History

Task 1

Let's have some fun with code-breaking!

Watch this short video, explaining how coded messages were used  during the Second World War and how men and women were employed to break these codes.

Morse Code, named after Samuel Morse, who helped invent it, was used lots during the 19th and 20th centuries. It is a system of communication made up of dots and dashes which can be transmitted over telegraph wires, radio waves or even flashing lights. Each letter of the alphabet is assigned a specific rhythm of dits (dots) and dahs (dashes), which can then be used to send coded messages.

Here is the Morse Code alphabet. 

• Try writing your name using dots and dashes, then try saying it out loud using 'dit' for each dot and 'dah' for each dash.
• Use Morse Code to create your own secret message for someone at home to crack. You could send it to the Y6 page and I'll see if I can crack your coded message!

Task 2: Rationing During WW2

Watch these two short films, showing what rationing was like in Britain in the Second World War.

• Write a weekly menu of the food you eat now, in 2020.

You might want to use the sheet below to help you organise your menu on paper. 

Task 3

• Go through the lesson presentation on Rationing.
• Write another weekly menu, but this time showing what you might have eaten during the Second World War. You might like to use the wartime recipe booklet below to give you some ideas, and you could maybe do some research of your own.
• Have a discussion with a partner at home, comparing our food now with food from wartime. The menu comparison sheet below will prompt you with some questions.

Task 4: Wartime Cooking

• Choose a wartime recipe to have a go at cooking or baking yourself at home!

You might want to ask an adult to help you. There are ideas to try in the wartime recipe booklet below (I particularly like the look of the eggless chocolate cake!) Or, feel free to find your own wartime recipe! (I'd love you to post a photo of anything you make on the Y6 blog.)