Old and new: Junior infants

We learned about old and new houses.  The differences between houses long ago and the houses we live in today.  We discussed this picture. We listed the differences we could see. We looked alot of old pictures and talked about what we noticed in them. Working as a historian is great fun.

Some time ago we looked at many things found in houses before we had electricity.
In this picture you can see the kettle hanging over the fire.  Looks like the people liked tea back then. 

This is a house found in the oldest part of Galway, Claddagh.  This was one of the last cottages
to be left in Claddagh.  At the back of the picture you can see the houses that are present in this area today.  We talked about the size of the house, the colour, the thickness of the walls, looked at the roof and also talked about the lady standing in front of the house.

Next week are going to be examing lots of old pictures of this area and Galway City.  We will  work like historians telling stories from the pictures we study.

This is what people used before hot water bottles.

 This is a carpet beater.  This is what people used to use to get the dust off their rugs before vacume cleaners.

This is a pot you would have found hanging over the fire place before people had cookers.  We think that mammy's and daddy's would have fit lots of potatoes in that pot.

 This is how people used to wash their clothes before washing machines.  This is a washboard and basin.  People used to have to work very hard to scrub their clothes clean on the washboard.

   This is an iron people used to use before they had electricity.  It looks very heavy to us.  This iron would be placed directly over heat, perhaps the fire and then used to get the wrinkles out of clothes.