New
New
Year 1

Life aboard the SS Great Britain

I can describe what life was like on board the SS Great Britain.

New
New
Year 1

Life aboard the SS Great Britain

I can describe what life was like on board the SS Great Britain.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The SS Great Britain was an iron-hulled steamship and was the world's largest ship at the time.
  2. Her role was to carry passengers across the Atlantic, and then to carry passengers to Australia.
  3. The passengers were divided into first-class and steerage; first-class paid more and had more luxurious cabins.
  4. Fresh food was taken but would be eaten at the start of the journey.
  5. First-class passengers had four meals with a huge choice; steerage passengers had to make do with simpler food.

Common misconception

Pupils may think that in the past ships only carried sailors, captains or other people working on the ship.

About 200 years ago, people began to travel through choice. People that travel on ships but do not work on them are called passengers.

Keywords

  • Iron-hulled - an iron-hulled boat has its hull made of iron, rather than wood or some other material

  • Cabin - a cabin is a room in a ship

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

In its day, the SS Great Britain was the largest steamship ever built. Today's ocean liners are gigantic in comparison. Share some facts or pictures comparing the SS Great Britain and modern ships like the Wonder of the Seas.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour

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).

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6 Questions

Q1.
Who designed the SS Great Britain?
Zheng He
Correct answer: Isambard Kingdom Brunel
John Cabot
Q2.
At the time of Brunel, which ocean were seafarers racing to cross?
Pacific Ocean
Indian Ocean
Correct answer: Atlantic Ocean
Q3.
Which two of these were features of the SS Great Western?
Correct answer: paddle wheel
oars
Correct answer: sails
Q4.
Which ship won the 'race across the Atlantic'?
SS Great Western
Correct answer: SS Sirius
SS Great Britain
Q5.
Which of these materials is a type of metal used for ship building?
oak
stone
Correct answer: iron
Q6.
Complete the sentence. The SS Great Britain was the first steamship to have an iron...
Correct Answer: hull

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the words to the definitions.
Correct Answer:cabin,a private room on a ship

a private room on a ship

Correct Answer:steerage,the cheapest tickets on the ship

the cheapest tickets on the ship

Q2.
Which of these countries did the SS Great Britain take passengers to?
Correct answer: Australia
Japan
China
Correct answer: America
Q3.
Put the types of ticket in order from most expensive to least expensive.
1 - first-class
2 - steerage
Q4.
Why were so many people impressed when they saw the SS Great Britain?
Correct answer: It was iron-hulled.
Prince Albert was on board.
It had lots of colourful flags.
Correct answer: It was the world's largest ship.
Q5.
Which sentence is correct?
Steerage passengers ate in the banqueting room.
Correct answer: First-class passengers ate in the banqueting room.
Q6.
What problem often happened on long ocean voyages?
The crew became very tired.
Passengers would get bored.
Correct answer: Fresh food ran out as the journey went on.

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