The focus here is on sequencing of events, looking for turning points in his life and for his personal motivation. How did his life choices end up with him inventing the telephone? What drove him to make this invention before others?
Activity 1 – Slow reveal
Be careful not to tell the pupils anything about Alexander Graham Bell before you start this enquiry.
Pupils are given clues as to why Bell is famous today by means of animated PowerPoint slide 2 which reveals 3 clues before giving away the answer. Slide 3 then consolidates the new information showing how phones have changed over the last 145 years, something returned to in KQ6.
Activity 2
Now turn to Bell’s life. How on earth did he come to make this invention? What drove him on? Pupils watch an 11-minute BBC video which tells the story of his life. While watching they have to think of clues as to why he wanted to invent a telephone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHJmUXHxoZ4
Activity 3
This is followed-up with showing specific scenes from his life using the PowerPoint presentation slides 4-13. Pupils have to think of 4 things that happened in his life connected with the telephone in some
