Past Events and Change
Notice changes in everyday life that older people remember. Compare homes, toys, schools and transport from different times. Learn about events much further back, such as the Great Fire of London.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Compare an everyday object used in the past with a version used today, such as a dial telephone and a smartphone, and describe a change
- Retell a famous event from long ago (e.g., the Great Fire of London) and say it happened before their parents or grandparents were born
- Sort dated pictures or descriptions into 'then' and 'now' groups and explain the clues used
1 · Read
The past includes yesterday, years ago and hundreds of years ago. Older people may remember changes from their childhood. Their memories, photos and objects can help us learn about those times. Other events happened too long ago for anyone alive today to remember seeing them.
Dial telephones were used before smartphones. To choose numbers on a dial phone, you turn its dial. On a smartphone, you can tap numbers on its screen. Both let people talk over a distance. An old design can still be used today.
Mia compares a photo from her grandpa's school days with a photo from today. Both show children sitting at desks. Only today's photo shows tablets. The desks are one thing that stayed in both photos. The tablets are one difference. These photos do not tell us about every classroom in either time.
The Great Fire of London happened in 1666. It burned many homes and other buildings. People later rebuilt parts of the city. It happened hundreds of years ago, before anyone alive today was born. It also happened before Mia's grandpa was born.
For a sorting task, find out what 'then' and 'now' mean. If 'then' means a photo from 1950 and 'now' means a photo taken today, use those dates. Clothes or tools can give clues, but looks alone do not prove a date. Horses and carts still exist. Video games have been played for many years.
Compare what two objects can do as well as how they look. A sound-only radio plays music or speech but shows no pictures. A tablet can play sound and show pictures. Both can help people hear music. Showing pictures is one difference. Check the features of the objects you are comparing.
Use dates and other clues to compare then and now. Name what changed and what stayed the same.
Readings and flashcards written for this dataset. Source study informed the activities; source wording is not reproduced.
More to read
Two objects with a shared job
Find two objects used for a similar job. A dial telephone and a smartphone both let people talk over a distance. How do you choose the numbers on each one?
Name something they share and something different. You can compare their designs without knowing when those particular phones were made. A phone with an older design might still be in use today.
Learning a family story
With a trusted adult, choose a family photo, object or memory to talk about. Ask who it concerns and when it comes from. It is fine if some details are unknown.
A family tree is one way to record relationships. It uses names joined by lines. Families take different forms. You could also record one person's story instead of making a tree. Keep private family details within your family.
What was school like?
Ask a trusted adult to help you talk with someone you know about their school days. You could ask about playground games or journeys to school. Listen to their answer before asking more.
They may want to share a school photo. Compare it with one from today. What appears in both? What is different? Their story tells you about their own experience. Other people may remember different things.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
Learn first
Nothing; this is a starting point.
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.