🕰️ How Has Life Changed?
Life in Aotearoa New Zealand has changed a lot over time. The way people lived 100 years ago, 50 years ago, or even 20 years ago was very different from today!
Let's explore how things have changed.
🧺 Te Kete Ako
Life in the Past — Comparing Then and Now
Life in the Past — Comparing Then and Now · Years 7–10
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga · Learning Intentions
- Investigate a significant question using evidence from multiple sources
- Analyse and evaluate information to form and support a reasoned position
- Connect learning to real-world contexts, including Aotearoa New Zealand settings
- Communicate understanding clearly and accurately for a specific audience
Paearu Angitu · Success Criteria
- I use at least two sources and can evaluate their credibility
- My position is clearly stated and supported by specific evidence
- I can connect my learning to at least one real-world Aotearoa context
- My communication is clear, organised, and appropriate for the audience
📨 Communication — Talking to Each Other
🕰️ In the Past
- Wrote letters by hand ✉️
- Waited weeks for mail
- Homes had one telephone attached to the wall
- Sent telegrams for urgent news
📱 Today
- Send texts and emails instantly ⚡
- Video calls with people anywhere
- Everyone has a mobile phone
- Social media connects us globally
🏫 School — Learning
🕰️ In the Past
- Wrote on chalkboards and slates
- All ages in one classroom (rural schools)
- Teachers were very strict
- Children walked long distances to school
- Used ink and quill pens
💻 Today
- Chromebooks and tablets
- Classes grouped by age
- More interactive learning
- Buses and cars for transport
- Collaborative and creative focus
🏠 Home — Daily Life
🕰️ In the Past
- No electricity (candles, oil lamps)
- Washed clothes by hand in copper tubs
- Outdoor toilets (long drops!)
- Ice chests instead of fridges
- Cooked on wood stoves
🔌 Today
- Electric lights everywhere
- Washing machines and dryers
- Indoor plumbing and toilets
- Refrigerators and freezers
- Electric and gas stoves, microwaves
🎮 Play — Having Fun
🕰️ In the Past
- Played outside all day
- Handmade toys and dolls
- Marbles, hopscotch, hide and seek
- Listened to radio shows
- Read books by candlelight
🎮 Today
- Video games and apps
- Factory-made toys
- Still play traditional games!
- Streaming movies and shows
- E-books and tablets
🌿 Life for Māori — Mua me Nāianei
Traditional Life
- Lived in pā (fortified villages) and kāinga (villages)
- Whare (houses) made from natural materials — raupo, wood, flax
- Grew kūmara and harvested food from forest and sea
- Knowledge passed down through whakapapa and kōrero
- No written language — oral traditions were powerful
What Has Stayed the Same?
- Marae still central to Māori life
- Te reo Māori is being revitalized
- Whakapapa remains important
- Kaitiakitanga (care for environment) continues
- Whānau (family) connections stay strong
✏️ Activities
Activity 1: Interview a Grandparent or Elder
Ask them about life when they were young:
- What was school like?
- What games did you play?
- What technology did you have (or not have)?
- What do you miss about the old days?
Activity 2: Draw and Compare
Draw two pictures:
- A kitchen 100 years ago
- Your kitchen today
What's different? What's the same?
What I learned about the past:
Remember!
- Life has changed a lot, especially with technology
- Some things stay the same — family, play, community
- Understanding the past helps us appreciate today
- We can learn from how people lived before
👩🏫 Teacher Notes
Curriculum Links
- Social Studies: Understand how the past is different from the present
- Technology: How technology has changed over time
- Te Ao Māori: Traditional and contemporary Māori life
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi
Level 3–4: Investigate social, cultural, environmental, and economic questions; gather and evaluate evidence from diverse sources; communicate findings and reasoning clearly for different audiences and purposes.
English — Communication
Level 3–4: Read, interpret, and evaluate information texts; write clearly and purposefully for specific audiences; apply critical thinking skills to evaluate sources and construct well-reasoned responses.
Tuhia ōu whakaaro · Write Your Thoughts
Reflect on your learning. What was the most important idea? What question do you still have?
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
This resource sits within a kaupapa that recognises mātauranga Māori as a living knowledge system with its own frameworks, values, and ways of understanding the world. The New Zealand Curriculum calls for learning that reflects the bicultural partnership of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which means every subject area has an obligation to engage authentically with Māori perspectives — not as cultural decoration but as substantive contributions to how we understand our topics. The concepts of manaakitanga (care for others), kaitiakitanga (guardianship), whanaungatanga (relationship and belonging), and tino rangatiratanga (self-determination) provide a values framework applicable across all learning areas, and all are relevant to the work in this handout.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Resources already provided
This handout is designed to be used alongside other resources in the same unit. Related materials are linked in the unit planner. All content is provided — no additional preparation is required to use this handout in your classroom.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Materials: This resource can be printed or used digitally. No additional materials required unless specified above.
Differentiation: Provide sentence starters or word banks for students needing scaffold support. Extend capable learners by asking them to research a real NZ example connected to this theme. Support ELL students with vocabulary pre-teaching. Offer entry-level and extension tasks to address a range of readiness levels.
Prior knowledge: Best used after the relevant lesson. Students with prior knowledge of systems and governance will access this more readily; no specialist prior knowledge is required for entry-level engagement.
Curriculum alignment
- Social Studies — Understanding: Students understand how systems thinking helps us analyse complex social, economic, and environmental challenges and identify leverage points for change.