Development of Trains and Cars - Info and activity for scholars

Yesterday we looked at the history of transport. 

Today we will look at the development of trains and the motor car.

It all started with steam

In Britain in 1825 the first engine was developed that used steam.  This little engine could pull a few coaches along a railway line and was called "The Rocket".  The man who built it was named George Stephenson.

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After this people started making more changes to the steam engines and it were built to be bigger and faster and were now called steam locomotives.  

They made a fire and heated the water in order to make steam that would power the locomotive.  The steam was pumped through the engine and it would make the wheels turn.  The hotter they made the fire, the more steam was produced and the faster the train would go.

• Watch the video to see how steam trains operate.

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Steam locomotives were used for a long time and then people developed faster trains and after the invention of electricity they figured out that instead of steam they can use electricity to power the engine.  The electrical lines would run over head and there were even trains running on diesel.

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Today there are a lot of trains that can go at amazing speeds.

• do some research and find out more about the fastest trains in the world
• find pictures of different trains used through the ages - make sure you know their names and what powers them
• who built the first steam engine and what was its name?

Discovering motor cars

Since a train was made that could run using steam, people thought they could also invent cars that can run on steam, but the problem was storing the coal and who was going to throw the coal in the fire to make it go faster if you were suppose to watch the road?

In 1885 a man named Karl Benz made the first motorcar with a engine that used petrol.  This car only had three wheels.

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• For enrichment you can read more on the Benz motor car.

The first cars were all made by hand and it took a long time to make it.  In 1908, Henry Ford started making cars in a factory.  These cars were called "Model T Fords".  The engines in these cars were as strong as if 20 horses were pulling it.

• First you are going to watch a video on how the Model T Fords were produced and then you will watch a video on how it is done today, look at how different it is.

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• For more information on these cars you can read and watch the videos here.

Cars and the way they are manufactured just got better and better and today the cars are also much safer and is mostly manufactured by using robots specifically designed to do this job.

• Find a video showing you how cars are manufactured today.
• What type of car do your parents drive?
• what safety features does this specific car have?
• design your own car (use you imagination - it can even have wings if you want to) and then try and build a model of it using recycled material - for a nice idea you can watch the video but you can use your own ideas and materials you prefer

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It is amazing to think that all the transport that we use today like trucks and taxis and motorbikes have changed so much during the ages and transport has become so much easier.

• If their are any type of transport that you would like to know more about the history of it, find some videos, or pictures or reading material for yourself.

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