Hello there and welcome to today's history lesson.

I'm Mr. Moss.

I'm really passionate about history and I'm also really looking forward to teaching you.

With you today, you need to bring your looking eyes, your listening ears, and your thinking brains.

As well as that, having something to write with and write on and someone or something to talk to would also be really helpful.

Alright then, let's get straight into today's history lesson.

In today's lesson, we are going to be thinking about life aboard one of the largest steamships of the Victorian era, the SS Great Britain, the steamship Great Britain.

The outcome will be, I can describe what life was like aboard the SS Great Britain.

The SS Great Britain remember, was this huge steamship.

At its time of being built, one of the largest in the world, that was engineered and designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Here are the key words for today's learning.

My turn.

Your turn.

Make sure I can hear you say these back to me and keep an eye and an ear out for them in today's learning as they're incredibly important.

we have iron-hulled.

Cabin.

Steerage.

So an iron-hulled boat has its hull made of iron.

The hull of a boat is its outer body which gives the ship its shape and keeps water out.

The hull of the SS Great Britain was iron, a metal rather than wood or another material.

And it was one of the first ships of this size of the time that was made of iron.

A cabin is a room in a ship, and we're going to be considering what these cabins were like and what people selecting cabins on the ship.

And finally, steerage.

Steerage tickets were the cheapest tickets on the ship and did not include a cabin to sleep in.

So certain people didn't have a place to sleep in or room to sleep in when they went on long journeys on the SS Great Britain.

And we're going to be thinking about what these journeys were like as well and the difference between those who had cabin tickets and those who had steerage.

So we are looking at life aboard the SS Great Britain, a huge iron-hulled steamship.

We are going to first look at the amazing SS Great Britain.

And then we're going to consider what the life of a passenger aboard the SS Great Britain was like, because it was a passenger steamship.

It was designed for carrying people from one place to another.

Let's get on with looking at the amazing SS Great Britain then.

So the SS Great Britain was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1843.

He was an engineer who designed ships, bridges and other marvels as well.

This was not the first ship he designed.

He also designed the SS Great Western.

That ship though, had lost the race across the Atlantic and Brunel was determined to make a bigger, faster and stronger ship.

So he designed this ship you can see in our illustration here, the SS Great Britain.

And it had some amazing features for the time.

It was the largest steamship ever made at that time.

It was even more impressive because it was iron-hulled.

Isambard Kingdom's previous ship, the SS Great Western, which was also a steamship, was wooden-hulled.

So its outer body was made of wood.

But the SS Great Britain was iron-hulled.

Can you say that for me? Iron-hulled.

This was one of our key words.

Iron was a fantastic material as it lasted longer than timber and wood, it was stronger.

I mean you could carry more and it was less easily damaged by the water and accidents.

So remember, iron-hulled means that the hull, the outer body of the ship, was made out of iron.

And this was one of the first steamships of this size to be made of iron, in 1843, during the Victorian era.

What material was the hull, the outer body of the SS Great Britain made from? Wood, iron or wood and iron.

Pause the video now and select the correct answer.

Excellent.

You were clearly paying attention in the previous slides.

It was so innovative at the time because its hull was made of iron.

It was an iron-hulled steamship, unlike any other ship at the time.

Remember that iron was stronger than wood.

It could last longer, meant more weight could be carried and it was less affected by water and accidents.

So let's think about the size of this huge ship.

Remember this was the largest ship at the time it was built.

We can see here this person is one metre tall.

The SS Great Britain was 98 metres long.

So almost 100 metres long.

That's like 98 of this person here lying down in a long row.

That is huge.

It was unlike any other sea vessel of the time.

And remember this was also made out of iron.

So you can imagine it would've weighed a huge amount as well.

The masts and the rigging, because it also had masks for sails, for capturing the power of the wind and the rigging, those ropes that could be used to control the sails, were made of iron as well as the hull, which meant that the ship was incredibly strong.

When the SS Great Britain was finished, the ship was so impressive that hundreds of people came to see the launch.

Remember it was unlike any other ship that had been seen before in terms of material and its scale and size.

Here we have an illustration of the launch of the SS Great Britain.

What can you see in this picture? Take some time to look at the ship itself.

Take some time to look around.

What can you see? Pause the video now, have a look at the image.

I can see lots and lots of people and as we know, hundreds of people went to view the launch of this huge ship.

This was obviously a very important moment and one with lots of pomp and circumstance.

The company that built the ship even sold tickets for the event as so many people wanted to come.

And there wouldn't have been enough space for everyone to come and see it, so they sold tickets.

So this was a very significant moment in particular in ship faring and naval history.

So true or false, nobody wanted to see the new steamship called the SS Great Britain.

Brilliant.

We know that this is false.

And how do we know? Well it was so impressive that hundreds of people wanted to see it and the company that had built the ship even sold tickets so that people could come and view its launch.

Remember, this was, at the time, one of the largest vessels in the entire planet.

This iron-hulled behemoth that was ready to make really long voyages to various places throughout the world.

Remember that this was a huge iron-hulled ship the likes of which had never been seen before.

So for our practise task now what I'd like us to do is to put ourselves into the shoes of someone in the crowd at the launch of the SS Great Britain.

Let's go back to that illustration we saw minutes ago.

Imagine you're one of those people in the crowd there at the launch of this huge steamship, powered by a steam engine with a propeller and an iron hull able to carry hundreds of passengers.

You've never seen anything like this before.

Could you fill in the table below with words that they might have used to describe the ship and how they might have felt.

Imagine you were there.

Imagine how you would describe it and how you would feel.

Consider words they might have used to describe the ship.

Consider words to describe how they might have felt.

Think about some adjectives and describing words here.

Think also about some of the emotions people may have been feeling at the sight of such a huge ship.

Pause the video now, fill out the table.

Off you go.

I heard some fabulous words being used there.

We definitely were putting ourselves into the shoes of someone viewing the launch of the SS Great Britain.

So here are some words that I heard and some extra words that you may not have used.

So we have the word huge, 'cause it was massive, wasn't it? It was 98 metres long.

Strong.

And the reason it was so strong is because it's hull, it's mast and it's rigging, were made of a metal called iron.

So maybe you would've used one of our key words there iron-hulled to describe that material that it was made from.

You may also have used words such as impressive or amazing.

Remember this would've been the first time you'd seen a vessel such as this.

And then here are words to describe how they might have felt or how you might have felt if you put yourself into their shoes.

Happy, perhaps.

And celebratory.

Excited to see such an incredible vessel and ship.

Amazed because you never thought that a ship could be so large or made of such material.

Thrilled and excited.

Perhaps lucky because you are one of the people that managed to get a ticket to go and see this incredible vessel.

Did you have any more words to describe the ship or to describe how people might have felt watching its launch? Share them with your partner and with me now.

Brilliant.

So we have looked at the amazing SS Great Britain.

Remember it was larger than any other vessel at the time.

It was iron-hulled, 98 metres long.

And people came to watch its launch as it was such a special occasion.

Now we are going to consider what life would've been like as a passenger, someone travelling aboard this passenger steamship.

So the SS Great Britain was huge and we know it was huge.

It was about 98 metres long.

And also because it was made of iron, it could carry more passengers and goods, and it could carry up to 360 passengers and 120 crew, which is a huge number of people for a ship at this time.

We have here an image of a poster from the time advertising travel to New York from Liverpool.

So this journey across the Atlantic Ocean, it says here, "Sailing four times a week between New York and Liverpool for all European points." And look, we can see some advertisement here, "Safety and comfort." The Cunard line, which was a famous, famous line between New York and Liverpool and Liverpool and New York.

Now if you look in the centre here of this poster, you can see a large ship, can't you? This ship is in a similar style to that of the SS Great Britain.

And the thing that I find really interesting here as well is the fact that it says safety and comfort.

These huge passenger ships, especially the ones that are iron-hulled, would've been far safer.

And we're going to consider now how comfortable it would've been for certain people travelling aboard these ships.

So most of its journeys were across the Atlantic Ocean.

So most of the SS Great Britain's journeys were across the Atlantic Ocean from England to North America.

And this journey would take about two weeks or 14 days.

So quite a long time to be at sea.

So as well as going to North America, though, the SS Great Britain made even longer journeys with passengers to Australia.

So we can see here on our map, England and then North America and that journey across the Atlantic that it would've taken, which took about two weeks.

But it also took journeys from England to Australia and it made about 32 of these journeys to Australia.

And guess how long these journeys were? They were 60 days.

It could take about 60 days to travel from England to Australia.

Imagine being at sea for that long.

Now those that were wealthy could surely have paid for some form of comfort, but those with no money would've been surely very uncomfortable.

And we're going to consider now what life was like for passengers aboard this great steam vessel, both travelling to North America, that 14 day, two week journey, or that 60 day journey from England to Australia.

So which two places did the SS Great Britain make journeys to? China, Australia, or North America? Select the two places now.

Great job.

You clearly were paying attention to the map that we looked at previously.

The two places that the SS Great Britain made long journeys to were Australia and North America.

So people were on the ship for a long time, as we said, travelling, okay, from England across to North America took about two weeks, 14 days.

And if you were travelling on it to Australia, you would've been on it for 60 days.

And some could pay for somewhere to sleep.

So those who had money would be able to afford to sleep in a cabin.

Can you say that word for me? Cabin.

So passengers on the SS Great Britain slept in these cabins, which were rooms aboard the ship.

A cabin then is a room in a ship.

Put that in your memory now.

Passengers that paid the most money got the biggest and most luxurious cabins.

And these were called first class cabins.

So if you paid for a first class ticket, you got a first class cabin, you would've had a really comfy bed.

You would've had lots of space, you'd have had a toilet en suite and access very easily to many amenities.

But this cost money, and was only for the wealthiest of passengers.

I wondered then what the journeys were like for people who couldn't afford to pay for cabins.

First class cabins had a bed, a toilet, and sometimes they even had windows.

So you could look out and see the journey you were making across the sea.

First class passengers were allowed to go almost anywhere they wanted to on the ship.

So they paid for the privilege to be able to go anywhere on the ship and have these lovely cabins.

This person here says, "I would like to travel in a first-class cabin." Imagine taking these long journeys over two weeks or 60 days.

You'd really want to have the things you would have in a hotel room, wouldn't you? When you go on holiday or stay somewhere overnight, you'd want to have comfort.

Passengers could sleep on the SS Great Britain.

True or false? Brilliant.

This is absolutely true.

Passengers could sleep on the SS Great Britain.

Indeed they could pay to stay in rooms called cabins on their long journeys.

Passengers on the SS Great Britain then slept in cabins.

But not all passengers were able to sleep in cabins.

Passengers that had very little money could pay for, and this is one of our keywords, a steerage ticket.

Can you say that for me? Steerage ticket.

If we look here, we have a photo of steerage passengers sleeping on the deck.

So on the top deck here, that deck of the ship open to the elements a little bit.

You can see the railings at the side of the ship here that you could look over.

They were not in their own cabins, so didn't have beds or their own toilets.

Steerage tickets were the cheapest tickets on a ship and they did not include a cabin to sleep in.

So if you didn't have very much money, but you were desperate to make the journey, you would buy one of the cheaper tickets.

This was different to a cabin ticket or a first class ticket.

You didn't have a cabin to sleep in.

Steerage passengers were allowed on the boat, but they had to sleep wherever they could.

And even on the deck here.

They were usually crammed into small areas and were not allowed in some areas of the ship.

So this is a difference between those with first class tickets or cabin tickets, compared to steerage tickets.

They were not able to access all areas of the ship.

They were confined to certain parts 'cause they paid less money.

So what I'd like you to do here for me is match each keyword to the correct definition.

The keywords we have are cabin and steerage, and then we have the cheapest tickets on a ship and a room in a ship.

Match them to their definitions now.

Consider the learning we've looked at in this learning cycle so far.

Off you go.

Brilliant.

So a cabin is a room in a ship, and steerage, that keyword that we've looked at is a cheapest ticket on the ship where you'd be confined to certain areas and may even have to sleep on the deck and would not have a cabin.

Here we see a photo of a reconstruction.

So a recreation of the SS Great Britain's banqueting hall.

A banquet is a large feast.

Hmm, we've looked at a number of passengers and fares that they would've paid to be on the SS Great Britain.

I wonder who would've had access to a banqueting room like this? Our steerage passengers with steerage tickets or our cabin passengers and first class passengers.

Hmm? First class passengers ate four meals a day in the banqueting room.

They only had fresh food though at the start of the journey.

Steerage passengers were not allowed in the banqueting room.

This is one of the places in the ship they could not go to and they had to take their own food with them.

Could you imagine being on the ship between England and America for two weeks and you having to take your own food with you? Fascinatingly here as well, the first class passengers even only you had fresh food at the start of the journey.

we're gonna consider why that is now.

I'm sure you have some ideas already though.

This person says, "I wonder why fresh food ran out during the journeys." What do you think? Pause the video and have a think now.

Lovely.

Some excellent ideas there.

You're really thinking historically as well.

Well, we keep fresh food in a fridge, don't we? But in the Victorian era, they didn't really have fridges and especially not on ships like this.

So it would've been very difficult to keep food fresh in the same way that we do.

The fridges weren't as efficient.

Well, they didn't have fridges at all.

Well, you can't also just pop to a shop in the middle of the ocean.

So there's nowhere to go to to buy fresh food.

So they would've taken supplies with them, but eventually those fresh supplies would have been exhausted.

They would've run out.

So they would've had to use food that didn't perish and could travel long distances, but that wasn't fresh.

So what I'd like you to do for me right now is choose the correct word to complete each sentence about life aboard the SS Great Britain for its passengers.

Consider the different types of tickets and passengers that we've looked at in this learning cycle.

Passengers could pay more to sleep in a bedroom cabin.

The most luxurious cabins were called first or second class.

And passengers ate and slept in a banqueting room.

Select the correct word and say the sentences.

Off you go.

Brilliant job team.

So let's go through the answers here and see if you managed to get them right.

Passengers could pay more to sleep in a cabin.

A cabin is like a bedroom, but on a ship.

They were called cabins.

That's one of our key words.

The most luxurious cabins were called first class.

These would've been the largest with the most comfortable beds, the best amenities and toilets.

These also would've therefore been the most expensive.

And passengers ate in a banqueting room.

A banquet, remember, is a large sumptuous feast.

They didn't sleep there, they ate there.

Steerage, passengers didn't even have access to the banqueting room.

This is where our first class passengers would've eaten their four meals a day.

It's been really, really interesting learning about what life was like for passengers on these really long journeys on the SS Great Britain.

So read the sentences below and decide if each one is true or false.

Tick the correct column, either true or false.

The sentences are, "The SS Great Britain was a steamship." True or false? "All passengers on board slept in cabins." "There was always plenty of fresh food to eat." "First class cabins were the best rooms on the ship." and "The SS Great Britain sailed in the Atlantic Ocean." Pause the video now.

Decide if these statements are true or false.

Off you go.

Brilliant job team.

You've clearly learnt so much about what life is like aboard the SS Great Britain, and also for our previous learning cycle, the journeys that the SS Great Britain took.

So your answers should look like this.

The SS Great Britain was a steamship.

This is true.

It was an iron-hulled steamship.

All passengers on board slept in cabins.

This is false.

We know that our passengers that had steerage tickets did not have cabins to sleep in.

They would've been confined to certain areas or may even have had to sleep on the deck.

There was always plenty of fresh food to eat.

This is also false.

They would start journeys with fresh food, but that would eventually run out because of the length of the journeys and there being no way of keeping the food fresh.

First class cabins were the best rooms on the ship.

They were indeed the most comfortable and best cabins.

And the SS Great Britain sailed in the Atlantic Ocean.

It did indeed.

It sailed across the Atlantic to America.

Remember as well as this it also went on very long journeys to Australia.

Great job.

How did you do there? Make sure you got your answers correct.

It's been really interesting learning about life aboard the SS Great Britain, that huge steamship.

It was the largest steamship in the world when it was built.

It was iron-hulled and carried passengers across the Atlantic Ocean to America, and also across the Pacific Ocean to Australia.

First class passengers stayed in luxurious cabins, but passengers with steerage tickets did not have a cabin.

First class passengers ate in a banqueting room while steerage passengers usually took their own food.

Fresh food was limited on long ocean voyages because it would spoil very quickly and there were no shops at sea.

Wow, it would've been incredible being on one of these incredibly long journeys, wouldn't it? Keep up the great history and I'll see you again soon.