While we are no longer developing Digital Mysteries and Thinking Kit, we are leaving our website up for those of you interested in the ideas behind the Apps.

Great Exhibition

Great Exhibition apps

Audience: KS2

Subject: History

Topic: History, Victorians, Inventions, Great Exhibition, Engineering

Question: Why did Charles Featherstone only visit the Great Exhibition once?

Author: Gavin Johnston

 

 

Description

In this mystery a fictional character (Charles Featherstone) is introduced as someone who visited the Great Exhibition.  However we know he only visited once – but why? We learn about Charles as a typical rich Victorian man, where he lived and how he lived.  More importantly we learn about the Great Exhibition – what was inside, how much it cost to enter and what people thought about it. We learn that the price to gain entry changed to engage more visitors and the consequences this had.

During this mystery we find out about the important event of the Great Exhibition which was help in Victorian times to celebrate Britain as a Great Industrial nation. Children will learn the importance of emerging technology in Victorian times and how the wider population were encouraged to come and see it in action.  We also learn about the changing view of the world as ordinary people found out about the wider world through seeing the artefacts and machinery on display.