Change Champs: How has my area changed over time? [KS2]

(EXCITING MUSIC)

Katherine: Hello, I am Katherine.

Elliot: And I am Elliot. We are Change Champs.

Katherine: We have come to the Bristol Harbourside to meet Lucy, who is a teacher.

Elliot: Lucy is going to teach us all about how this area has changed over time.

Lucy: Hello, children. Hey, it's so nice to meet you. So here we are at the M Shed. In the past, these docks were full of ships coming in from all over the world, bringing their cargo. Do you know why this place is called the M Shed?

Katherine: No.

Elliot: No.

Lucy: No? Each building that was here would have had a letter from A to Z so that the ships knew where to drop their cargo. And this building was named the letter…

Katherine: M.

Elliot: M.

Lucy: Well done, the M Shed. And it used to store grains, and later beer, and even bacon. Should we go in and have a look?

Elliot: Yeah.

Katherine: Yeah.

Lucy: Off we go.

Katherine: Lucy told us ships have been coming here for more than 300 years.

Elliot: Things do seem very different. So we want Lucy to teach us about what has changed.

Lucy: This picture was taken nearly 60 years ago. Can you guess what their ship was delivering?

Katherine: Vegetables. Chocolate and gum.

Elliot: Ice cream.

Lucy: Unfortunately not. It was actually delivering paper all the way from Scandinavia right here to the M Shed. Hm, what looks different to you in this photo compared to what it is like now?

Elliot: The M Shed looks smaller. It's dirtier. There's less boats.

Lucy: You're right. The biggest contrast is that now the Harbourside is used for people to come and have fun as well as to work. So over here, you'd find the coal yards, which are now restaurants and cafes. And this church right here is now flats where people live. And this old roadworks is now a street where people walk. Shall we go and get a better look?

Wow!

Katherine: This view is so beautiful, and it helps us see where things used to be.

Lucy: Can you see the people everywhere? Back when this was a working dock, it was busy and full of ships coming in and out, loading and unloading cargo, and all the buildings around the harbour would be to do with the ships. They'd be storing produce and people would be working there. That building over that is a bank, but it was the A Shed. And over there, can you see all the flats and houses? And they've been built up and up and up.

Elliot: Lucy wants to show us one last thing.

Lucy: Do you know what these are?

Katherine: Solar panels.

Lucy: Exactly. These panels turn energy from the sun into electricity. In the past, people didn't realise how important it was to use energy that was natural and would not run out. Bit by bit, the Harbourside is changing, and hopefully for the better. Should we go look around the Harbourside some more?

Katherine: Yeah.

Elliot: Yeah.

Lucy: Come on then.

Katherine: We are so grateful to Lucy as she's taught us how different this place used to be.

Elliot: And on our walk home, we will notice the flats, the old trains, the cobbled walkways and the houseboats and know that there was a time when all of this was very, very different.