New
New
Year 3

The first use of bronze

I can explain when the Bronze Age was and how bronze is made.

New
New
Year 3

The first use of bronze

I can explain when the Bronze Age was and how bronze is made.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The Bronze Age began nearly 4000 years ago in Britain.
  2. This took place because many humans across the world began to make bronze.
  3. Bronze is made by melding the metals copper and tin to combine their properties.
  4. The Bronze Age began at different points for different civilisations.
  5. Copper is common but tin less so; tin had to be traded to make bronze.

Keywords

  • Bronze Age - the Bronze Age is a period in history when humans used bronze

  • Ore - rock or soil from which metal can be obtained

  • Smelting - smelting is the process heating a metal ore to extract the raw metal

  • Melding - melding is mixing or combining two things together

Common misconception

Bronze is a natural resource (metal) and not man-made.

Ensure children understand that bronze is a product that was made by humans.

Demonstrate the melding and casting processes involved in making bronze by making jelly. Mix jelly cubes and warm water together (melding) and pour into a mould to set (casting). Ensure this is done safely being aware of the warm water.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - equipment
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these phrases refer to the past?
Correct answer: last year
Correct answer: yesterday
Correct answer: a week ago
next week
in five years time
Q2.
Put the times in chronological order.
1 - five years ago
2 - one year ago
3 - a month ago
4 - a week ago
Q3.
How did humans live during the middle Stone Age?
in permanent houses made from bricks
Correct answer: in temporary shelters made from wood and animal skins
in natural shelters like caves
Q4.
What material were tools made from in the Stone Age?
metal
plastic
Correct answer: stone
Q5.
Which statement is correct?
Throughout the Stone Age, no humans lived in Britain.
Correct answer: Throughout the Stone Age, several different types of humans lived in Britain.
Throughout the Stone Age, only one type of human lived in Britain.
Q6.
During the late Stone Age humans in Britain were often __________.
Correct answer: farmers
hunter-gatherers
traders

6 Questions

Q1.
When did the Stone Age end in Britain?
approximately two million years ago
Correct answer: approximately four thousand years ago
approximately two thousand years ago
Q2.
Why did the Stone Age end in Britain?
Correct answer: People began to make bronze.
People began to make plastic.
People began to use stone.
Q3.
Bronze is made by melding two metals. Which two metals are melded to make bronze?
Correct answer: copper and tin
copper and gold
tin and iron
tin and gold
Q4.
Copper and tin are extracted by their ores.
Correct Answer: smelting, heating
Q5.
Match the word to the correct definition
Correct Answer:melding,mixing or combining two things together

mixing or combining two things together

Correct Answer:mining,extracting something from under the ground

extracting something from under the ground

Correct Answer:smelting,heating a metal ore to extract the raw metal

heating a metal ore to extract the raw metal

Q6.
Which statement is correct?
Copper and tin ore were both very rare.
Correct answer: Tin ore was traded a lot because it was much rarer than copper ore.
Both copper and tin ore were very common.