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Activities for SHP GCSE

This page lists all the activities that are relevant to SHP's Development Studies (Medicine & Crime), Depth Studies, Modern World Studies and History Around Us.

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Development Studies: Medicine

Change and continuity in Ancient Medicine

Create a physical timeline, using students to represent the periods and key developments in Ancient Medicine

What did the Ancient Egyptians think caused disease?

Act out Egyptian ideas by turning your students into human anatomy

Four Humours made Simple

The simplest possible demonstration of the theory

Big Brother meets History of Medicine: Debating Significance

Who was the most significant figure in Ancient Medicine? Was it really Hippocrates or would you chose someone else?

Meet Oswald of Ormskirk, Medieval Physician

Your script for playing the part of Oswald and answering your student’s questions. Apple juice required!

Pare, Vesalius and Henri II

Report the big news of 1559; simulate the work of Pare and Vesalius as they struggle to save Henri II; identify key aspects of Renaissance Medicine

Pare - Why did it happen then?

Explore the reasons why Pare made his surgical breakthrough by creating a mobile factors web. On the SHP website

Arteries, Veins and Capillaries – what Harvey couldn’t see!

Use a tin of tomatoes to help students understand Harvey's discovery

Lister's Antiseptic spray

Explore the difficulties Lister must have had in using the carbolic spray and perhaps discover why he faced so much opposition. Activity by Ian Luff, on the SHP website

Salvarsan - Guiding the Psychopathic Germ Killer

This activity explains simply, but powerfully, why Salvarsan was effective, but risky. Activity by Ian Luff, on the SHP website

Thinking skills for Medicine through Time – Creating Memory Frames

Constructing memory frames on PowerPoint that summarise the key points, aiding memory and revision

Public Health through the Ages

A living graph that examines change, continuity and significance in the history of Public Health

Historical Speed Dating: Medicine and Health through Time

Can your students find their ideal match and improve their knowledge of medicine through time? Flowers and chocolates optional!

Big Ideas in Medical History

A grand overview, creating a physical timeline across the room and asking students to identify the big medical ideas of each era

Germs have feelings too! A Lifeline

A valuable revision activity for GCSE, telling the story of the germ!

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Development Studies: Crime

Punishments through Time

An introductory activity that will get students thinking and asking questions and will reinforce their chronological understanding

Who Will Hang? Unpredictability of the Bloody Code

Bring the accused to court to tell their stories. Can the rest of the class predict who will receive the death penalty? Why was the legal system so unpredictable?

Smugglers Ahoy: Tea for Sale

Why was 18th century smuggling so profitable, and so accepted? On the SHP website

Would you become a highwayman? Explaining the causes of crime

Turn your students into causes and get the rest of the class to sort out the rise and fall of highway robbery. Sadly, no masks or horses required.

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Depth Studies

Holy Box and the Altar Table – 16th century religious changes

Create your own church interior – then change it, then change it again, then ...

Elizabeth I and Europe in 1558

You'll need to move the furniture for this one – but it clearly, simply and painlessly explains the power situation in Europe in 1558. On the SHP website

Why did the Armada fail?

Tell the story of the Armada by turning your pupils into ships and develop their understanding of causation and interpretations

Shall we join the Chartists?

Test your acting skills and get your students researching Chartism with renewed interest and purpose

Pre–1832 Election Game

A role play that’s simply not fair – but very good for learning

The ‘stab in the back’ 1918

Arm wrestle your way to understanding the German army’s reaction to defeat

Germany 1918–1939; Living Timeline

An active overview of key events that creates more complex explanations

Hyperinflation Crisis in Germany

Can your students buy a bar of chocolate before their money runs out?

South Africa in the 1930’s & 40’s: A Living Timeline

An active overview that’s challenging, enjoyable and effective

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Modern World Studies

Gerrymandering in Northern Ireland

Your chance to fiddle the votes and improve your students’ understanding

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History Around Us

Making Sense of Hadrian's Wall

Use your pupils as milecastles, turrets and forts to help them understand the Wall and, if they’re lucky, where their site-visit fits into the big Wall picture

Did the Train Arrive on Time?

Liven up the railway revolution with a trip from Stockton to Darlington

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General Activities

Guess Who? Post it!

A gloriously simple idea for use from KS2 to A level, as a lesson starter or to conclude a whole Key Stage

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