TOURING LONDON
USING THE UNDERGROUND AND BUSSES

 Preview of Main Ideas

The London subway and bus systems are incredibly effective because they are so easy to use, so convenient, and so inexpensive. In this lesson students will learn how to use both systems.

Connection with the Curriculum

This lesson could be studied as part of a unit on Western Europe, the study of systems, or as part of a study of transportation networks.

Teaching Level: Grade 4.

Objectives Classification Outline

Objective #1: Students will learn how the two systems of the London Underground and London double-decker busses move people from place to place.

Essential Element: The World in Spatial Terms.

Standard #3: How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth’s surface.

Knowledge Statement #1: The spatial elements of point, line, area, and volume.

Skill Set #5: Answering Geographic Questions.

Skill #3: Apply generalizations to solve geographic problems and make reasoned decisions.

Theme: Movement.

1. Map of the London Underground.
2. Map of the Visitor Bus Routes in Central London.
3. Written instructions of how to use the maps.
4. Worksheet to check students’ knowledge of how to use the two systems.

Note: The London Underground maps must be colored by the teacher prior to the teaching of the lesson on how to use it. Each underground route must be colored a different color. The same colors must be used for each subway train route on all the maps.

Opening the Lesson

Day 1

1. Explain to students that they are going to pretend they are visiting London, England and are going to see its many sights by using the London subway system called the London Underground and the London Double-Decker Bus System.
2. If possible, show students pictures of some of the famous sights to see in central London and describe these sights to them. If pictures are unavailable, describe some of the sights there are to see such as the Parliament Building and Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul Cathedral, the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, Hyde Park, Harrod’s Department Store, the London Theatre District, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum, the British Museum, and the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England.
3. Explain how to use the London Underground map by explaining the map symbols and color codes. Each station which is named along a subway route on the map is marked with a little square or other, more descriptive symbol. At these places passengers can get on or off the subway. At some stations they can transfer to another subway line underground without having to exit the system. These are shown with circles along the Underground routes. To use the system all you do is buy a ticket which you can use all day for unlimited rides. Then go to an Underground Station, enter it using your ticket, determine where you want to go, figure out which train or trains you must ride to get there, and go there. Time is not a factor in taking the trains. They operate from 4:00 a.m. until 1:00 a.m. Trains on every line are usually no more than 10 minutes apart.
4. Take a sample trip together as a class. Start at Heathrow Airport in section E1 on the map. Get on the Piccadilly Line and travel to Wimbledon in section F3 to see the famous tennis courts there. To do so you must get off the Piccadilly Line at any of four stations where you can transfer to the District Line to get to Wimbledon. The easiest place to get off and transfer would be at Earl’s Court. But, you could also transfer at Acton Town, Hammersmith, or Barons Court.
5. Now look at the bus route map. It not only shows the bus routes, but also the Underground stops and the famous sights of London. Ask students to pick something they want to see. Now look for the nearest Underground station symbol and name. Find what Underground route that station is along using the Underground map. From Wimbledon plan how to get to that station. You will often find that there are several ways to get from one place to another. All are correct, but some are shorter than others. Ask students to find the shortest routes. Continue doing this for the rest of the period going from place to place in London using the Underground transportation system.

Developing the Lesson:

Day 2

1. Tell students that today is their second day in London and it is sunny and warm. Instead of using the Underground, today they will use the famous London double-decker busses instead. Fortunately, they can buy another all day pass which not only works on the Underground trains but on the busses, too.
2. Find Russell Square in section I2 of the bus map. Your hotel is located near here. Walk northwest along Woburn Place to the intersection of Woburn and Euston Road. At this intersection eight busses stop to pick up or drop off passengers. Each bus has a number, and the eight bus numbers are shown in the circle at the intersection.
3. You decide to visit the London Zoo in section E1 on the map. The bus stop closest to the zoo is Bus C2 which stops along Albany Street in section F1. In order to get to a bus along the C2 bus route you must get to the corner of Marylbone Road and Albany Street in map section F2. Three busses stop at the intersection – 30, 135, and C2. However, none of those busses stop at the Corner of Woburn and Euston where you are at.
4. So you decide to get on a bus headed toward Marylbone Road and Albany Street. You get on bus 30 and travel to that intersection where you get off and wait for bus C2 headed north on Albany Street. The reason you know you can transfer from bus 30 to bus C2 at that intersection is because both bus numbers are inside the circle at that intersection. By taking this one trip involving a transfer from one bus to another, students understand everything there is to know about the London bus system. You simply take a bus toward where you want to go and transfer to other busses, if necessary, at intersections where both the bus you are on and the one you want to get on are shown in the circle at that intersection.
5. Ask if the students understand the system. One question they may have is how long they will have to wait for a bus. The answer is not very long, perhaps ten minutes. So many people use public transportation in London that there are many busses on every route traveling only a short distance behind each other.

1. Give the students the worksheet with some route to plan from one place to another using subway trains or busses. Ask each student to work alone to find the answers.
2. Grade the papers when they are finished and show students the correct answers.

Extending the Lesson

Find out if the nearest big city to you has public transportation systems. If it does, get a map of each system, study how it is organized, and how it is similar or different from the systems used in London.

Assessing Student Learning

The worksheet given at the end of Day 2 of the lesson is used to evaluate how well students understand how to use the London public transportation systems.

 Name: ________________________ Period: __________________ Score: ____________ Grade: ___________

USING THE LONDON UNDERGROUND AND LONDON BUSSES

Use the London Underground to fill in the blanks to the following directions.

From Russell Square on the 1.                            Line travel south to Holborn Station where you will transfer to the 2.                            Line. From Holborn travel west to the station where you can transfer to the Jubilee Line. That station is called 3.                                  and it is 4.                                train stops after the Holborn Underground Station. Now travel 5.                              train stops north to Wembley Park where you get off to see the famous soccer stadium there. Now re-enter the Underground and walk through an underground tunnel at Wembley Park to get on the other subway train line with a stop there. It is called the 6.                                                    Line. Take it 7.                                 where you can transfer to the Piccadilly Line at a station called 8.                                              . Now you decide you want to visit the Tower of London which is along either the Circle Line or the 9.                             Line at a train station called Tower Hill in section D7 on the map. You decide to take the line which is the answer to question 9. To do this you will have to transfer to it from the Piccadilly Line. There are seven train stations where you can do this. You decide to change at the sixth station. It is called 10.                                                   .

Use the London Bus System to fill in the blanks to the following directions.

From the intersection of Euston Road and Woburn Place in section H1 of the bus route map you must get on a bus that takes you to Old Brompton Road in the lower left corner of the map in section A8. What bus will you get on? 1.

On your trip the bus will stop 9 times until its final stop along Old Brompton Road. Name Each intersection by naming the streets that meet at each one.

11.                                                                                                                                    

12.                                                                                                                                    

13.                                                                                                                                    

14.                                                                                                                                    

15.                                                                                                                                    

16.                                                                                                                                    

17.                                                                                                                                    

18.                                                                                                                                    

19.                                                                                                                                    

Name: KEY    Period:  _________________ Score: ___________________ Grade: _________

USING THE LONDON UNDERGROUND AND LONDON BUSSES

Use the London Underground to fill in the blanks to the following directions.

From Russell Square on the 1. Piccadilly Line travel south to Holborn Station where you will transfer to the 2. Central Line. From Holborn travel west to the station where you can transfer to the Jubilee Line. That station is called 3. Bond Street and it is 4. three train stops after the Holborn Underground Station. Now travel 5. ten train stops north to Wembley Park where you get off to see the famous soccer stadium there. Now re-enter the Underground and walk through an underground tunnel at Wembley Park to get on the other subway train line with a stop there. It is called the 6. Metropolitan Line. Take it 7. west where you can transfer to the Piccadilly Line at a station called 8. Rayner’s Lane. Now you decide you want to visit the Tower of London which is along either the Circle Line or the 9. District Line at a train station called Tower Hill in section D7 on the map. You decide to take the line which is the answer to question 9. To do this you will have to transfer to it from the Piccadilly Line. There are seven train stations where you can do this. You decide to change at the sixth station. It is called 10. Gloucester Road .

Use the London Bus System to fill in the blanks to the following directions.

From the intersection of Euston Road and Woburn Place in section H1 of the bus route map you must get on a bus that takes you to Old Brompton Road in the lower left corner of the map in section A8. What bus will you get on? 1. 30

On your trip the bus will stop 9 times until its final stop along Old Brompton Road. Name Each intersection by naming the streets that meet at each one.

11. Euston Road and Hampstead Road

12. Marylbone Road and Albany Street

13. Marylbone Road and Baker Street or Gloucester Place

14. Baker Street and Bayswater Road or Oxford Street

15. Bayswater Road and Edgware Road or Park Lane

16. Park Lane or Grosvenor Place and Knightsbridge or Piccadilly

17. Brompton Road and Kensington Road or Knightsbridge Road

18. Brompton Road and Cromwell Road

19. Brompton Road and Harrington Road

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