HASS · Year 6

Active learning ideas

The Home Front During WWI

Active learning helps students grasp the immediacy of WWII’s impact on Australians by moving beyond dates and battles. When students discuss primary sources or role-play key moments like the ‘Look to America’ speech, they connect abstract policies to lived experiences on the home front.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9HASS6K02

• 20–60 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Role Play
• 45 min · Small Groups

Role Play: The 'Look to America' Speech

Students take on the roles of Prime Minister John Curtin, a British diplomat, and an Australian citizen. They react to Curtin's 1941 announcement that Australia would look to the USA for help, debating the end of the 'British tie'.

Evaluate the impact of WWI on the roles and responsibilities of women in Australian society.

Facilitation Tip

For the Role Play activity, assign students roles as politicians, journalists, or citizens to ensure diverse perspectives are represented in the debate.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'How did the war change what it meant to be a woman in Australia?' Ask students to share specific examples of new roles or responsibilities women took on, and discuss whether these changes were temporary or lasting.

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

Activity 02

• Stations Rotation
• 60 min · Small Groups

Stations Rotation: Women's War Work

Set up stations for the Australian Women's Land Army, nurses, and factory workers. Students examine primary sources (photos and recruitment posters) to identify how women's lives changed during the war.

Analyze the arguments for and against conscription in Australia during WWI.

Facilitation Tip

During the Station Rotation activity, place primary sources at each station so students analyze real artifacts about women’s war work before discussing their findings.

What to look for

On a slip of paper, have students write one argument FOR conscription and one argument AGAINST it. Then, ask them to write one sentence explaining which argument they found more persuasive and why.

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 03

• Think-Pair-Share
• 20 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: The Threat at Home

Students look at a map of the bombing of Darwin. They discuss with a partner how they think Australians felt knowing the war had reached their own shores, compared to the distant battles of WWI.

Predict the long-term social consequences of the war on Australian families and communities.

Facilitation Tip

For the Think-Pair-Share activity, provide a map of the bombings and submarine attacks to anchor the discussion in concrete evidence.

What to look for

Present students with a short primary source quote about life on the home front (e.g., a letter from a woman working in a munitions factory). Ask them to identify the main social or economic change described in the quote and explain its significance.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Experienced teachers approach this topic by grounding abstract geopolitical shifts in personal stories. Use primary sources to show how policies like the ‘Look to America’ speech were received by ordinary Australians. Avoid framing the war as a distant event; instead, highlight the fear and resilience on the home front to make the topic relatable. Research shows that students retain more when they connect historical events to their own lives through role-play and artifact analysis.

Successful learning looks like students confidently explaining how the war reshaped Australia’s identity and policies, using evidence from multiple sources. They should also articulate the expanded roles of women and the direct threats to the mainland with historical accuracy.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Think-Pair-Share activity, watch for students who claim Australia was never attacked during WWII.

  Use the provided map of 'War on the Mainland' during the Think-Pair-Share activity to point out the 64 bombings in Darwin and the submarine attacks in Sydney, emphasizing that these events made the war feel immediate to Australians.

• During the Station Rotation activity, watch for students who assume women only worked as nurses during the war.

  Have students actively sort the 'War Jobs' cards during the Station Rotation activity, grouping them by sector (e.g., munitions, farming, armed forces) to highlight the variety of roles women took on.

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Methods used in this brief

• Role Play
• Stations Rotation
• Think-Pair-Share