Social Sciences
History at EC2023 has got off to a positive start for those students taking History. All three levels (Year 11/HIS100, Year 12/HIS201 Year 13/SOS301) have kicked off the year by diving into a range of different topics and assessments.
The students in HIS100 have been focusing on learning about historical narrative. Historical narrative is all about the different parts involved in an event, and how they interact. The HIS100 students have learned what the different parts are (key personalities, causes, actions and consequences) and how they link together. Mr Packer has told the class that if they can understand these parts and links, they will have the detailed knowledge they need to do well in History.
The HIS100 students first used the topic of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on 6th August 1945 to practice using historical narrative. Now they have learned about the New Zealand Musket Wars, and will complete their first assessment about the historical narrative related to this event.
The HIS100 students will be developing their research skills by looking into a topic of their choice in Term Two. Then they will learn about the Civil Rights Movement in the USA to develop their skills in understanding the points of view of people in the past and essay writing in Terms Three and Four.
Students in HIS201 started straight into their first assessment at the beginning of 2023. They needed to research a 'Day that Changed the World' for this assessment. Many interesting topics were chosen. These topics showed a great range of interests among the students. Some did interesting, well-known events like Shannon Gilmour's choice of Live Aid 1985, Tyrell Ryan's choice of Pearl Harbour and Ashriel Calixto's choice of the Boxing Day Tsunami. Others chose unique topics such as Alishia King's choice of the first use of anesthesia, and Zak Hellyar's choice of the opening of the first steam powered railway.
The HIS201 have been learning about the Vietnam War since they handed in their research assessment. So far, they have been focusing on learning about how key historical ideas like colonialism and nationalism led to the start of the war. By the end of Term Two they would have learned about other ideas linked to this conflict and New Zealand's involvement in it. Then in Term Three and four they will learn about key historical ideas related to the witch trials in the United Kingdom during the 17th and 18th centuries in preparation for their end of year exam.
The SOS301 class has been just as busy learning about the past. This year these students have been splitting their time between learning a full Year 13 Geography course with Mr Price and a full History course with Mr Packer. These teachers have the class for two hours each week instead of the usual four. Students are provided with study time to keep up with the work.
Work in Year 13 has focused on the landing of the ANZAC Corps at Gallipoli on 25th April 1915 so far. The students started off by learning about the reasons why leaders like Winston Churchill decided that an attack on the 'sick man of Europe', Turkey, was a good idea in 1915. They then moved on to learn about what happened leading up to, and on the 25th April itself. Now they are carrying out an assessment about the theories that people involved at the time, and modern historians have on the reasons why this landing did not work out. For example, Lachlan Craw will be exploring the theory that mistakes made by the Anzac leadership, such as landing on the wrong beach led to failure.
The SOS301 students will then complete an in-depth study of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany throughout the rest of the year. They will focus on the reasons why Adolf Hitler was able to come to power, and the impacts that his leadership had on the German people.
Steve Packer
HELA (SOCIAL SCIENCE)
YEAR 10 KAITIAKI