Then and Now

Overview

Duration: 30 minutes
Year Level: Year 2
Learning Area: Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS)
Australian Curriculum Alignment:

• History – Knowledge and Understanding
  ACHASSK044: The history of a significant person, building, site or part of the natural environment in the local community and what it reveals about the past
  ACHASSK046: The differences and similarities between students' daily lives and life during their parents’ and grandparents’ childhoods

Learning Intentions

• Students will identify key differences and similarities between life in the past and the present in Australia.
• Students will explore changes in daily life including communication, transport and everyday activities.
• Students will use historical sources (photos, objects, oral stories) to identify continuity and change.

Success Criteria

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

• Describe at least two ways daily life in the past is different from today.
• Identify examples of how technology or lifestyle changes have impacted families.
• Share a personal connection or story related to the topic of ‘past and present’.

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Resources

• Printed photo cards of typical Australian households: 1950s, 1980s, today
• Mini personal artefact bag (e.g. chalk, washboard photo, rotary phone, cassette tape etc.)
• Chart paper and markers
• "Then and Now" template worksheet
• Floor timeline / rope line across classroom
• Audio clip: sound of a rotary phone ringing, school bell from 1950s
• Cushions or group seating to create a “yarning circle” feel

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Lesson Breakdown

🟢 Warm-Up (5 minutes) – Sound Safari

Activity: What do you hear?
Play two short sound effects (e.g. rotary phone, milk bottles clanking, old school bell).

Ask students:

• "Have you ever heard that sound before?"
• "What do you think made that sound?"
  Responses are shared in a circle, promoting active listening and curiosity.

🎯 Learning Link: Introduces concept that things sounded and functioned differently in the past.

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🟡 Group Exploration (10 minutes) – Picture That Past!

Activity: Photo Sort & Spot the Difference
In pairs, students are given 3 sets of photo cards:

1. Australian kitchen in 1950s
2. Australian kitchen in 1980s
3. Australian kitchen today

Students are asked to:

• Sequence the photos from "long ago" to "now"
• Spot at least 2 differences between each time period

Prompt questions from teacher:

• “How do you think families cooked back then?”
• “Can you find something that doesn’t exist anymore?”
• “Would you want to live in that time? Why?”

🎯 Learning Link: Encourages visual engagement with historical evidence and chronological thinking.

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🟠 Hands-On Activity (7 minutes) – Mystery Bag Time Travel

Activity: What Could It Be?
A small "time travel artefact bag" is passed around. Each student chooses one mystery item (e.g. cassette tape, chalk, washboard picture, soap bar on rope).

They describe:

• What they think it is
• How it was used
• If they’ve seen it before or know someone who has used it

Students then place their artefact on a large floor timeline (1950s ➝ 1980s ➝ Today), with teacher modelling vocabulary like: past, before, 'when my grandma was little'.

🎯 Learning Link: Introduces tactile access to change over time and strengthens vocabulary.

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🔵 Reflect and Make Connections (5 minutes) – Yarning Circle

Activity: Then and Now Sharing Time
Bring class into a circle setting (to reflect First Nations yarning practices). Students respond to the prompt:
“What’s one thing in my life today that’s different to when my grown-ups were kids?”

Encourage inclusion of real-life examples – e.g. “My mum used to walk to school but I come in the car.”
Teacher charts these out as a Venn diagram on butchers' paper.

🎯 Learning Link: Builds personal connections to broader historical thinking.

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Assessment Opportunities

• Formative: Teacher observes student contributions during all activities – especially in the Yarning Circle and Mystery Bag reflections
• Checklist: Use to identify students who can:
  • Use terms like "past", "present", "long ago"
  • Identify clear similarities and differences between two time periods
  • Use personal or observed evidence to make comparisons

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Differentiation

• Support: Mixed ability groupings, visuals provided for EAL/D learners, sentence stems (e.g. “In the past they had ___ but now we have ___”)
• Extension: Students can draw or write a quick story about living in the past – "A day in the life of my Nan when she was 7"

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Teacher Notes

• Consider incorporating a local Aboriginal perspective in a follow-up lesson by examining how daily life for First Nations people has changed (or remained) over generations.
• This lesson encourages oral storytelling, hands-on interaction, and a multi-sensory experience – ideal for kinaesthetic and visual learners.
• Perfectly suited for a small class size like 5 – promotes rich discussion and exploration.

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Follow-Up Ideas

• Invite a grandparent or elder to speak about their childhood (community engagement)
• Create a classroom "Past and Present" museum
• Digital storytelling using student drawings and voice recordings to explain changes over time

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Teacher Reflection

✔ What surprised students the most about the past?
✔ Did students make strong connections between their daily life and the lives of others in the past?
✔ How might you deepen this learning across the term?

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This lesson brings history to life for young learners through storytelling, artefacts, and meaningful connection to their own families.