Six short videos exploring the History topic Changes within living memory - that is, about the last 75 years. The content focuses on Clothes, Homes, Schools, Shops, Toys and Transport. The theme Technology is a feature of all the videos.
The videos
Changes within living memory: 'Then and Now'
The National Curriculum for History at Key Stage 1 states that: 'Pupils should be taught about…changes within living memory. Where appropriate, these should be used to reveal aspects of change in national life.'
The six short videos in this series focus on changes within the UK across a range of topics that will resonate with KS1 pupils: Clothes, Homes, Schools, Shops, Toys and Transport. Each film is structured as follows:
- Archive section. The opening section - approximately 1.5 minutes long - includes archive video footage and stills, accompanied by narration, exploring the topic and noting changes over the last 75 years. Comparisons are drawn between 'then' and 'now'.
- Quiz. The central section - approximately 1 minute long - is a quiz. The children are shown three images from contrasting decades and are invited to identify the correct decade for one of the images. The images have been carefully selected to allow children to use the knowledge they have gained during the opening archive section to inform their choice. The pacing of the quiz allows for teacher mediation, so that you can allow additional time for your class to consider the options at your own pace.
- Child-led interview. The final section of each episode - approximately 1.5 minutes long - is an interview with an adult, many of whom are experts on the topic, although their expertise is not a particular feature of the interviews. Further details about each adult interviewee can be found in the Teacher Notes on each episode page. The interviews are conducted by children of the approximate age of the audience and the interviewee gives a personal response, recalling the changes that have occurred during their lives.
At the end, the audience is invited to undertake their own historical enquiry on the topic.
On each episode page you will find a set of Teacher Notes offering:
- an overview of the episode
- suggestions for further activities
- suggestions for how to extend the historical exploration into specific other areas of the curriculum at KS1
The Teacher Notes also include:
- A questions sheet. This is a sheet of suitable questions for the children to learn and use to conduct their own interview with a parent or grandparent, either visiting the school or as a home activity.
- A sorting worksheet. This extends the quiz activity from the video episodes. Children are invited to analyse three images from contrasting decades and indicate the correct decades on the worksheet.
The video episodes make frequent use of the 'Then and Now' timeline to help reinforce the chronology of events and to give a visual sense of both the passage of time and the length of time between specific events. A blank copy of the timeline is available to print below for you to add some of your own events.
Further resources
Timeline. document
Download / print an A4 size copy of the timeline
'Then and Now' from the L.A.B Scotland
A collection of resources about life now and in the past, from BBC Scotland.
