A timeline provides a historical overview of transportation history. Students may organize and illustrate a transportation timeline in their classrooms. Combined with a mural, a timeline will come to life through pictures, diagrams and other visual reminders related to transportation history. Images of the first car or the first airplanes will bring stark contrast when compared with 21st century cars and airplanes.
Encourage students to step into the past. Divide the class into small groups and assign a hero of transportation to each group. The purpose of this activity is to dive into the person's life story and create a connection to his role in transportation history. The students may choose to create a presentation, skit or monologue. Students are required to research the individual, write the material and perform the presentation. Examples of heroes in transportation history include Amelia Earhart, the Wright brothers and Karl Benz.
When studying transportation, creating models is a practical, hands-on activity for children. Students can make their own version of the 1763 hot air balloon flown by the the Montgolfier Brothers. The French inventors were the first human pilots of an untethered flight. Another choice is to build the Concorde, one of the fastest planes ever flown. Materials like model clay, papier-mache or folded paper will help create these transportation history makers. Instead of looking for an exact replica, encourage creativity and exploration in your students' models.
For a research-based classroom project, have an Internet scavenger hunt. Students break into groups and take turns searching educational websites for information about transportation history. Each group is assigned a different topic. Planes, locomotives, ships and automobiles are examples of different group focuses. Students find information and determine the accuracy of the information they found. After a set period of time, each group gives a class presentation on their findings. During the research presentations, students provide answers and develop intelligent questions related to information they found.