Core Skills Analysis
Technologies
The student used Google Street View as a digital tool to explore different locations and compare how they looked across several time periods. They learned how technology can be used to observe change over time, identify developments, and compare visual evidence from different years. By moving between locations and years, they practiced basic digital navigation and information gathering, which helped them use technology for investigation rather than just entertainment. This activity also showed them how digital tools can support careful observation, pattern-finding, and evidence-based comparison.
Mathematics
The student compared locations across different years, which involved noticing change, sequence, and relative time order. They may have used comparison skills to decide whether something increased, decreased, stayed the same, or changed in appearance over time. This supported early data thinking because they had to sort visual information and compare features across multiple points in time. The activity also encouraged logical reasoning as they judged which differences were most noticeable and how the locations developed.
Humanities and Social Sciences
The student examined how places changed over time, which connected directly to understanding human impact on environments and communities. By comparing different years, they learned that locations are not fixed and that development can alter how an area looks and functions. This kind of observation helped them think about change, continuity, and the relationship between people and places. It also supported historical thinking by encouraging them to use visual evidence to notice how the built environment develops across time.
Tips
To extend this learning, invite the student to choose one location and create a simple before-and-after chart showing what changed, what stayed the same, and what questions the changes raise. They could also estimate the reasons for the changes, such as growth, new buildings, road work, or landscaping, and then discuss which clues in the image support their ideas. A great hands-on next step would be to compare the same place using maps, photos, or a timeline so they can build a fuller picture of development over time. Finally, have them present their findings orally or in a short written paragraph to strengthen explanation skills and evidence-based thinking.
Book Recommendations
- Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty: A story about using observation, creativity, and persistence to solve problems and improve ideas.
- National Geographic Kids Almanac by National Geographic Kids: A fact-filled reference book that supports curiosity about places, change, and the world around us.
- If You Lived Here: Houses of the World by Giles Laroche: An illustrated look at homes and places, helping children notice how locations can differ and change.
Learning Standards
- Australian Curriculum: Technologies - ACTDIP003: The student used digital systems to locate, compare, and interpret visual information across different time periods.
- Australian Curriculum: Technologies - ACTDIP006: The student organised and compared information from multiple sources/years to identify patterns and changes.
- Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences - ACHASSI040: The student observed how places change over time using visual evidence.
- Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences - ACHASSI041: The student compared features of places across time and described changes using evidence.
Try This Next
- Create a compare-and-contrast worksheet with columns for 'Year 1', 'Year 2', and 'What changed?'.
- Write 3 observation questions about one location, then answer them using Street View evidence.
- Draw a quick sketch of the place in two different years and label the differences.
- Make a simple timeline showing the sequence of changes noticed across the years.