Third Grade · History · week 10

Our town: then & now photos

Compare then-and-now photographs or descriptions of a real community to identify specific changes over time.

Every town has a history, and one of the easiest ways to see it is to compare an old photograph to a new one of the exact same spot. A dirt road might now be paved. A single small building might now be a row of shops. An empty field might now be a neighborhood full of houses.

Comparing photos is a real historian's tool, called visual evidence. Historians look closely for specific clues: the style of cars, the clothing people wear, the width of the street, or the number of buildings all help figure out roughly when an old photo was taken.

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Look for real then-and-now photos of your own town online -- many local libraries, historical societies, and newspapers post them, often side by side.
  • If you have old family photos taken locally, compare them to how that spot looks today.
  • Practice naming specific clues together, such as the road surface, the cars, or the signs, rather than vague statements like "it looks different."
  • This week kicks off a whole unit on your own town's real history -- treat it like a genuine research project, not just an assignment.
Talk about it:
  • What is one change you would expect to see in an old photo of our town?
  • What clue would help you guess roughly when an old photo was taken?
  • What do you think has probably stayed the same in our town for a very long time?

Mastery looks like: They can compare a then-and-now photo pair and name at least two specific visual clues that reveal change over time.

Common stumbles: Describing change only vaguely, such as "it looks old," instead of pointing to specific, real details.

Homework for this lessonType it, write it with a stylus, or print it for pencil & paper.open →
Records attendance + 15 min of History for this learner.
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