All Activities
History

What Changed, What Stayed the Same?

Overview

Students compare life in a historical period with life today, identifying what has changed and what has remained the same.

Learning Objective
Students understand the difference between change and continuity in history and can apply both concepts to a historical period.

Resources needed

  • Teacher description of a historical period or community

Lesson stages

0 / 7 done
  1. 1 Describe daily life in a specific historical period — use a local or globally relevant example.
  2. 2 Students list things that are different from today.
  3. 3 Students list things that are the same as today.
  4. 4 Share lists — discuss: which list is longer? Why?
  5. 5 Introduce: change = things that are different. Continuity = things that stayed the same.
  6. 6 Ask: is more change always progress? Give examples of changes that were not improvements.
  7. 7 Discuss: what from today do you think will continue for the next 100 years?

Tap a step to mark it as done.

Variations

  • Compare two different historical periods to each other rather than to today.
  • Focus on one aspect only: food, family, work, or belief.
  • Draw a Venn diagram: past only / both / today only.
More information

Teach: change, continuity, remained, different, the same, period, era. The Venn diagram structure is language-light and makes the concepts visual.

Provide a list of aspects to consider: food, housing, transport, family, work, belief. Students tick changed or stayed the same for each.

Can students give examples of both change and continuity from the same period? Do they understand that not all change is improvement?

No resources needed beyond teacher knowledge. Draw the Venn diagram in soil. Entirely discussion-based.

Students automatically assume the past was worse than today. Exploring continuities — especially in human relationships and values — challenges this assumption.

Change and continuity is one of the most important concepts in historical thinking. It prevents both the idealisation and the dismissal of the past.

Activity details
Primary Medium 25 minutes no prep Pairs, Small Group Indoor & Outdoor
Topics
Change And Continuity Historical Thinking Comparison