Teacher guide · Curious Lab · Harder · about 35 min

📻 WW2 Home Front

Pupils practise curiosity and real life thinking through "WW2 Home Front": Rationing, evacuation and life in Britain 1939–45.

Lesson guide

1. Hook · 5 min
Show the 📻 mission title and read the opening: "Why were children evacuated from cities?". Take three quick guesses.
2. Model · 5 min
Think aloud through the first step together. Use Sniff the Beagle's line as your prompt: "Great question! Ready to dig one layer deeper? Pick your next mission below."
3. Do · 10 min
Pairs work through the 5 steps on screen or on the printed sheet. Circulate and ask "why?"
4. Discuss · 10 min
Use two or three of the discussion questions. Ask pairs to share different answers, not just correct ones.
5. Reflect · 5 min
Exit ticket: one sentence on how they used curiosity today.

What was the hardest choice in "WW2 Home Front", and why?
Why were children evacuated from cities — explain your reasoning to a partner.
Which is a primary source — explain your reasoning to a partner.
Write a letter home as an evacuee describing your first day — explain your reasoning to a partner.
Where could you use curiosity outside school this week?
If you did this again, what would you change?

Support: Read prompts aloud, pair with a confident partner, and accept spoken or drawn answers for writing steps.

Stretch: Ask pupils to create their own extra step for a partner and explain the correct answer.

National Curriculum: History: chronology, sources and significant people and events
National Curriculum: Science: working scientifically — asking questions and observing
National Curriculum: Geography/History: enquiry and using sources
PSHE: Living in the wider world: media literacy and checking information

Pupil sheet

Name: ____________________ Date: __________

1. Why were children evacuated from cities?
☐ For a holiday
☐ To go to new schools
☐ To keep them safe from bombing
2. Match the term to its meaning.
Rationing → ________________
Blackout → ________________
Evacuee → ________________
Air raid shelter → ________________
3. Weekly ration points: 16. Plan meals (at least 3 items).
Budget: £16
☐ Tinned fish — £6
☐ Dried egg — £4
☐ Rice — £3
☐ Jam — £5
☐ Biscuits — £4
Total spent: £______
4. Which is a primary source?
☐ A diary written by an evacuee in 1940
☐ A film made in 2020
☐ A textbook
5. Write a letter home as an evacuee describing your first day.