How bronze changed life in Britain
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain how the making and use of bronze changed life in Britain.
Key learning points
- Bronze was harder, longer lasting and could be made sharper than wood or stone tools.
- This meant that larger areas of wildwood could be cleared for agriculture and more crops could be planted.
- This meant that a surplus could be traded or stored in case of disaster.
- Populations also grew as the land could support more people, who were needed for increased farming.
- Archaeologists have found many examples of Bronze Age hoards in Britain. These hoards show how bronze was used.
Keywords
Hoard - a hoard is a buried store of goods
Agriculture - agriculture is the process of farming
Wildwood - wildwood a is naturally growing forest area
Surplus - a surplus is the amount left over of something when you have more than you need
Common misconception
Pupils might think that everything was made from bronze during the Bronze Age.
Items such as jewellery were often made from gold.
Teacher tip
Explore the concept of trading goods through role play. Children could take on different roles such as farmer, metalworker, miner and swap pictures of resources such as food for metal (children could draw pictures of the items to swap).
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.When did the Bronze Age begin in Britain?
Q2.What material did people begin making objects from in the Bronze Age?
Q3.__________ is made by melding together copper and tin?
Q4.Starting with the first stage, put the stages of making bronze objects into the correct order.
Q5.The process of heating up ores to extract the metal is called __________.
Q6.The process of mixing two metals together is called __________.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is a buried collection of artefacts called?
Q2.What happened to the size of the population of Britain during the Bronze Age?
Q3.Which of these is a surplus?
Q4.Why was bronze better for making tools than stone?
Q5.Agriculture is the process of __________.
Q6.What happened to the much of the wildwood during the Bronze Age?
To help you plan your 3 history lesson on: How bronze changed life in Britain, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 3 history lesson on: How bronze changed life in Britain, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 history lessons from the Bronze and Iron Age Britain: how did life change during this time? unit, dive into the full primary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.