LKS2 Topic: The Romans in Britain Block D: Roman Entertainment
Session 2 Researching chariot racing
National
History: Understand how knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources; Ask
historically valid questions and construct responses based on relevant historical information; Learn
Curriculum
about entertainment in Roman times.
Teaching
Objectives
National
Curriculum
Teaching
Objectives
Resources
To investigate Roman entertainment from a range of sources.
D&T: To generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion and prototypes.
To develop ideas and designs of moving vehicles through discussion and prototypes.
Weblinks
Topic books; Construction
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/romans/leisure/ BBC website about
equipment; Variety of toy
Roman leisure
vehicles; Images of chariot
racing; Image of Circus
Maximus.
Whole class: We have looked at gladiators and have thought about other forms of Roman entertainment, e.g. plays,
music, poetry recitals. Gladiator battles were a popular form of entertainment for the Roman masses which tells us they
really enjoyed competitive sports – particularly violent ones! Has anyone seen pictures or read about Chariot racing? What
was it? It was men, or boys as they are lighter, racing on stand up chariots pulled by horses. Show chn a picture of a chariot
racer (session resources). The most famous racecourse in the Roman empire was the Circus Maximus in Rome. Like the
amphitheatres there were racecourses all over the empire. Show a picture of the Circus Maximus and its position in old
Rome. Explain to chn that the races could be violent, it was not uncommon for participants (people/horses) to be injured or
even die. A day out at the races was even more popular than the gladiators. The Circus Maximus actually seated up to
250,000 people. Roman families sat together, unlike in the Colosseum where women sat separately. They liked to bet.
Watch the BBC clip ‘What was the Roman Chester festival like?’ Watch the clip again. This time, ask chn to roughly sketch
(whiteboards/scrap paper) what the chariot looked like – shape, size, where it joined the horses, how many horses there
were, etc. Explain that over the next few sessions the class will be designing and making a chariot.
Easy/ Medium/ Hard
You need construction equipment with wheels
Split chn into 3 groups, depending on how much construction equipment is available. Rotate the groups through all these
activities:
1) Use construction equipment (Lego®, Meccano®, etc.) to build a moving vehicle.
2) Use non-fiction texts to find out more facts about Roman chariot racing.
3) Play with a wide range of toy vehicles (lorries, cars, buses, prams, caravans, carriages, wheelbarrows)
Teacher to support as needed.
Chn show the vehicles they have constructed and explain what they’ve used to build them. Do they
Plenary
work? Share the new information that chn have discovered.
Outcomes
Children will
 Understand that chariot racing was a form of entertainment for the Romans
 Have an image of a Roman chariot and can imagine what a race would have been like
 Make a moving vehicle from construction equipment
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