History · Year 8

Active learning ideas

The Great Fire of London 1666

Active learning helps students grasp how human choices and environmental factors combined to fuel the Great Fire of London in 1666. By physically moving between stations, debating decisions, and constructing models, students connect primary evidence to the fire’s rapid spread and lasting impact on the city.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS3: History - Social and Cultural History
• KS3: History - The Restoration

• 35–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Stations Rotation
• 45 min · Small Groups

Stations Rotation: Fire Spread Factors

Set up stations with models showing wooden houses, wind effects via fans, narrow streets with barriers, and firefighting tools. Groups spend 7 minutes at each, testing how changes affect flame spread on paper models and noting observations. Conclude with a class share-out comparing results to 1666 accounts.

Analyze why the fire spread so quickly through London.

Facilitation Tip

For the Station Rotation, provide a one-sentence task card at each station to keep groups focused on the specific factor being investigated.

What to look for

Provide students with a map of 17th-century London. Ask them to draw three specific features that would have helped the fire spread quickly and one feature that could have slowed it down. Students should label each feature and write one sentence explaining its role.

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Simulation Game
• 35 min · Small Groups

Role-Play: Firebreak Debates

Assign roles as mayor, bakers, property owners, and firefighters. Groups debate whether to demolish houses using gunpowder, weighing risks to possessions against fire containment. Vote and reflect on decisions via written journals linked to Samuel Pepys' diary.

Explain how the fire changed the architecture and safety of the city.

Facilitation Tip

During the Role-Play, assign student roles using name cards so participants stay in character throughout the debate.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'If you were a city official in 1666, what would be your top three priorities for rebuilding London to prevent another disaster?' Facilitate a class discussion where students justify their choices based on the fire's causes and consequences.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 03

• Simulation Game
• 40 min · Pairs

Source Analysis: Blame Game

Provide pamphlets, eyewitness letters, and broadsheets accusing foreigners. Pairs sort evidence for accident versus arson, then present findings in a mock trial format. Discuss xenophobia's role using timelines of Anglo-Dutch wars.

Evaluate why foreigners were blamed for starting the fire.

Facilitation Tip

In the Source Analysis, give students a color-coded guide to quickly identify author bias in each document before they begin sorting.

What to look for

Present students with short statements about the causes, course, or consequences of the Great Fire. Ask them to indicate 'True' or 'False' and provide a brief justification for their answer, focusing on specific details learned about the event.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 04

• Simulation Game
• 50 min · Individual

Model Building: Rebuilt London

Individuals sketch and build small models contrasting pre- and post-fire streets using craft sticks for timber and bricks for stone. Label safety features like wider alleys. Gallery walk allows peer feedback on Wren's influences.

Analyze why the fire spread so quickly through London.

Facilitation Tip

For Model Building, set a timer for 10 minutes of planning before students touch materials to prevent hasty decisions.

What to look for

Provide students with a map of 17th-century London. Ask them to draw three specific features that would have helped the fire spread quickly and one feature that could have slowed it down. Students should label each feature and write one sentence explaining its role.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers find success by grounding abstract historical concepts in tangible tasks. Avoid lengthy lectures about the fire’s timeline; instead, let students discover how tightly packed wooden houses and narrow streets trapped heat and flames. Use replica objects like leather buckets and hooks to make firefighting methods memorable. Research shows that when students physically simulate the spread or debate decisions, they retain details about causes and consequences better than through passive reading.

Students will explain why the fire moved so quickly, debate the effectiveness of firebreaks, evaluate biased sources, and design safer rebuilding plans. Evidence of these understandings should appear in their discussions, maps, and models.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Station Rotation: Fire Spread Factors, watch for students who assume arson was the cause based on rumours.

  Use the station on 'Human Rumour vs Factual Evidence' where students sort primary sources into 'Rumour' and 'Evidence' columns, then discuss why rumours spread despite no proof of arson.

• During Role-Play: Firebreak Debates, watch for students who assume firefighters used modern equipment.

  Provide replica buckets and hooks at the debate table and ask students to explain how these tools limited their ability to create effective firebreaks during their role-play.

• During Model Building: Rebuilt London, watch for students who recreate the medieval city structure instead of Wren’s reforms.

  Display a side-by-side comparison of pre-fire and post-fire street plans at the building station and require students to label three changes in their models.

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Methods used in this brief

• Stations Rotation
• Simulation Game