ABC ME learning activity: student worksheet

History Foundation – Level 2

Program: Back in Time for Dinner: Education Shorts

Episode: 1960s
Date: Thursday 7 May, 2020
Time: 11:10am on ABC ME
Online: iview.abc.net.au/show/back-in-time-for-dinner-education-shorts
Summary: Step into a home in the 1960s! Students can take a look at what everyday life may
have looked like for their grandparents. Why is there only one phone for the whole house and
why is it connected to the wall?

Materials:

 Pencils and paper

Before the episode:

1. Look at your kitchen, at the fridge, the stove and any electrical appliances. Look at any furniture
in your kitchen, such as table and chairs.
Notice any colours in your kitchen. Think about where you eat your meals. Does your kitchen
join with another room, such as a living room?
2. Look at any phones in your house. Talk with an adult about how phones have changed in their
lifetime. Did you know that phones used to be attached to the wall, and you could not walk
around while speaking?

After the episode:

3. Using the boxes on the next page, draw a picture of your kitchen, and a picture of the kitchen
you saw from the 1960s.
In each box, you may include:

 the fridge, the stove and any electrical appliances

 the furniture, such as table and chairs

 the colours in each kitchen, such as on the walls and on the floor.
Under the pictures write a sentence or two about:

 what you like or don’t like about each kitchen

 how kitchens have changed over time. For example, does our kitchen save us time? Do
we use it differently? Do you like the colours used in the 1960’s kitchen?

How kitchens have changed

 ABC ME learning activity: student worksheet

Draw a 1960s kitchen

Draw your kitchen now

What do you like or don’t like about each kitchen?

What are some of the ways that kitchens have changed over time?
 ABC ME learning activity: student worksheet

4. Using the second set of boxes below, draw a telephone then, and a mobile phone now. How are
they different? What can we do now that we couldn’t do then with our phones? How has this
changed our lives?

How phones have changed

Draw a 1960s phone

Draw a mobile phone now

How are phones different? What can we do now that we couldn’t do

then with our phones? How has this changed our lives?
 ABC ME learning activity: student worksheet

Follow-up activities:
1. In the 1960s, families spent a lot of time together at home. Think about what kept
them together in the lounge room – such as the one television screen! There were no
other screens in the house, no computers or mobile phones.

 Make a list of what you can do at home in the evening for fun. Which of these
might a family have been able to do in the 1960s? Put a tick or a cross next to
each item.
 If possible, talk to an older family member or friend about what they did at
home in the evening when they were growing up. Ask them what they liked
about it, and what they like better now.
2. In the 1960s, children and adults sometimes wore different clothing from what we
wear today. Today, people often wear more casual clothing – unless we are going to a
party or a special occasion!

 Think about what the children in the family were wearing in the 1960s. How
does it compare with what you usually wear at home?
 What clothes do you like to wear? What colours do you like to wear?
 If possible, talk to an older family member or friend about what they wore
when they were a child.
 Write one to two sentences about how children’s clothes have changed, or
draw a picture.
 ABC ME learning activity: teacher notes

Learning area: History Level: Foundation – Level 2

Series: Back in Time: Education Shorts Episode: 1960s
Learning Intentions
• I will be able to discuss how daily life has changed over time
• I will be able to describe how technology has changed family life
Assessment Options
• Student work sheets
• Photographs or hard copies of student drawings and writing
• Video or audio recording of students discussing events in the program
Victorian Curriculum: content descriptions
Foundation-Level 2
• Identify perspectives about changes to daily life from people in the past or present (VCHHC055)
• Differences and similarities between students' daily lives and perspectives of life during their
parents’ and grandparents’ childhoods, including family traditions, leisure time and
communications (VCHHK061)
• The effect of changing technology on people’s lives and their perspectives on the significance of
that change (VCHHK065)
Victorian Curriculum: achievement standards
Foundation-Level 2
• Students explain aspects of daily life to identify how some aspects have changed over time, while
others have remained the same. They describe personal and family life, a person, a site, or an
event of significance in the local community.
• Students use sources (physical, visual, oral) including the perspectives of others (parents,
grandparents) to describe changes to daily life and the significance of people, places or events.
They compare objects from the past and present. Students create a narrative about the past using
terms and a range of sources.
Teaching notes
• Foundation students are likely to require extra assistance reading the tasks. Parents or carers may
scribe for students who are not confident with writing. Consider the ability of the student when
selecting from the follow up activities.

© State of Victoria (Department of Education and Training) 2020

Attribution-NonCommercial
CC BY-NC
This license lets users remix, adapt, and build upon this self-directed learning activity providing they do so non-
commercially, attribute the State of Victoria (Department of Education and Training), indicate if changes were made,
and comply with the other licence terms at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
The licence does not apply to: any images, photographs, trademarks or branding, including the Victorian Government
logo and the DET logo; and content supplied by third parties.
Every effort has been made to trace any third-party copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked,
please email copyright@edumail.vic.gov.au