Resource created by Leeds Library and Information Service and Wakefield Libraries and Information Services.
This resource is about some of the inventors and innovators from the Wakefield area and other Yorkshire towns who made a name for themselves. Some, like Joseph Hansom, are known because of their inventions while others such as Charles Waterton did not patent what they had developed and are generally better known for other things - in Waterton's case for being a local character!
Curriculum Links
- KS3 Design and Technology: Analyse the work of past and present professionals and others to develop and broaden understanding
- KS3 History: Ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-1901
- KS3 Science: Physics
Discussion Ideas
- All the inventors in this resource are men. Why do you think this is? (Hint, these men lived in the 18th and 19th centuries - what was the status and role of women in society then?
- What will the transport of the future look like? Think about:
- Public transport
- Personal transport
Activity Ideas
- Play the Aviation Interactive and see if you can design an aircraft to complete your chosen mission!
- Using a BBC Micro:bit or similar, design, program and create a device to keep you safe when travelling at night, either on foot or by bicycle.
- Hold a paper aeroplane challenge (see Supporting Links for a helpful video and detailed activity guidelines). Who can design and build:
- The plane that flies the furthest in a straight(ish) line?
- The plane that stays aloft the longest?
- The plane that is the most acrobatic?