HASS · Year 6

Active learning ideas

Surviving the Depression: Government & Community Responses

Active learning turns abstract economic history into lived experience. Students need to feel the weight of choices families made, not just memorize policies. Role-play, simulation, and artifact creation let them practice historical thinking skills while building empathy for people who lived through hard times.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9HASS6K02

• 30–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Role Play
• 45 min · Small Groups

Role-Play: Premiers' Plan Debate

Assign roles as politicians, union leaders, and farmers. Provide source cards with policy pros and cons. Groups prepare 2-minute arguments, then debate in a class forum with structured voting on effectiveness. Conclude with reflections on real outcomes.

Evaluate the effectiveness of government policies in mitigating the impact of the Great Depression.

Facilitation Tip

During the Premiers' Plan Debate, assign roles so students must defend positions they may not agree with to deepen critical thinking.

What to look for

Provide students with a short primary source excerpt (e.g., a diary entry about finding work or a newspaper clipping about a community drive). Ask them to write two sentences identifying one challenge faced by families and one way the community responded, based on the text.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Activity 02

• Simulation Game
• 35 min · Small Groups

Simulation Game: Family Hardship Challenge

Groups draw cards detailing hardships like job loss or drought. Brainstorm adaptations using 1930s constraints, such as rationing food or bartering skills. Present plans and peer-assess feasibility against historical examples.

Describe how Australian families adapted and innovated to survive economic hardship.

Facilitation Tip

For the Family Hardship Challenge, provide limited resources upfront but allow students to pool items only after completing the first round to mirror real scarcity.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'If you were a Year 6 student in 1932, what would be the three most important things your family or community would need to do to survive?' Encourage students to justify their choices with specific examples from the lesson.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 03

• Concept Mapping
• 40 min · Whole Class

Concept Mapping: Community Support Networks

Students plot historical sites like soup kitchens on a class map of 1930s Australia. Add annotations from primary sources on roles played. Discuss how networks mitigated government shortfalls through whole-class sharing.

Assess the role of community support networks during the Depression era.

Facilitation Tip

When mapping Community Support Networks, give students a blank map and ask them to plot soup kitchens and barter exchanges from primary source descriptions rather than pre-labeled sites.

What to look for

Display a graph showing unemployment rates in Australia during the 1930s. Ask students to write down one observation about the trend and one question they have about why the rates changed.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Create
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management

Activity 04

• Role Play
• 30 min · Individual

Artifact Creation: Survival Diary

Individuals write diary entries as Depression-era children, incorporating researched adaptations. Include sketches of inventions like sack dresses. Share in pairs for feedback on historical accuracy.

Evaluate the effectiveness of government policies in mitigating the impact of the Great Depression.

What to look for

Provide students with a short primary source excerpt (e.g., a diary entry about finding work or a newspaper clipping about a community drive). Ask them to write two sentences identifying one challenge faced by families and one way the community responded, based on the text.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Focus on cause-and-effect relationships rather than just listing facts. Use the Depression’s scarcity as a lens: every policy or family decision had unintended consequences. Avoid oversimplifying; highlight that relief efforts helped some but excluded others, teaching students to look for gaps in historical narratives. Research shows students grasp complex systems better when they trace how policies trickled down to daily life, so connect macro decisions to micro realities.

Successful learning looks like students using evidence to explain choices, not just describing them. They should compare policies and personal strategies, evaluate trade-offs, and articulate how community networks functioned as lifelines. Clear links between government actions and family survival methods show depth of understanding.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Mapping Community Support Networks, watch for students underestimating the scale of grassroots aid. During the activity, ask them to estimate how many people each plotted site served based on population data from the time.

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Methods used in this brief

• Role Play
• Simulation Game
• Concept Mapping