Movement Through Time

Overview

Year Level: Year 2
Learning Area: Health and Physical Education (HPE)
Strand: Movement and Physical Activity
Sub-strands:

• Understanding movement
• Learning through movement

Curriculum Links (Australian Curriculum - Version 9.0):

• ACPMP047: Perform and refine fundamental movement skills in different movement situations.
• ACPMP049: Incorporate elements of effort, space, time, objects and people in performing movement sequences.
• ACHASSK046 (Cross-Curriculum Link with HASS): The differences and similarities between students' daily lives and life during their parents’ and grandparents’ childhoods.

Lesson Duration: 50 minutes
Class size: 10 students

Lesson Theme: Exploring "Then and Now" through the lens of home objects and physical movement games.

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Learning Intention

Students will explore how everyday objects used at home have changed over time (e.g., telephones, washing tools, entertainment devices) and express these changes through movement-based storytelling and group activities. They will use body movements to "act out" different time periods, enhancing both historical understanding and physical coordination.

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Success Criteria

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate knowledge of simple historical timelines through physical movement.
• Recreate basic movement patterns that represent past and present activities (e.g., hand-washing clothes vs using a washing machine).
• Participate collaboratively in small-group movement sequences.
• Verbally compare "then and now" versions of everyday objects using learned vocabulary.

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Resources Needed

• Large outdoor or indoor space
• Printable timeline strips with years and icons (teacher-prepared)
• Cones or markers
• Whiteboard and dry erase markers
• Laminated cards with images of old vs. modern household items (e.g., rotary phone vs smartphone, washboard vs. washing machine, old TV vs. streaming service)
• Music player with sound effects (typewriters clacking, smartphone notifications, horse clip-clops, etc.)
• Student journals or drawing paper and pencils
• Stopwatch or timer

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Preparation Before Class

• Set up a long horizontal timeline on the ground using cones and printable strips (e.g., 1900s, 1950s, 1980s, 2000s, Today).
• Place laminated object cards along the timeline zones.
• Have sound effects cued at different timeline stations.
• Prepare a “Movement Match” activity sheet for students.

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Lesson Sequence

1. Welcome & Warm-up (10 mins)

Activity: Time Traveller Movers

• Students form a circle. The teacher tells them they are going to be time travellers using their bodies to go back in time.
• Call out a year or object (“1950 – Phone!”) and the students must freeze in a pose they think represents that object in that era.
  • Example: For a 1950 phone – pretend to hold a rotary phone to the ear and dial.
  • Example: For 2020 – tap on an imaginary smartphone.
• Quick 2-minute dynamic warm-up included: 10 jumping jacks, 10 star jumps, 5 hop-on-one-leg rounds.

Purpose: Activate listening, coordination, and prior knowledge.

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2. Core Activity: Object Timeline Exploration (20 mins)

Part 1: Timeline Walk (7 mins)

• Students are split into two groups of 5.
• Each group starts at opposite ends of the timeline.
• As they move through each decade zone, they stop, look at the object card and listen to a sound.

Instruction Prompt:
"Look at this object. How do we use it now? How did people use it back then? Can you move like someone would have used this in the past?”

• Students act out using each object in a way suited to that time.
• For example, scrub clothes on a fake washboard vs tapping a "start" button on a washing machine.

Part 2: Group Movement Sequences (13 mins)

• Back together, groups now select TWO object cards each (one ‘then’ and one ‘now’).
• Students create a 30-second mini-performance showing how the object was used in the past and how it's used today.
  • Must include 3 types of fundamental movement (e.g., reaching, twisting, jumping).
  • Emphasis on contrasts: past movements are slower and more effortful; modern movements are faster and more tech-centred.
• Present group movement sequences to the class.

Differentiation:

• For students needing more support, the teacher can model one of the movement sequences alongside their group.
• Extend for advanced students by adding a transition movement between past and present.

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3. Cool Down & Reflection (10 mins)

Activity: Draw & Discuss

• Students sit in a circle with drawing pads.
• Prompt: “Draw one object from the timeline and how its movement has changed.”
• While drawing, students take turns sharing:
  • What object they chose
  • One way it has become easier or harder to use
  • How movement changed across time for that object

Optional Stretching

• Gentle stretching (reach for the sky, twist like an old-time radio dial, step like you’re turning on an old washing machine).

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Assessment (Formative)

• Observation during warm-up for listening and movement engagement
• Participation in timeline activity and accuracy of physical representation
• Group performance assessment using checklist:
  • Movement clarity
  • Creativity
  • Historical accuracy
  • Group cooperation
• Draw & Discuss reflection as evidence of conceptual understanding

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Extension Opportunities

• Link to a follow-up HASS lesson creating a physical or digital timeline as a class project.
• Invite students to bring in a photo or item from home showing an "old" version of a modern object.

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Teacher Notes

• This lesson supports both PHYSICAL and COGNITIVE development by integrating history concepts into movement.
• Great opportunity to capture student voice through movement rather than written work.
• Inclusive for EAL/D and diverse learners—non-verbal storytelling enables rich expression.

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Reflection (For Teacher Use)

• Which movements were most engaging for students?
• Did students successfully contrast old vs modern in their sequences?
• Were all students able to identify one historical object and describe its evolution?
• What adjustments could be made for next time?

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Links to General Capabilities

• Critical and Creative Thinking – interpreting how everyday objects have evolved
• Personal and Social Capability – collaboration in small group sequences
• Intercultural Understanding – How cultural changes over time affect home life
• ICT Capability – Optional extensions can include digital timeline entries

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Conclusion

This movement-based exploration of "Then and Now" offers Year 2 students a hands-on, active opportunity to reflect on history while practising coordination, teamwork, and creative expression. Aligned with the Australian Curriculum and designed for engagement, this lesson goes beyond traditional PE and brings the past to life through physical literacy.