Unit Plan 20 (Grade 1 Social Studies): Then and Now—Homes and Transportation

Focus: Help students compare how people lived, traveled, and worked long ago with how we live, travel, and work today, using pictures, artifacts, and stories. Students will notice changes and similarities in homes, transportation, and jobs, and identify natural and human resources used to make things in both time periods.

Grade Level: 1

Subject Area: Social Studies (History • Economics • Communities Over Time)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 30–45 minutes per session

I. Introduction

In this unit, students explore “then and now” by looking at how people lived, traveled, and worked in the past compared to today. Using photographs, artifacts, and simple stories, they learn to tell whether something is from long ago or today. They compare homes (cabins, farmhouses, apartments), transportation (wagons, trains, cars, buses), and jobs, while also noticing the resources and workers needed to make these things. The week ends with a Then and Now comparison project about homes or transportation.

Essential Questions

• How can we tell if a picture or object shows long ago or today?
• How have homes and transportation changed over time—and what has stayed the same?
• What resources and workers are needed to make the things people live in and use to travel?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Use words like long ago, past, and today to talk about pictures and stories.
2. Identify at least two differences and one similarity between homes long ago and homes today.
3. Identify at least two differences and one similarity between transportation long ago and transportation today.
4. Name simple natural resources (e.g., wood, metal, stone) and human resources (e.g., builders, drivers) used to make homes and vehicles.
5. Create a Then and Now chart or mini-poster comparing homes or transportation, and explain it to a partner.

Standards Alignment — 1st Grade (C3-based custom)

• 1.C3.Hist.2 — Distinguish past and present using photographs, artifacts, and stories.
  • Example: Compare old vs. new phones/transportation.
• 1.C3.Econ.5 — Identify natural and human resources used to make things.
  • Example: Paper comes from trees; builders use wood, tools, and skills.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can tell if a picture shows long ago or today and explain why.
• I can tell how homes and transportation from the past are different and similar to today.
• I can name natural resources and workers that help make homes and vehicles.
• I can make a Then and Now picture chart and talk about it with my classmates.