1851 Census returns
Outline of the activity
Children were learning how to use a prepared database to answer questions which relied on more than one variable. Using the 1851 Census material children were able to extend their knowledge and support work being done in History, looking at life in Merthyr in the early 19th Century. The children also used the internet to widen their search and find additional census information.
Skills Covered
The children learnt how to carry out a simple search and also to search a database using ‘AND’ or ‘OR’. They were able to print records to give evidence and used the internet to widen their search. The children were able to find out about the past from census returns. They were also able to present information and findings in different ways.
Rationale
This children’s historical understanding was clearly enhanced by the use of the data base as it allowed the children to examine carefully the census information and present the information in different ways.
Result
The children used the database to research the history of their locality. They were able to use ‘AND’ and ‘OR’ to search data when looking for relationships and also able to produce graphs to provide supporting evidence for their conclusions.
Open the database file for Rhyd-Y-Car cottages here (Information Workshop file)
Open the database for Caedraw (Information workshop file)
Caedraw as a csv file 
(open in Excel)
Worksheet to accompany Caedraw data files. 
