History · Year 1

Active learning ideas

Explorers Across Time: Columbus and Armstrong

Active learning helps young pupils grasp abstract historical concepts by making them tangible. Acting out voyages, drawing explorations, and sequencing events lets children internalize differences in travel methods and landscapes in ways that listening alone cannot achieve.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS1: History - Significant individuals
• KS1: History - Comparison of significant individuals

• 20–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Think-Pair-Share
• 30 min · Pairs

Timeline Walk: Explorer Journeys

Create a class timeline on the floor with key dates and images of Columbus's ships and Armstrong's rocket. Pupils walk the timeline in pairs, stopping to describe events and differences in travel. End with pupils adding sticky notes for their own predictions about journeys.

How is the way Columbus travelled different from the way Neil Armstrong travelled?

Facilitation Tip

During the Timeline Walk, place images of Columbus’s ship and Armstrong’s rocket at opposite ends of the room so pupils physically move between time periods.

What to look for

Show pupils images of a wooden sailing ship and a rocket. Ask them to point to the explorer who used each type of transport and say one word about their journey (e.g., 'sea' for Columbus, 'space' for Armstrong).

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

Activity 02

• Think-Pair-Share
• 45 min · Small Groups

Role-Play Stations: Facing Challenges

Set up stations for Columbus's sea storm (rocking boats from chairs) and Armstrong's Moon landing (slow-motion jumps). Small groups rotate, acting out challenges and noting fears. Debrief by sharing which seemed scariest.

What did Columbus explore, and what did Neil Armstrong explore?

Facilitation Tip

At Role-Play Stations, provide simple props like a paper sail for Columbus’s crew and a cardboard rocket hatch for Armstrong’s team to deepen immersion.

What to look for

Give each pupil a piece of paper divided into two columns, labeled 'Columbus' and 'Armstrong'. Ask them to draw one thing Columbus explored and one thing Armstrong explored.

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

Activity 03

• Think-Pair-Share
• 25 min · Pairs

Compare and Draw: What They Found

Pupils in pairs draw side-by-side pictures of Columbus's islands and Armstrong's Moon, labeling transport and discoveries. Pairs share with the class, discussing similarities like bravery. Collect drawings for a display wall.

Which explorer do you think had the scariest journey , why do you think that?

Facilitation Tip

For the Compare and Draw task, give pupils two different colored pencils so they clearly mark Columbus’s discoveries in one color and Armstrong’s in another.

What to look for

Ask pupils: 'Imagine you are on one of these journeys. What is one thing you might see that is very different from what you see at home?' Encourage them to use vocabulary like 'ocean', 'islands', 'moon', or 'stars'.

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

Activity 04

• Think-Pair-Share
• 20 min · Whole Class

Whole Class Debate: Scariest Journey

Divide class into two teams. Present evidence from stories, then vote on scariest journey with reasons. Teacher facilitates by asking key questions and recording pupil ideas on a chart.

How is the way Columbus travelled different from the way Neil Armstrong travelled?

Facilitation Tip

In the Whole Class Debate, assign roles like 'captain' or 'astronaut' to keep pupils engaged and accountable during discussion.

What to look for

Show pupils images of a wooden sailing ship and a rocket. Ask them to point to the explorer who used each type of transport and say one word about their journey (e.g., 'sea' for Columbus, 'space' for Armstrong).

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

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should focus on humanizing explorers rather than glorifying them, using empathy-building activities to shift focus from adventure to survival and teamwork. Avoid overemphasizing 'firsts,' as this can reinforce outdated narratives. Research shows children learn historical comparison best when they physically act out and sequence events, which builds chronological understanding.

Successful learning looks like pupils confidently distinguishing ship travel from space travel, naming key features of each explorer’s journey, and explaining why 'discovery' depends on perspective. They should use simple comparative language like 'both...but' when discussing the explorers.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Role-Play Stations, watch for pupils who say Columbus 'found' America as if no one lived there.

  Use the indigenous perspective cards at the station to prompt pupils to think: 'Who was already here? What did they call this land?' Have pupils add a second role as a Taino person to the scene.

• During the Timeline Walk, pupils may think Neil Armstrong went to the Moon alone.

  Place a crew badge with all three astronaut names at each timeline card so pupils see Armstrong was part of a team. Ask: 'Who else was with him? What did they do?'

• During Compare and Draw, pupils might assume both explorers felt only excitement, not fear.

  Remind pupils to look at the 'challenge' faces on the station cards. Ask them to draw one emotion on each explorer’s face and explain it to a partner.

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Methods used in this brief

• Think-Pair-Share