The journey takes Rian and Maya to Australia, where they visit an exhibition about the future of travel and transport.
Rian: If you're not driving, Aunty Maya, then who is?
Aunt Maya: Oops, I thought you were driving, Rian.
Rian: What?! I can't drive!
Aunt Maya: Only joking. It's an electric driverless car. It can drive itself. We'll see lots of these at the Future of Transport exhibition we're going to.
Rian: Wow! I can't wait to get there. How does our car know where to go?
Aunt Maya: You use the navigation screen to select where you want to go - your destination - and the car drives you the best way there. As you can see, we are driving across Western Australia to where the exhibition is.
Rian: Fantastic!
Aunt Maya: It's possible that all cars will be able to drive themselves in the future as it should be safer and there'll be fewer traffic jams.
Rian: Look up there. What's that?
Aunt Maya: It's a drone. I'm sure it'll be my friend Robert at the exhibition looking for us.
Rian: How is it doing that?
Aunt Maya: He'll be flying the drone using a remote control. The drone has a small video camera on it so he can see us coming.
Rian: What else do people use drones for?
Aunt Maya: Drones are used for all sorts of things - like filming sports and in the future they could even deliver packages. Oh, we have a message from Robert at the exhibition.
Rian: Is that us?
Aunt Maya: Yes, Robert is sending us the video that the drone is filming.
Robert: Maya and Rian, welcome to the exhibition.
Aunt Maya: Hi Robert. Rian, this is Robert from the exhibition I was telling you about.
Rian: Nice to meet you, Robert.
Robert: Have I got some exciting technology to show you guys! Come on in. We took this for its first test flight last week.
Rian: A jetpack!
Robert: Exactly! You've probably seen these on TV or films. We haven't quite perfected it yet and it's a bit noisy, but perhaps one day you'll use a jetpack to get to school.
Rian: That would be awesome!
Robert: So what's your favourite type of transport, Rian?
Rian: Good question. I love trains.
Robert: Now trains will be very interesting in the future. There's one type of train that I'm sure we'll see more often. It's called a Maglev. What looks different to you about this one?
Rian: It doesn't look like it's got any wheels! Why isn't it falling off?
Robert: Maglev trains use magnets to float to move above the rails. How cool is that?
Rian: Wow!
Robert: And there's a type of train system called a hyperloop that's being invented right now. It uses electricity and air topush a passenger carriage through a tube at very fast speeds.
Rian: How fast does that go?
Robert: We're not sure yet. It might be as fast as a plane.
Rian: Amazing! What's that over there? It looks like a skateboard with no wheels.
Robert: That's a hoverboard. It hovers just above the ground and you do ride it like a skateboard.
Rian: Brilliant!
Robert: It takes a bit of getting used to, but it's fun to try and do something different.
Rian: Why are there so many new and different ways to travel?
Robert: Lots of the ways we currently travel produce pollution that is harmful to human beings, animals and plants.
Rian: Oh, right.
Robert: So everybody is trying very hard to find ways to travel that are better for all of us - like electric travel and some of the vehicles you've seen today.
Rian: I was also wondering about travelling in space and where we might travel to next in the galaxy.
Robert: There's lots of new things happening with spaceships. Humans have already travelled to the Moon and we hope the next destination is going to be Mars.
Rian: Wow, I wonder what a trip to Mars will be like?
Robert: Well, it'll take a long time. Mars is so far away that to travel there would take about half a year.
Rian: Astronauts would be in a spaceship for that long?
Robert: Yeah, and they'd have to take everything they need with them as we haven't built anything on Mars yet.
Rian: Maybe we can go on a trip to Mars for one of our future adventures, Aunty Maya?
Aunt Maya: Maybe. Let's see how the first explorers get on with their trip, shall we? Besides, we've got to get ready for the final part of our journey to the South Pole. We're leaving by helicopter very early tomorrow.
Robert: Good luck on the rest of your trip. Thank you for coming to visit the exhibition.
Rian: I can't wait to make exciting journeys like those in the future.
Aunt Maya: Me too.
Video summary
Maya and Rian are in Western Australia, where they are travelling in a driverless car to a ‘Future of Transport’ exhibition.
They see a drone, controlled by Maya’s friend Robert, flying overhead, and discuss what drones are used for.
They arrive at the exhibition and Robert shows Rian some exciting new forms of transport, such as a jet pack, a maglev train and a hyperloop. Robert explains that many of the new forms of transport are designed to create less pollution.
Rian asks about travel in space and they discuss the potential of travelling to Mars.
Questions to ask:
- What new inventions did you see in the video?
- Which was your favourite new way to travel?
- What makes these new methods of transport better than ones we use now?
- Discuss pollution, traffic and other transport issues.
Suggested activities
- Ask the children to invent their own new type of transport. It could be a plane, a train, a car or something totally different. Ask the children to draw their invention and write a description of how it works. How will it improve travelling for future generations? Does it create any pollution? Is it safer than current modes of transport? You could hold a debate where each children tries to convince their classmates to choose their invention as their favourite. You could have a vote to see which is the most popular. The children could use modelling resources to create a model of their transport.
- Think back over all the types of transport you have learned about through all the films. Which is your favourite? Create a timeline of all the types of transport, and then add some of the transport of the future to it.
- Think back over the journey that Rian and Maya took from the North Pole to the South Pole. Where did they visit? Plot some of the key places on a map. What different ways did they travel? Which was your favourite part of their journey? Choose one of the countries they visited and learn more about it.
Resources
Teachers' notes. video
Download / print notes for the series (PDF)
Colouring activity. document
Download / print (PDF)
Map activity. document
Download / print (PDF)
Other episodes in this series
1. Awesome animals. video
Rian and Maya set off, learning as they go how animals have been used throughout history for transport.
2. Wonderful wheels. video
A journey through the UK in an electric car with Rian and Maya finding out about wheeled transport.
3. Brilliant boats video
Rian and Maya travel by sea to the continent of Africa and look at the history of boats.
4. Fantastic flying machines. video
Rian and Maya travel through Africa in a hot air balloon and learn about different forms of air travel.
5: Tremendous trains. video
On a train journey across India, Rian and Maya learn about the history of rail travel.
