History · Year 2

Active learning ideas

Fire Safety: Then and Now

Active learning helps Year 2 students grasp the dramatic differences between fire safety in 1666 and today by engaging their senses and movement. Handling materials, acting out scenarios, and comparing objects makes abstract historical and scientific concepts concrete and memorable.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS1: History - Changes within living memory
• KS1: History - Continuity and change

• 25–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

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

Timeline Activity: Then and Now Fire Safety

Provide cards with 1666 facts and modern equivalents. In small groups, students sequence them on a split timeline poster, drawing simple illustrations for each. Groups present one key change to the class.

What fire safety rules do we have today to keep us safe at home?

Facilitation Tip

During the Timeline Activity, give pairs a limited set of cards so they must discuss and decide order rather than racing through the task.

What to look for

Provide students with two images: one of a 1666 London street and one of a modern street. Ask them to write one sentence comparing fire danger in each and one sentence about a modern safety feature.

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

Activity 02

• Think-Pair-Share
• 30 min · Pairs

Role-Play: Fire Escape Drills

Divide the class into pairs to act out 1666 bucket chains versus modern stop-drop-roll and call 999 routines. Switch roles after practising each. Debrief on why methods improved.

How were buildings in 1666 different from buildings today, and why did that make fires more dangerous?

Facilitation Tip

When running Fire Escape Drills, position yourself where you can observe every group’s start and finish times without leading their decisions.

What to look for

Ask students: 'Imagine you are talking to someone from 1666. What are two important fire safety rules you have today that they did not have?' Listen for their understanding of modern prevention and response.

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

Activity 03

• Think-Pair-Share
• 40 min · Pairs

Model Building: House Fire Spread

Pairs use craft sticks for 1666-style houses and blocks for modern ones. Simulate fire with red tissue and observe spread differences. Record findings on worksheets.

What would you do if there was a fire in your home?

Facilitation Tip

Ask Model Building groups to predict where fire will spread before they light their strings, so they compare expectation to outcome.

What to look for

Show students pictures of different fire safety items (e.g., smoke detector, fire extinguisher, thatched roof, open fire). Ask them to sort the pictures into 'Helps Prevent Fire' and 'Made Fires Worse in 1666' categories.

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

Activity 04

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

Sorting Game: Safety Rules Match

Whole class sorts picture cards of old and new safety items into 'Then' and 'Now' hoops. Discuss matches and invent one new rule as a group.

What fire safety rules do we have today to keep us safe at home?

Facilitation Tip

For the Sorting Game, have students work in threes so they must justify each placement aloud, building language and reasoning.

What to look for

Provide students with two images: one of a 1666 London street and one of a modern street. Ask them to write one sentence comparing fire danger in each and one sentence about a modern safety feature.

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

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should use clear contrasts, repeating key vocabulary like ‘timber,’ ‘brick,’ ‘detector,’ and ‘hose’ across activities so students internalise differences. Avoid long explanations; instead, let evidence emerge through their actions and talk. Research shows that when students physically build models or act out procedures, misconceptions surface naturally and can be corrected in the moment.

Students will explain how materials and design changed fire spread and safety practices by the end of the sequence. They will also demonstrate safe actions through role-play and model tests, showing they can apply key contrasts to real-world situations.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Timeline Activity: Then and Now Fire Safety, watch for students placing modern safety features like smoke detectors in 1666.

  Use the timeline cards to prompt students to date each item aloud; if they hesitate, ask which century matches the picture and why, guiding them back to the correct placement.

• During Role-Play: Fire Escape Drills, watch for students assuming firefighters in 1666 used engines and hoses like today.

  Before the drill, show pictures of buckets and hooks and ask students to act out the historical method, then repeat using modern tools so they feel the difference physically.

• During Model Building: House Fire Spread, watch for students modelling fire spread as isolated to one house rather than across the street.

  Give each group a street grid on paper and ask them to mark where fire could jump to the next house based on wind and materials, then test their predictions with the model.

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Methods used in this brief

• Think-Pair-Share