--- title: "Past Events and Change" description: "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." canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/history/past-events-and-change-mt_wy086IHQ0G source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/history/past-events-and-change-mt_wy086IHQ0G.md retrieved: 2026-10-19 --- > **Agent view.** This is the Markdown twin of the page, for tools and assistants. > When to use this site, and the call that answers each job: https://lightmysky.com/agent-instructions.md > API description (OpenAPI 3.1): https://lightmysky.com/openapi.json · Authentication: https://lightmysky.com/auth.md > Pricing: https://lightmysky.com/pricing.md · Catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms.txt · Full catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms-full.txt > Every machine-readable file on this domain: https://lightmysky.com/.well-known/ai-catalog.json > Ask for Markdown with `Accept: text/markdown`, a `.md` address, or `?mode=agent`. # 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. Subject: History · Area: Historical Thinking · Ages 5 to 7 Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/history/past-events-and-change-mt_wy086IHQ0G ## Ready when they can - 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 ## Lesson: Then and Now: How Life Has Changed 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. **Example.** 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. *(drawing: The words compare how you choose numbers. Both phones let people talk.)* **Example.** 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. *(drawing: This shows the order of events, not equal gaps of time.)* 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. *(drawing: Use the photo's date. A horse, cart or game alone cannot tell you when a photo was taken.)* 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. **Recap.** Use dates and other clues to compare then and now. Name what changed and what stayed the same. ## Practice 8 questions on this page, each with its working shown. ## Opens up - [Asking Questions About the Past](https://lightmysky.com/learn/history/asking-questions-about-the-past-mt_6nTw-Ic6pC) - [Significant Historical Figures](https://lightmysky.com/learn/history/significant-historical-figures-mt_f4W-c5trxf) - [Change and Continuity](https://lightmysky.com/learn/history/change-and-continuity-mt_OusQE68QDs) - [Prehistoric Britain](https://lightmysky.com/learn/history/prehistoric-britain-mt_XdvTpVdWIk)