WEEK 1: 1940'S

In what ways was radio the lifeline of Australia in the 1940’s?

  • It helped with communication during the war. It was a source of entertainment. People listed to news, weather, comedy, horror, romance, discussion, music, and mystery, drama, adventure, thriller and farm reports. People used to gather around the radio for family entertainment and to try to forget all the bad things were happening at the time.

What was happening in the world in the 1940’s?external image OldTimeRadio.jpg

  • Nazi Germany invades Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

  • Hitler tried to to take over the world

  • World war 2 started

  • Japan surrenders and world war 2 ends

Why were dance bands and their music so popular?

  • Dance bands (or orchestras). Groups of musicians which play for social dancing. The were popular because during the Depression, people went to dance halls or listened at home to late-night dance band broadcasts. Radio was free to listen to and gave people an escape from the horrible things happening around them during the war.

Why was nostalgia such an important element of pop music?

  • During this time music was used to express how people were feeling including there pain but at the same time the music tried to make them happy and feel good about the future.

*Who were the great music stars in the 1940?

  • The most popular music stars who are still known today were Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

Dean  Martin
Dean Martin

Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby

Judy Garland
Judy Garland

Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra

How did the roles and lives of women change during the 1940’s?

  • When the men went to war, there was no one to run the factories so the women had to go to work.

  • Women were not allowed to work at first because this was considered a mans role, so the women had to stay home and look after the children and do the house work. It all changed when lots of men went into war and lots of factories were left without men to work in them. Then lots of men lost their jobs because of the depression so woman had to get jobs or learn how to keep a house running on a small amount of money.

WEEK 2: 1950'S

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What influence did rock and roll have on the world?

The unique thing about Rock and Roll it the entire movement. It did happen overnight... it happened universally. It spread across all racial, religious, political, social educational and economical limits. Nobody was untouched by its effects. The Rock and Roll music made everyone equal, black, white, boy or girl. Rock and Roll music allowed black artists to become more popular and equal with other races. So that was what was special about Rock and Roll.

What was the Baby Boom?external image cartoon-baby-girl.jpg

After coming back from World War 2 they thought it was safe enough to raise a family. Which brought a large number of new children into the world. This dramatic increase in the number of births from 1946 to 1964 (1947 to 1966 in Canada and 1946-1961 in Australia) this was called the Baby Boom.

Where did Rock’n’Roll originate?external image MUS01_Treble%20Clef.jpg

Rock 'n' Roll was a mixture of two traditions: Black Rhythm and Blues. The term “Rock and Roll’ was named by a United States DJ, named Alan Fried in the mid 50’s.

What threats to world peace flared during the 50’s?

  • Nuclear bombs became a threat.

  • Conflicts In middle east began (still happening today)external image mushroom-cloud-hb.jpg

In what ways did peacetime encourage economic and industrial change?

When the war ended and soldier returned home, the economy got better and there were more jobs for men and women. Because the war had stopped, it was ok for businesses to work with other countries. So there were more jobs available and people then grew wealthier. $$$

In what ways were the 50’s conservative?

  • In the 50s women had to wear dresses and sometimes pants but the pants were for sports and men had to wear pants and a shirt.

  • The black people and the white people were separated from each other because most of the white people thought that they were more important than the black people. After the end of the war this started to change because people believed that as black men had fought for the country they should be treated equally.

  • Women looked after the children and did the house work: cleaning, cooking etc. While the men went to work and worked all day coming home to expect dinner to be ready for them on the table.

WEEK 3: 1960s

Why was this decade called “The Swinging Sixties?”

Trends were changing and a new type music was really getting BIG. The decade was also labeled the Swinging Sixties because of the fall or relaxation of some social taboos especially relating to sexism and racism that occurred during this time.

In what ways were the 1960’s revolutionary?

  • Black people were seen as equal to white people and were given all the same rights.

  • Black people were given right to vote.

  • Man landed on the moon (Neil Armstrong)

  • The Beetles formed and changed the music people listed to.

  • The first calculator and the tape cassette was developed.external image neil-armstrong.jpg

How did the ‘Space Race’ impact on the world?

The space race was a race between the USSR and the US. The race was to have the first person in space even though the Americans say they won the USSR got the first man in space before the Americans but the Americans put the first man on the moon (Neil Armstrong).The space race influenced lots of the technology that we have today. Before this happened, space travel was just a dream. And no one ever imagined that satellites would be as important as they are today. Without the satellites we can’t do anything in terms of communication, transportation and all media resources.

Why did this revolution occur in the 60’s?

It happened because there was a race between the US and the USSR to get the first man up into space. The USSR won that, so the Americans set another goal to beat the USSR and have the first man step on the moon. They were determined to win this one, so they make sure it happened as soon as possible.

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What was ‘social change’?

  • Hippies who wanted to stand up against war and cruelty and greediness of the world. They wanted to show you could be happy and loving without lots of material things.

  • There was also social change about war. In the 60’s lots of people had seen how war had affected the world in a bad way, so there were standing up against it.

What topics were the subjects of political demonstrations?

  • War

  • Greediness

  • Cruelty

  • Equal rights for all (i.e black and white people, and male and females)

WEEK 4/5: 1970s

Why did so many social movements take place during the seventies?

During the 1970's people were unhappy with the government and people had more rights. Women were becoming more powerful and there were concerns about the environment. The social movement were things like environmentalism, feminism, anti-war and gay rights.

What was the ’Civil Rights’ movement and how did it affect society?

The civil right movement was a movement about all people being equal. It affects society by rules to make sure everyone was equal. Eg. Women being able to do the jobs men did and almost equal numbers of men and women attended university.

What advancements were there in the women’s movement in this decade?

In the 1970's women became politicians, more women attended university, more rules were made to include women, but because divorse became more acceptable, there were lots of them so many women ended up living with very little to survive on.

How/why did the Environment become an important issue?IMAGE3.JPG

Environmental issues became a problem when global warming stared to take over and when many countries used up most of our natural, non-rewnewable, and fossil resources it also became important when the world realised we were losing animal species and the world was becoming polluted.

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WEEK 6: 1980s

What influence did the birth of video gaming have on the world?

The 80's was also a time of video games. They were in arcades, games rooms and even at home these were the entertainment of the 1980’s. The most popular Games Machines and PC's were Space Invaders and Pac Man and pong.

We were beginning to be entertained by screen activities like Space Invaders, Pong and Pac Man. People paid money to play these games at arcades. This then led to games and consoles that were smaller and some were hand held (eg Playstation, Wii, Xbox, Nintendo, Gameboy).

Why are the 1980’s seen as the ‘Me’ years?

The 1980s were called the “me” years because they were all about “Me me me me me”. People didn’t work for a company or trade with others they wanted to own the company. They wanted to be rich. They often just shopped till they dropped because they wanted everything. People didn’t want to share their wealth they wanted it for themselves so they could be better than other. Again, “me me me me”. They wanted to look good. They wanted to look better than the person next to them better. They wanted to look better than everyone be richer than everyone and have something better than the person next to them.

In what ways did AIDS impact on the world?

AIDS impacted the world by scaring us and hurting us by eating our imune system. When it eats your imune system and get a cold you would probably die or get seriously sick.

Aids impacted the world by:

1. devastating families, communities and whole continents

2. It occurred mostly in the poor communities at first which separated the poor from the rich even more.

3. It scared the world because this had never happened before and they didn’t know how to treat it or cure it.

4. It became an international disease but they didn’t know how it spread but now they know it spread from body fluids.

How did the removal of the Berlin Wall impact on western culture?

It marked the end of the Cold War. The cold war was a war between USA and USSR. But it wasn’t one with weapons, it was about different beliefs and rights. America didn’t like the way the USSR worked and the USSR didn’t like the way America worked. However, when the Berlin Wall came down it let the western culture mix with the Eastern European culture. This meant that people got along better and were able to socialise with other people on the other side of the wall. It meant that we could travel safely to these other countries and do business with them. This meant they could get more money and people were able to have more freedom.

This is a poem about the Berlin wall

The Wall Came Down

Brothers and Sisters torn apart

Longed for each other with pain in the heart

Mothers in tears held their arms toward the sky

"Where are my children, who took them and why"

A wall stood between them and gave them no rest

The wall in Berlin, between East and West.

Thousands tried passing, were caught and would fall

She claimed her victims, the cursed wall

But their longing and pain was stronger than fear

As they tried to come home year after year.

Their country divided, that's why they tried

And their hope for reunion never died.

East Germans, West Germans all felt the same

Through tunnels and over the Wall they came.

Many were captured, suffered torture and shame

Still they fought that wall again and again.

At Last their pain gave birth to a cry

"Free us! Unite us! before we all die"

Against their oppressors their outrage they hurled

And their plea found an echo all over the world,

Then they marched, like in battle, with tools in their hand,

And attacked the concrete that divided their land.

Each chip that fell, fell toward victories crown

And they never stopped till the wall was down

Through blood and through tears, through sorrow and strife

East Germany kept her dream alive

And today, 1990, October three

There's no East, there's no West, they are one, they are "Free!"

by Ruth Carlson


What were the major events that influenced the world during the 1990’s?

  • Princess Diana killed in automobile accident in Paris. Her driver was drunk and speeding in a tunnel in Paris.

  • The "World Wide Web" started up for home use. external image 110718-bigthumbnail.jpg

  • After a number of years fighting between Iran and Iraq , Saddam Hussein needed additional money so he invaded Kuwait which had a lot of oil. The United Nations did like this so they first bombed and then a month later mounted a ground attack called Desert Storm to send the Iraq army back to Iraq and retook possession of Kuwait . ( This was known as The Gulf War).

  • First announced genetic cloning accomplished with Dolly the sheep.

  • Peace agreement reached in Northern Ireland, ending over eighty years of terrorism and civil war.

In what ways were the 90’s the ‘Electronic Age’?

In the 1990s the WWW and personal computers grew. When the WWW came out, it let people access the internet from home and this began to take over communication and business. It became popular very quickly. It allowed us to share information quickly and effectively around the world. Then came Mobile Phone technology advances which is now part of peoples everyday life (I am getting one for my birthday!)external image ist2_7677184-www.jpg

How did the advent of personal computers impact on language?

  • People can search all types of information on the internet and may use these words rather than their own.

  • You can type words into the computer and it will spell check it for you, so you never learn how to spell it correctly.

  • Makes writing quicker.

  • Allows you to send information quickly to others around the world

  • Some words change when you type something to each other .e.g. Thanks=Thx

Where were the beginnings of terrorism evident?

Terrorists use violence to make people scared.

it was in America there was a bomb planted in the car park under the world trade center. It killed 6 people and injured 1000 people. This bomb was thought to be ordered by a terrorist Osama bin Laden.

Activities of the IRA include bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, and extortion. The IRA is organized into tightly knit cells in Northern Ireland, Ireland, Britain, and Western

=Europe, and has received considerable training and arms from Libya and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Funding for their activities comes from a variety of groups both inside and outside Northern Ireland, including sympathizers in the US. Since Good Friday in 1998 Sinn Fein and the IRA have observed a ceasefire.
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There have been many natural disasters during the 00’s. Explain how some of them they have impacted this era?

In the 2000s some of the natural disasters effected people by distroing homes, killing family members and some of the people got seriously ijured. Their were lots of natural disasters in 2008 killing millions and injuring loads of people as well as recking and distroying homes and cities.

In what ways has ‘terrorism’ become a part of life?

The ways terrorism have become part of our life now is that we have a lot more security and we are more aleart of susphious people. When we got to the footy or go on a plane they have bag searches and make sure that you have no liquid except for water just to make sure that it is not explosives.

What world events have had an impact on our lives?external image 9-11.jpg

September 11 (9/11) impacted our lives a lot because these people hi jacked the planes now we have big security stations for when you go on a plane. they also make sure that there is no liquid that will be carried onto the plane because it could be explosives.

Bali Bombings had a impact on our lives because Bali is one of Australias faviorate holiday destinations the bombing also effected us because Bali is very close to Australia. it influenced us because we know people that were in Bali like football teams and other sports teams.

Global Financial Crisis (GFC) This impacted our lives alot as well because the financial market dropped lots of banks went out of bissiness so that ment that people lost their jobs. Not only did the banks go out of bussiness but other companies did to and so many more people lots their jobs as well.

What world events are shaping our lives now?

  • Global Financial Crisis

  • Global Warmingexternal image gold-dollar-sign.jpg

  • and the Internet