Were lives wasted when the Indefatigable sank?
  
  Key stage 3 - 4
- The Sinking of the Titanic
  Who was on board?
  
  Key stage 3 - 4
- How We Were Taught
  What was school like 100 years ago?
  
  Key stage 2 - 3
- - General Haig
    Butcher of the Somme or hero of Amiens?
    
    Key stage 3 - 4
  - School Dinners
    Why were school dinners brought in?
    
    Key stage 3 - 4
  - The Zeppelin Raids
    How did Great War Zeppelin raids affect British civilians?
    
    Key stage 3 - 4
  - A Great War Soldier's Record
    What can we find out?
    
    Key stage 3 - 4
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Interwar 1918 - 1939
- Eden's Last Stand
  Why did Anthony Eden resign in 1938?
  
  Key stage 3 - 4
- The German Occupation of the Rhineland
  What should Britain do about it?
  
  Key stage 3 - 4
- Chamberlain and Hitler 1938
  What was Chamberlain trying to do?
  
  Key stage 3 - 4

Second World War 1939 - 1945
- Adolf Hitler
  Was Hitler a 'passionate lunatic'?
  
  Key stage 3 - 4
- Gordon Ford's Story
  What was it like to be an Airman in the Second World War?
  
  Key stage 2
- The Home Front
  How did people prepare for the war at home?
  
  Key stage 2 - 3
- - Evacuation to Canada
    How much care was really taken?
    
    Key stage 2 - 3
  - Government Posters
    How did Britain encourage people at home to help win the war?
    
    Key stage 2 - 3
  - British Response to V1 and V2
    How did Britain respond to the threat of missile attack in 1943?
    
    Key stage 2
  - Hitler Assassination Plan
    How did the British plan to kill Hitler?
    
    Key stage 3 - 4
  - Evacuation to Shropshire
    What was it like in the Second World War?
    
    Key stage 2
  - Belsen Concentration Camp 1945
    What did the British find when they entered?
    
    Key stage 3 - 4
  - Convincing the Colonies
    How did Britain try to keep the support of West Africans?
    
    Key stage 3 - 4
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Postwar 1945 - present
- World Cup 1966
  Did England rig the result?
  
  Key stage 3 - 4
- Bound for Britain
  Experiences of immigration to the UK
  
  Key stage 3 - 4

Lessons

Medieval 1066 - 1485

Early Modern 1485 - 1750

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Empire and Industry 1750 - 1850

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Victorians 1850 - 1901

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Early 20th century 1901 - 1918

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Interwar 1918 - 1939

Second World War 1939 - 1945

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Postwar 1945 - present

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