Train Journey

Your pupils are going on a train journey – real or imaginary. Where does the train stop? How long does each section of the journey take? What’s the distance between stations? What speed does the train travel at?

You can take a week over this, discovering how train timetables work (download the relevant ones from the web), working out time intervals between stops, finding the route on an atlas, learning about scale, measuring with string, taking averages, calculating distances etc, etc.

For those that need more of a challenge, you can then work out how to change from times in minutes to times in fractions of an hour and so work out the average speed for each section of the route.

Finally get the children (either individually or in teams) to design an information booklet for the journey, including timetables, distance tables and interesting facts about places along the route. If you are going on the journey for real, then photocopy the booklets and take them with you!

Ages 10-14    Printable materials (pdf) - 4 pages of teachers' notes and 14 pupil copymasters.