A snapshot in time-disasters - social studies activities

Use the topics in the Disasters category of NZHistory.net.nz  for the following activity ideas. 

Taking a moment in time – ‘My favourite year’ or a decade study – can be an effective and popular way of exploring broad themes in social studies and history. These snapshots in time help put other events into a broader historical context. NZHistory.net has many other features to support such an approach to the study of one of these disasters.

One approach could be to allocate a different event from the selected time period to different members of the class. For instance a study of Tangiwai could be expanded by looking at other important events from 1953 or the 1950s in general. You could limit these to New Zealand or widen the study to look at important world events. For instance in 1953 Ed Hillary climbed Everest, the Queen made her first trip to New Zealand and fighting ended in the Korean War.

Your students could then present their findings on their event as part of a class timeline or wall display.