History · 3rd Year

Active learning ideas

What is a Locality?

Turn your pupils into historical detectives with this engaging topic that uses maps to tell the story of your local area.

• NCCA Curriculum Specifications
• SESE History: Local Studies - My locality through time

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

Activity 01

• Think-Pair-Share
• 45 min · Pairs

Map Detectives

In pairs, pupils are given a copy of a historical map and a modern map of their locality. Using a checklist and magnifying glasses, they hunt for differences, circling changes on a transparent overlay or noting them down.

Identify the key natural and man-made features of our locality.

Facilitation Tip

Provide a simple legend or key for any unusual symbols on the old map to help pupils get started.

What to look for

Teacher observation during pair work. Listen to pupils' discussions to assess their ability to spot differences and reason about causes.

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

Activity 02

• Think-Pair-Share
• 30 min · Individual

Then and Now Storyboard

Pupils choose one specific location that has changed, such as a field that is now a housing estate. They create a simple two-panel storyboard or comic strip showing what it looked like 'then' and what it looks like 'now', with captions explaining the change.

Explain how the name of our townland, village, or street might tell us something about its history.

Facilitation Tip

Encourage pupils to think about the people in their storyboard, not just the buildings.

What to look for

Pupils complete a 'Then and Now' worksheet. They draw or describe a feature from the old map and what is there now, adding a sentence to explain why the change might have occurred.

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

Activity 03

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

Community Timeline

As a whole class, create a large timeline on the wall. As pupils discover significant changes from the maps (e.g., 'New school built', 'Motorway opened'), they add a drawing or note to the timeline to build a collective history of the area.

Compare our locality today with how you imagine it might have been 100 years ago.

Facilitation Tip

Use different coloured markers to distinguish between things that were added and things that were removed.

What to look for

Pupils use a 'two stars and a wish' method to reflect on their map-reading skills: two things they did well and one thing they found tricky.

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

A few notes on teaching this unit

Begin by exploring a modern map of the area to ensure all pupils are oriented. When introducing the historical map, model how to look for clues and compare a specific, familiar landmark. Use think-pair-share to encourage pupils to voice their initial observations before they begin their detailed detective work in pairs.

By the end of this topic, your pupils will be able to compare historical and modern maps to identify key changes and explain how their locality has evolved.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• Old maps are just wrong or badly drawn.

  Explain that old maps were very accurate for their time, but they showed the world as it was then. Map-making technology has improved, but the old map is a true snapshot of the past.

• New things are always better than old things.

  Discuss the pros and cons of a change. For example, a new road might make travel faster, but it might also mean a favourite park or old building was removed. Change can have both positive and negative effects.

• Nothing is the same as it was in the olden days.

  Challenge pupils to find things that have stayed the same (continuity), such as a river, a church, a main road, or the location of the town centre. This shows the connection between the past and present.

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Methods used in this brief

• Think-Pair-Share