New
New
Year 1
John Franklin's lost expedition
I can describe John Franklin's attempt to discover the Northwest Passage.
New
New
Year 1
John Franklin's lost expedition
I can describe John Franklin's attempt to discover the Northwest Passage.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- John Franklin was a British explorer and an admiral in the Navy.
- Franklin wanted to find the Northwest Passage, something that no one else had managed to do.
- Franklin's ships, the 'Erebus' & the 'Terror', were last seen waiting for ice to clear; none of the 129 crew survived.
- In 1859, a note was found that revealed the ships had been abandoned, stuck in ice, and that Franklin was dead.
Keywords
Navy - the ships and boats a country uses for fighting are known as the Navy
Pacific Ocean - the Pacific Ocean is the ocean between the Americas and Asia
Northwest Passage - the Northwest Passage is a northern sea route between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans
Common misconception
Pupils may think that the oceans are totally distinct, separate bodies of water.
Large bodies of water like oceans and seas are connected by smaller bodies of water like rivers. You can sail from one ocean to another.
As we move into seafaring in the 19th century, we have more tangible records including actual photographs and copies of the signature of John Franklin. Use these to really bring John Franklin to life not as a character but as a human from the past.
Teacher tip
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
- Depiction or discussion of upsetting content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on
Open Government Licence version 3.0
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).Lesson video
Loading...
Starter quiz
Download starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.
Zheng He, John Cabot and William Adams were all...
sports players
singers
Q2.
A __________ was used to measure how deep the water was.
compass
longboat
Q3.
Ships have lots of ropes called...
sails
rudders
Q4.
Which of these is a tool for navigating ships?
lead
longboat
Q5.
Which continent lies to the east of Europe?
China
America
Q6.
What tool can show you if you are travelling north, south, east or west?
calculator
rudder
Exit quiz
Download exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.
Where was John Franklin from?
Australia
The Arctic
Q2.
John Franklin joined the __________ when he was young.
football team
Army
Q3.
People in the Navy mainly use...
cars
planes
Q4.
The ‘Erebus’ and the ‘Terror’ were the names of…
people
dogs
Q5.
Where did John Franklin want to explore most of all?
Pacific Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
Q6.
How do we know what happened to John Franklin?
the crew sent an email
the crew told their friends
Additional material
Download additional material