History at key stages 1 and 2 (Year 5/6)

Unit 13: How has life in Britain changed since 1948?
Section 1: How can we begin to find out about change since the Second World War?

Objectives

Children should learn:

about changes that have occurred in Britain since 1948 and some of the reasons for these changes
to place events precisely in time

Activities

Outcomes

Children:

Explain some of the main changes in Britain since 1948, eg change in population structure, more cars, increased consumerism.

Ask the children to identify their piece of evidence (see 'points to note'), describe it and place it on a time line in the correct decade.

Ask the children to look at all the evidence for one decade. What does it tell us about the decade? Compare one decade with today. What has changed? What has stayed the same?

Discuss with the children some of the causes of the changes, eg impact of new technologies, changes in transport, immigration.

select information from the object to decide which decade it dates from
place the object in the correct decade on the time line
identify some similarities within one decade and some differences between now and then
suggest some reasons for the changes

Points to note

Before starting this activity, children will need to be asked to bring in one piece of evidence about life from 1948 onwards, eg photos, comics, objects, music.

The time line does not have to be on paper. It could be a clothes line or a series of display tables around the room. The time line will need to:

be at child height
have the decades clearly marked
be wide enough to have 'layers' (for each topic area) so that the children can plot change in each topic in parallel, eg work, home life, popular culture, population, technology
have each topic area, eg WORK, clearly labelled. The topics could be distinguished from each other by using different colours.

This activity might show that certain children are interested in particular aspects of life since 1948 and could help when allocating topics for the enquiry.

Sections in this unit

next section >>

This unit is divided into sections. Each section contains a sequence of activities with related objectives and outcomes. You can view this unit by moving through the sections or print/download the whole unit.


	1. How can we begin to find out about change since the Second World War?
	2. What types of evidence can we use to find out about life in Britain since the Second World War?
	3. THE ENQUIRY: What are the changes in work, home life, popular culture, population and technology in Britain since 1948? When did these changes happen?
	4. THE ENQUIRY STAGE 1: What are the changes in work, home life, popular culture, population and technology in Britain since 1948? When did these changes happen?
	5. THE ENQUIRY STAGE 2: What are the changes in work, home life, popular culture, population and technology in Britain since 1948? When did these changes happen?
	6. THE ENQUIRY STAGE 3: What are the changes in work, home life, popular culture, population and technology in Britain since 1948? When did these changes happen?
	7. THE ENQUIRY STAGE 4: What are the changes in work, home life, popular culture, population and technology in Britain since 1948? When did these changes happen?
	8. THE ENQUIRY STAGE 5: What are the changes in work, home life, popular culture, population and technology in Britain since 1948? When did these changes happen?
	9. What links and connections can we make between the changes in British life since 1948?
	10. What have been the most important changes since 1948? How are these changes linked?