What was used then?
Explore the slide show of objects from the past. Look at the images, read the descriptions and discuss.
School case
A brown school case with worn patches and many scratches on the lid and the sides. It has a curved brown handle held on by metal plates. The metal clips which bend back to open the case are quite rusty. Just above the curved handle is a rectangle that looks as though a label was once attached.
Text book
The book in the centre is a school book with the title 'Junior Arithmetic for Third and Fourth Classes'. The front cover has many small brown marks and the spine of the book is made of black cloth. Do you know what arithmetic is called in schools today?
Ink
There are two ink bottles and instructions for mixing ink powder with water to make blue black ink. The ink wells, a brown one and a white one set in the desktop, hold the ink. Pens with metal tips called nibs were dipped in the ink. The blotting paper was pressed on writing then lifted to dry the ink to stop smudges on pages.
Slate board
A rectangular slate board in a wooden frame. Slate is a stone material. The slate pencil was used to practise writing and arithmetic. Chalk was later used on slate. You could not save work on a slate, it was rubbed clean with a cloth.
Jigsaw puzzle
A 12-piece wooden jigsaw puzzle showing a nurse in a blue uniform, white apron and cap bringing a tray with fruit and a drink to a patient in hospital. The square frame is plain wood but the pieces are soft colours.
Teacher questions
Teachers could ask the following questions during this activity.
- What is it?
- What does it look like?
- What is it made of?
- When was it used?
- How was it used?
- What was it used for?
- Who would have used it?
- How does it or did it work?
- Where have you seen one before?
- Why do we/don't we use it today?
- What clues tell us it is from the past?