Maple class trip to Bury Transport Museum

We have had such a lovely time on our school trip to Bury Transport Museum today!

When we walked into the museum, we were amazed at the different types of vehicles from the past that we could see! Initially, we walked around the museum floor and Keith from the museum showed us how the wheel had changed over time. We realised that wooden and metal wheels from vehicles from the past would have been very noisy and made them very uncomfortable to travel in.

We also looked at how the bus had changed throughout history. One bus was over 140 years old and was pulled by horses and some buses didn’t have any doors! We discussed how designs have been altered so that we are much safer and comfier when travelling today.

Next, we went upstairs and discussed how vehicles are made. We knew all about axles and wheels from our DT lessons, but today we were able to use our knowledge to design and make our own models to keep. We started by designing a model – this could be a real car or something from our imagination. We then used the wooden rods, wheels and stoppers to create our axles and wheels and we cut out and glued our chassis. We could then create any model we wanted, using our design.

After, we tested our vehicles down a ramp. We realised that some of our axles were a bit wonky which made our models turn, so we needed to check the design carefully. We had so much fun making our models!

After lunch, we made our way back into the museum. We were able to sit in a bus and pretend to drive it! We also loved getting dressed up in clothing from the past!

We couldn’t believe how great the model railway was. We also saw a model of a bus that was a real bus in the museum!

Finally, we went back upstairs and learnt all about how signals work on the railway. Some children were in charge of moving our model train around the track by safely co-ordinating the signals. Keith also told us all about railway safety.

We had such an amazing day and have learnt so much!