Lesson video

Hello! Welcome to today's lesson.

This is a geography lesson.

My name is Ms. Roberts and I'll be your teacher today.

In this lesson, we are going to think about travel and transport in the city of Cardiff.

We're going to think about the different ways that people can travel to and from Cardiff to other places, and we are going to look at the ways people get around the city of Cardiff and the surrounding area itself.

This is going to be so interesting! Let's make a start.

By the end of the lesson today, you will be able to name some different types of transport that are used in and around Cardiff, and you will be able to describe some good points and some bad points about them.

Let's start with some keywords.

Keywords are important words that you will hear a lot in this lesson, and by the end of the lesson, you are going to be able to use these words yourself when you talk about travel and transport in Cardiff.

I will say each keyword for you to repeat.

Listen carefully.

Our first keyword is railway station.

Can you say railway station? Lovely.

A railway station is a place where trains stop, and when the train stops, it's a safe place for people to get on or off the train.

Trains can't just stop anywhere they like.

They have to stop at a station.

Our next keyword is international airport.

Can you say international airport? Well done.

An international airport is an airport that has flights to and from other countries.

Flights are journeys by plane.

So at an international airport, you can take a plane to another country.

Our next keyword is Aquabus.

Can you say Aquabus? Good job.

An Aquabus is a type of water taxi or a boat service.

They carry passengers along a water route and passengers can get off or on at various destinations along the way.

Our final keyword is national park.

Can you say national park? A national park is a large area of natural open space.

They're very beautiful places, and those places are protected by laws, and those laws are designed to keep the natural environment there safe.

You're going to hear a lot more about one particular national park later in this lesson.

There are two parts to today's lesson.

In the first part of today's lesson, we are going to investigate the question, how do people travel to and from Cardiff? Later, we'll be looking at types of travel and transport that people use in the Cardiff area.

Let's begin then with the first part of the lesson and think about how we get to Cardiff or from Cardiff to another place.

Cardiff has two railway stations in the city centre.

Do you remember railway station from our keywords? They're places where trains stop.

The busiest and oldest of the two railway stations in Cardiff is called Cardiff Central Railway Station.

It was built in the 1930s, so that's over 90 years ago.

Trains travel from cities like London, Manchester, Nottingham, Liverpool, in fact, towns and cities all over the UK through to Cardiff.

The station has 10 separate tracks for trains to travel on and eight different platforms, which are the places where the train will stop and the people can get on or off.

Every year, more than 10 million people travel by train to or from Cardiff.

What a lot of people! Cardiff also has an international airport.

That was another of our keywords, wasn't it? Remember, an international airport is somewhere you can catch a flight.

The international airport in Cardiff is in fact the only international airport in Wales.

Every year, more than a million people use Cardiff International Airport.

Flights from Cardiff Airport go to more than 900 destinations around the world.

So Cardiff can be connected to other major cities like Madrid, for example, which is the capital city of Spain.

Every single hour of every day, around 25 planes will either land or take off from Cardiff International Airport.

That makes it a very busy airport.

Because there are such high numbers of passengers using the airport, there is an express bus service.

That service runs every 20 minutes for 20 hours of every day to and from the city centre to the airport.

If you look at the picture, you can see that the bright green bus has a big picture of an aeroplane painted on the side.

Cardiff is also very well-connected by road.

This map shows a major road called the M4 motorway.

I've labelled it with an arrow.

The M4 motorway connects the southeast of England to the south of Wales.

It connects cities like Cardiff with other cities in England like London.

The total length of the M4 motorway is 189 miles, and because it's so long, it is sometimes called the M4 corridor.

In the UK, we use blue signs like this to show motorways.

You might have seen blue motorway signs on the roads.

The M4 motorway is a very busy route.

In 2022, there were approximately 75,000 vehicles using the M4 motorway every day.

This means that there is often a lot of traffic on the motorway, which can cause traffic jams and that makes people's journeys take longer.

People can go on motorway with any vehicle such as a car, a coach, lorries, mini buses, motorbikes, but cyclists on push bikes are not permitted on the motorways.

The M4 motorway also has something else that makes it quite unique.

Part of the M4 motorway forms a very long motorway bridge.

The M4 motorway passes over the River Severn between Wales and England.

It is called the Prince of Wales motorway bridge, and it's just over three miles long, which makes it one of the longest motorway bridges in the United Kingdom.

So we have seen that Cardiff has got train stations, an airport, buses, and a large motorway.

Let's put our new learning to use by thinking about this true or false activity.

I will read you a statement and I want you to decide if it is true or if it is false.

Listen carefully.

Cardiff is very well-connected to other places in the UK and beyond.

Is that true or is that false? Have you decided? Okay, let's see.

If you think it is true, then show me thumbs up.

If you think it is false, then show me thumbs down.

What have you got? Have you got thumbs up? Yes, me too! I have thumbs up, because it is definitely true to say that Cardiff is very well-connected to other places in the UK and beyond.

Hmm, okay, that's true.

But as a geographer, we always need to make sure that we can provide some evidence or some explanation about how we know what we are talking about.

So I'm going to show you two sentences and I want you to pick which of those is the best to explain how we know that statement is true.

Statement A says that, "There are often traffic jams on the M4 motorway, because so many people use it to get to Wales from England." Statement B says that, "People can travel to and from Cardiff in many different ways, by car, train or plane." Which of those is the most helpful explanation in this situation? Have you picked? Good.

I picked sentence B.

Sentence B explains that there are different ways of travelling to and from Cardiff.

It provides evidence by saying that people can travel by car, by train, or by plane, and that is an explanation of how well-connected Cardiff is.

Good job.

Time now for an activity about the ways that people can travel to and from Cardiff.

So here we have a table which tells you about three different people and where they live.

I want you to decide which mode of transport they should take to travel to Cardiff.

When you have decided, talk to a partner and explain your choices.

The first person travelling is called Paulo, and he is from Madrid in Spain.

The second person travelling is Imran and he is coming from Bristol, which is a city in the southwest of England.

And then we have Lou and they are travelling from Manchester, which is a city in the northwest of England.

So have a think now and pause the video while you complete the activity.

All done? I think you have some great suggestions.

Jacob from Oak Academy is going to share his choices with us now.

For Paolo, Jacob has said that he can take a plane to the international airport and I think that's the best route as well to fly from Madrid to Cardiff.

For Imran, Jacob has said that he should drive on the M4 motorway, and that makes sense as well, because the M4 motorway goes from the south of Wales through to the southwest of England and then continues to the southeast of England all the way to London, in fact.

Then for Lou from Manchester, Jacob has said that they could take the train to Cardiff Central Station, and that's true as well.

It's not as close as Bristol, so it might not be so convenient to drive, but the train is very well-connected and will go straight to the centre of Cardiff.

Jacob is explaining that he chose the M4 for Imran, because it connects Cardiff with the city of Bristol, and that's true.

You might have said that Imran could get the train from Bristol to Cardiff, and that would be true as well.

There are so many ways to travel to Cardiff that people can often make their own decisions depending on what makes more sense for them.

Let's continue with the lesson and move into the second part where we are going to investigate the question, how do people travel in and around Cardiff? People travelling in Cardiff and around the surrounding area use roads, railways, and a natural geographical feature, the river.

The River Taff runs through the centre of Cardiff and then into Cardiff Bay.

This means that water transport can be used to get around the city and around the local area.

There are water buses called Aquabuses that run in Cardiff.

You can see one in the picture.

The Aquabus service runs regularly between Cardiff city centre and another nearby town called Penarth.

Some people use the Aquabus to commute to work in Cardiff.

Commuting is when you take a long journey from your home to your work every day.

Sometimes though, the Aquabus isn't always suitable for commuting to work, because if it's too windy, the service could be cancelled for safety reasons.

As well as these special water buses, there are regular buses that serve Cardiff and the local area and people can use taxis and their own cars as well.

Travel and transport, however, is not just always about quickly getting from A to B.

In this area especially, travel and transport can also be about enjoying the journeys that you are making.

Some journeys are taken for pleasure, for enjoyment.

There is a path called the Taff Trail where people can go walking or cycling.

Lots of people really enjoy using the Taff Trail, especially at the weekends.

The Taff Trail is actually 55 miles long.

It's a path that stretches from the city centre of Cardiff all the way out to a place called the Brecon Beacons, which is located in the surrounding countryside.

The picture is an inscription in the floor at Cardiff Bay where the Taff Trail starts.

The Brecon Beacons is a beautiful national park area that is located just to the north of Cardiff.

So thinking about what you now know about the Taff Trail, that it is a pathway enjoyed by people who are walking or cycling.

Why do you think then that cars are not allowed on the Taff Trail? Is it because A, the path is not wide enough? B, because cars could scare or harm the wildlife.

Or C, because it is healthier to walk or cycle.

Have you picked an answer? I have picked option B.

The path is quite wide in parts and I'm sure that in some parts of it, you could fit a car, but that's not the reason why cars are not allowed.

Option B says that cars could scare or harm wildlife, and that's the main reason why there are no cars on the Taff Trail.

The Taff Trail goes through some beautiful areas of countryside where animals and birds have their habitats.

It's very important that we protect the natural areas and we don't disturb or harm the wildlife with vehicles.

Option C is true.

It is very healthy to walk or cycle, but again, that is not a reason why cars are not allowed.

Time for another practise activity now.

I would like you to choose any two modes of transport that can be used for travelling either in and around the Cardiff area or for travelling to and from Cardiff and other places.

I want you to make notes in the table about their good points and their bad points.

Remember, notes do not have to be full sentences.

They could be single words.

You may also choose to do this as a spoken exercise with a partner.

Pause the video now while you complete this activity.

Finished? Lovely.

Now I'm going to share some examples that I wrote down in my table.

I chose the Aquabus as my first mode of transport, and the good points about it were that it could be a nice relaxing journey to work.

It takes you directly there and there are no traffic jams on an Aquabus.

But the bad points I thought about were that it might be cancelled because of the weather and it can be wet or windy or maybe even cold when you're out on the water.

The second mode of transport I chose was driving on the motorway.

The good points are that when you've got your own car, you can drive straight from home at any time you like and you know that your service isn't going to get cancelled, because you're the one that's driving.

But the bad points of driving on the M4 motorway are that the motorway gets very, very busy, and that means that you could be stuck in a traffic jam.

Did you give reasons like this? Great work.

That brings us to the end of this lesson about travel and transport in Cardiff.

So let's have a quick review of everything we've covered today.

We know that there are many ways to get to and from Cardiff.

Cardiff has a large central railway station and an international airport.

Express bus services connect the city centre and the airport.

Cardiff has good road connections including the M4 motorway, but this is a very busy route to travel on.

Commuters, that's people travelling to work, commuters in Cardiff and some of the local area can commute by water taxi on an Aquabus.

And we know that the Taff Trail is a path for walking and cycling and that it reaches as far as the Brecon Beacons National Park.

Wow, there are so many things to do in Cardiff and so many different modes of transport that people use.

I hope you enjoyed learning about Cardiff travel and transport today, and I'll see you again next time for another lesson about the city of Cardiff.

Bye for now!.