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Standard Grade ‘Silver Surfer’s’ Afternoon

Standard Grade Modern Studies pupils have been studying the elderly as one of their topics in the ‘Changing Society’ unit. They have looked at issues relating to the ‘demographic time bomb’ such as; the pensions problem, health issues, housing requirements and how new technology can help elderly people better meet their needs.

Pupils are also required to conduct a variety of research methods and evaluate them as a way of finding out information. These methods include interviews, questionnaires, visits, the internet and the media.

S2 decided to merge these to units of work by organising an afternoon when they would invite elderly people from the local community into school to look at the new technology on offer and chat to them.

Some of the pupils researched relevant websites which elderly people might find useful, such as ‘compare the market’, ‘expedia’ and ‘tesco’ online shopping; and then practiced how they would show someone the steps required on a PC to access this information.

Other pupils opted to ‘teach a granny’ to text and worked on the things they would need to do in order to have one of our guests send a text message. This group produced a worksheet with simple tips and some common text language.

The final group prepared a selection of questions to ask their elderly guests. They interviewed people about their lifestyle and topics such as whether or not they felt the state old age pension was sufficient to live on.

As well as the activities above the pupils served tea and coffee and engaged in general conversation with their visitors. Everyone said they enjoyed their visit and the pupis felt they had a valuable experience too.

Teach Your Granny To Text

Download our worksheet...
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