How did people travel in the past?

Student activities

Task no. 1

How did people travel in the past?

a. Formulate questions for inquiry

  • How did people from the past get to different places?
  • How do we access different places today? (modes of transport and transport infrastructure)
  • How has technology changed our ability to connect with places?

b. As a class  collectively observe Sources 3 to 10 and discuss how people accessed places in the past.

c. Interview your grandparents or people from two generations ago on how they were able to access different places.

  • Ask questions about their experiences travelling to visit family and friends and where they went on holiday and what transport they used.
  • How did they keep in touch with friends and family who lived a long way away?

d. Looking at each image carefully, answer the following questions:

  • What mode of transport is being used?
  • What infrastructure (built feature) is needed for this mode of transport to operate?
  • What challenges would you encounter using this type of transport?
  • Would you travel short or long distances in this type of transport?
  • Is this type of transport used today? How is it the same or different?
Item 24: Walkabout magazine : New South Wales photographs [Sydney housing, hotels, sugar, wheat, ferries & bridges, streets & parks, yachting], 1938-1967
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A dray, a Ford Model A coupe (1928 model) and a Morris Oxford Roadster (1932 model), in summer rain, Railway Square,
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Mass of streamers as passenger ship leaves the wharf,
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Crew of the royal train in front of one the two 36 class locomotives assigned to Gloucester's Royal Train, 3652,
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K. Davis - Tramwoman at work [and other tram photographs], 1933-1942,
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School's open; children going to school, 29/1/1935
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Billy cart owned by the boys from Narooma - Narooma, NSW,
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ANA DC-3 ‘Kurana’ VH-UZK over Melbourne, c. 1940s, by unknown photographer,
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