Name Class Date Started - De La Salle CollegeOUR STORY © Mario Ellul, De La Salle College Junior...

OUR STORY © Mario Ellul, De La Salle College Junior Section 2013 1

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Name

Class

Date Started


Dear Friends

Welcome to another scholastic year full of learning and fun! We hope that you will enjoy your history lessons to the full. This booklet is designed to help you ENJOY history and to learn many interesting things about OUR STORY. History is fun and that is the most important thing in our lessonS - We want you to ENJOY YOURSELVES. We would also like you to TAKE PART by sharing your knowledge with your friends and your teachers. Do not be afraid to discuss and share your opinions about the information in this booklet in class and at home. Throughout the booklet, you will also be asked to perform some tasks and jobs. We would like you to put in your best effort and also to do that little something extra which will enrich your knowledge. Enjoy OUR STORY and make sure that you ask your teacher for help if you cannot perform any of the tasks or if you cannot understand any parts.

To the parents:

This booklet aims at helping your children acquire some important skills in the study of history and to

think critically about the material presented. Only A VERY SMALL fraction of the material has to be

memorised (this will be pointed out by the class teachers). DO NOT make the children memorise any

passages or answers to given questions. Our main aim at this stage is to build the foundations which

later on will help the children to acquire a love for the subject and to develop a critical mind set. Your

children may need some help in some tasks presented in this booklet, however do not let them become

too dependent on your input – in some cases adequate supervision/ monitoring may be enough. Make

sure that you take all the safety precautions if your children are surfing the net to help them with any of

the tasks. Should you have any queries or feedback, please do not hesitate to contact the class teacher.

Please note that while the bulk of the book is in English, Maltese has been used in parts where a

translation would have had a negative effect on the quality of the material. Note that in tests/ exams the

boys can answer either in English or in Maltese.

On completion of this booklet, the children should have achieved these targets:

1. Understand that we all have a personal history

2. Understand that history is a continuous process of change

3. Be able to compare and contrast objects from different periods in history

4. Start becoming familiar with the concept of a timeline to show change across the ages

5. Read a simple family tree

6. Be able to draw up a simple family tree

7. Become familiar with this vocabulary:

Historian

Century

Family Tree

OUR STORY

© Mario Ellul, De La Salle College Junior Section 2013


My life so far (you may need some help from your parents to fill in some details)

Up to some time ago, most of the study of history done at schools used to be about famous people like kings, queens, generals and great events. Today it is quite different. Though we still learn about these great people and events, historians believe that learning about the life of the common people is just as important. EVERYBODY has a history!!! Your life, even the tiniest insignificant detail will be very important for historians in the future to know how we lived.

My name is ____________________________________

My name was chosen because ___________________________

_________________________________________________

I was born on _________________________________

Where I was born _________________________________

I started pre-school in ____________________________

I started school in _________________________________

My first school was ____________________________

This is a picture of me today:


Time is always on the go. It never stops. And with the passing of time, things change a lot too! Even for the short period of time you have been alive, a lot of things have changed for you! Let’s look for example at the way you dressed over time.

Now use this second column to show something which has changed for you over the time you have been alive (eg. hairstyle, school bag, shoes etc.


Even in just 8 or 9 years – so many things have changed for you. Now try to imagine how many things can change over hundreds, thousands and even tens of thousands of years! Let us take cars as an example. Look at the pictures of these four cars from different periods in history and draw arrows to match them with the correct date they were used in.

This car was in use some years ago

This car was in use a CENTURY ago

This car was in use a long time ago

This car is in use In the PRESENT


This car is from 1910. Find a picture of a modern family car and stick it in the empty box. Then try to find as many differences as you can between the old car which was in use around a CENTURY ago and write them on the lines below.


.

Grandmother

Grandmother Grandfather Grandfather

Mother

Father

Myself

We come across many people in our life. Surely the people we meet most often are members of our family. These people are very important in our personal history.

When historians are studying people in history, they use Family Trees. These are often shown in history books. But you don’t have to be famous to draw up your own family tree!!! Ask your parents to help you to draw up your family tree.


If your relatives can help, perhaps you can go back even further in your family history and take your research further back in time to your great grandparents. Use this diagram to help you.


Clothes or costume – are very important in the study of history. In the past, it was possible to know whether a person was rich or poor from the clothes he/ she wore.

Why not try to decorate your own family tree with some photos or drawings? You will need a chart or a mini poster to do this.

In the past, a very important way of identifying a family or a family member was through your family’s nickname. Ask your parents or grandparents if your family had a nickname and write it in this box.

Some family trees are mini works of art. In them you do not find just the person’s name and perhaps his date of birth, but also the pictures of ancestors and the job they did in their lifetime. Below you can see a family tree painted by Norman Rockwell, an American artist. Try to guess the jobs of the members of this family in the boxes in the margins.


Amy found a box full of family photos at her grandma’s house. She is trying to organize a family album to give to her parents on their wedding anniversary next month. Read the description of Amy’s family and draw up a family tree for her in the space below.


Amy got mixed up when she tried to sort the photos of her family. Can you help her by matching each label with the correct picture? Re write the correct description in the box under each picture.

Nannu Louis and his sister

1957

Nannu Louis and Amy

2012

Papa` John and his brother

1982


Here are some popular singers from your parents’ and grandparents’ times. Can you fill in the gaps? Ask your parents and your grandparents to help you.


Look at the following family tree of a famous person and read the information about her. Princess Maria Alexandra Victoria became Queen of Romania in 1914. For some time, before she was married to the son of the king of Romania, she lived in Malta with her parents. One of her sisters was even born here! Here is a page from her diary:

Queen Maria Alexandra of Russia 1824 - 1880

Queen Victoria of England 1819 - 1901

Prince Albert 1819 - 1861

King Alexander II of Russia 1818 - 1881

Prince Alfred 1844 - 1900

Princess Maria 1853 - 1920

Princess Maria Alexandra Victoria 1875 - 1938

21st March 1886

We arrived in Malta at sunset. We sailed into the beautiful harbour of Valletta. The harbour was full of ships. A lot of people had turned out to see us. It was dark when we reached San Anton Palace. It is a beautiful house with a great view from the roof. We all had a horse and we rode every day except for Saturdays – when we went for picnics. We became friends with some Maltese families. My sisters and I played with Cousin George and went for picnics to St Paul’s Bay and Mdina.


(Note that in a family tree the = sign shows that two people are married.)

Now use the Princess Maria’s Diary and her family tree to answer the following questions. 1. Who were Princess Maria’s parents? ____________________________________________________________________________

2. From which two countries did her parents come? ____________________________________________________________________________

3. Who were Princess Maria’s grandparents? ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________

4. How can you tell from the pictures that her relatives were rich and important people?

____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________

5. Which means of transport did Princess Maria and her family use to reach Malta?

a. An aeroplane b. A ship c. A train

6. Why do you think a lot of people gathered to see their arrival in Malta? ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________

7. Where did the family live during its stay in Malta? ____________________________________________________________________________


Here are some places which Princess Maria mentions in her diary. Look at the writing from the diary on page 13 again and underline all the Maltese place names which she mentions. Write the name of each place in the box below the picture.


PRINCESS MARIA’S FAMILY IN 1886 MY FAMILY IN 2013

Princess Beatrice Prince Alfred – known as ‘Young Affie’ as his father was also called Alfred.

Princess Alexandra

Princess Victoria Melita – her family called her ‘Ducky’. She was born in Malta.

Princess Maria – members of her family called her ‘Missy’.

Princess Maria’s mum – the Duchess of Edinburgh. Prince Alfred, her husband was not present when this picture was taken.

Princess Maria’s father commanded the British Navy in the Mediterranean. Malta was ruled by the British and they kept a strong fleet of warships here.

Stick a picture of your family in this box. Can you notice any differences between Princess Maria’s family and your own? (note the number of children, the clothing, the hairstyles, etc.)


Here is a picture of a picnic from the times of Princess Maria. This group is picnicking at Ħaġar Qim Temples in Qrendi.

Here is a picnic set which the Princess’ family might have taken with them. All the cutlery is made of silver.

This is how the Princess and her family would have travelled to their picnic site.


Use this page to show a picnic in the present. You may stick pictures of your own family or any other pictures from a magazine or the internet. Here are some hints to help you:

How do you travel to the picnic site? Which are your favourite picnic sites? What do you do when you are there? What do you take with you? What does your picnic basket look like? What food do you take? What games do you play?

Stick your picture here


Look at the toys in this picture. Mark those toys which Princess Maria and all children, around 100 years ago would play with.


Colour this picture of a toyshop from the past. Most toys were made of wood or metal.

Which material is mostly used to make toys nowadays?

Can you imagine why this modern material was not used for toys in the past?

In some places, children were not allowed to play with toys on Sunday. Sometimes they were allowed to play with models of Noah’s ark! In Malta, children, especially boys had model altars and churches to play with.


Decide which is your favourite toy and Now ask an older person (parents or grand- draw it in the space below. Parents about his/ her favourite toy. Draw it in the space below.

Write the names of your favourite toys: I asked __________________________________ ________________________________________ His/ her favourite toys were: _________________ ________________________________________ _________________________________________ ________________________________________ _________________________________________


Finding out about ____________________________

Name Age Memories

As we have seen from Princess Maria’s diary, personal memories are very important in history. Some very interesting information can be collected from people who lived very ordinary lives in the past. Ask your parents/ uncles/ aunts/ grandparents about their childhood memories. Choose a topic (eg. Christmas, school, games, etc.). Do not go for grand events – normal every day things will do.


Here are some objects which were common in Nannu Peppi’s time. Try to guess what the object was used for and try to find a picture of the modern object we use instead of it today.

Mark likes visiting his Great grandfather. Great grandfather Peppi was born in 1920 and he remembers a lot of things which are now part of history. When Great grandpa has some time, he likes to tell stories about how different life was when he was a boy.



We used to buy most of our needs from the grocer corner shop. It was a very small shop with a big counter and lots of shelves. I can still remember the fresh smell of the items for sale. We did not buy our food in tins or frozen packets. Though there were some tinned foods – like milk and corned beef, most things were sold by weight. For example, the shopkeeper would have this big box or sack full of pasta and he would weigh out the amount you needed and give it to you wrapped in paper. Even cheese and ham used to be sold like that – I remember Toni – the grocer behind his counter – sharpening his big knife every now and then before cutting out slices of ham with his knife. I always used to wonder how he managed to cut such neat slices! And there were no machines mind you!

Times have certainly changed! Even such simple things as shopping for every day needs have their own history. I have asked my grandpa to tell me about shopping in the past. Nannu Karmenu was born in Valletta in 1930. You can read what he told me below.

Scales such as these were used in shops to weigh the products which were sold by weight. The shopkeeper would have standard weight measures to calculate the amount. These were the standard weights which were most commonly used.

Traditional Modern

Wiżna 4kg

Ratal 800 g

Kwart (ta’ Ratal) 200 g


Even kunserva used to be sold that way – the shopkeeper would have a big tin full of kunserva and then he would weigh out the amount you needed and wrap it in paper for you. If we wanted a bottle of oil or a bottle of wine we would take our own bottle to the shop and the shopkeeper would fill it up for us. When we needed fresh meat or vegetables, we would go to the market. I liked going to the butcher’s - he used to have strings of sausages hanging from the ceiling, live chickens and even rabbits. There would be crowds of women at the shops and at the market. Everyone would carry his own shopping basket – usually a big wicker basket – which we called qoffa. The women would spend a long time at the shop and at the market – waiting to be served and chatting with their friends or the shopkeeper. Very few people had a fridge at home, so we would only buy small amounts to last us for a day or two. We paid everything in small change and nobody was given a receipt. Some people bought on credit too and they paid the shopkeeper at the end of the month.

Here are some pictures. Tick (√) those which WERE NOT found in shops when Nannu Karmenu was a little boy (you can tick MORE than one).


Even tea was sold by weight. The shopkeeper would sell you crushed tea leaves which you would then boil in hot water to make your tea. Tea had to be passed through a little strainer to get rid of the tea leaves before being served.

Every shopkeeper would boast that his products were fresh. Keep in mind that very few people had a fridge at home. Some people would buy ice to keep their food fresh or else hang it in a bucket in their well to keep it cold.

Very few products would be sold in tins. The tins were very big and they were kept by the shopkeeper who would then sell the stuff from the tins or sacks little by little by weight.

Bananas were very expensive as they had to be imported. Most of the time people ate local fruit and vegetables when they were in season.

Shopkeepers would have containers to measure out the amount of things needed by the customers and scales to weigh the different products. Then you were charged according to the amount you bought.

The big cheeses and hams were kept under cover to keep them fresh for longer. Some were preserved in salt.


Which of these pictures shows a shop in 1930? ___________ Which of these pictures shows a shop in 2013? ___________

Using the pictures and Nannu Karmenu’s story, try to point out some differences between shopping in 1930 and shopping in 2013. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Are there any similarities? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What were the advantages of shopping in the past over that in the present? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What were the disadvantages? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How would have nannu Karmenu found this bottle useful on his shopping trips? _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ What do we do today when we want to buy things in bottles? _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________


At the time when Nannu Karmenu was a little boy, people used means of transport which are very different from ours.

With your teacher’s help, match the name of the means of transport with the picture

Which of these means of transport can be still seen in our roads? What is it used for?

Lanċa tal-Pass

The Omnibus

Il-Karozzin

Il-Vapur tal-Art

Id-Dgħajsa tal-Pass

A Tram

Il-Karettun


Lanċa ġejja w oħra sejra Minn ______________ għal ______________________ Il-Kaptan _______________ f’ħalqu Jidderieġi l-__________________ Sewwa sewwa f’nofs ta’ baħar Il-Kaptan _____________ ____________ Ma kellux min idur miegħu Daru miegħu __________________ Agħmillu __________________ Agħmillu __________________ għal ___________________ The pick up point in

Marsamxett Harbour

Il-lanċa tal-pass was an important means of transport in the Maltese Harbours. Many people used it to travel to and from Valletta either to Sliema or else to the Three Cities of the Cottonera. It was the fastest and most comfortable way of making this trip. It was so popular that it found itself the subject of a popular song which nearly everyone in Malta knows.

Shelter for the passengers

Lanċa ġejja u oħra sejra

Dgħajjes tal-Pass


The aqueduct had been built by the Knights of St. John in 1600.

Karettuni were dragged by donkeys or mules.

Karettun loaded with sacks and bags. Karettuni were strong and were used to carry heavy loads.

A Karozzin carrying passengers on the way to Ħ’Attard

A Tram Car on the way down to Valletta. Trams could carry a lot of passengers (just like a modern bus). It had an electric engine and ran on rails. Some children used to run and jump on the movin tram to get a free ride!

This ‘ring’ in stone was very common. It was useful to tie the donkey or the horse to it while its owner ran an errand close by.

A tram needed electric power, so there were cables along the way.

Most of the roads in Malta were not covered in tarmac. Many of our roads were covered in rubble and dust. On certain occasions a big steamroller would be driven over the road to flatten out any humps and bumps. Another curious job was that of the ‘bexxiexa’ - big tank full of water carried on a cart which would sprinkle water on the roads to reduce the clouds of dust.

Here is what a busy street looked like when Nannu Karmenu was a boy. The picture shows the main

road at Santa Venera, close to Ħamrun in 1913.


Herbert Ganado was a young boy who lived in Malta in 1900. When he grew old, he wrote about his life in the past. Here he writes about a trip on a train in 1910. L-ewwel konna nisimgħu it-tisfira fil-bogħod u mbagħad kien jitfaċċa d-duħħan u konna narawha żgħira żgħira u bil-mod il-mod, dejjem tikber u tersaq lejna. Tlabna lil missieri biex jeħodna sal-Belt bil-ferrovija, u hu ikkuntentana.

Wara xi ġranet, imxejna sa Ħ’Attard u stennejniha ġejja minn hemm. Tlajna fil-vagun. Raġel bl-uniformi u bil-beritta saffar fl-istazzjon u warajh saffret il-magna. Il-ferrovija bdiet tiċċaqlaq u tagħti l-iskossi u ftit ftit, ħarbet bina lejn Birkirkara. Aħna qgħadna għarkubbtejna fuq il-bank, inħarsu mit-twieqi. Kultant konna niltaqgħu ma’ kamra żgħira u raġel bil-bandiera li kien jagħmel is-sinjali. X’ħin wasalna fl-istazzjon ta’ Birkirkara waqafna. Niżlu u telgħu ħafna nies. Ftit wara, wasal tren ieħor ġej mill-Belt fuq il-linja l-oħra. Tagħna saffar u telaq. Waqafna l-Ħamrun. Tgħidx kemm ħadna gost ngħaddu qalb il-bini. Ftit wara ġie raġel b’xemgħa mixgħula f’idu, għax kif qalilna missierna, kif rana skantati, kienet waslet il-mina tal-Belt. Il-ftit minuti li għamilna taħt il-mina kienu l-aktar li għoġbuna. Tgħidx xi storbju għamlet il-ferrovija daqs kemm bdiet tirbombja taħt il-mina u beda jidħol ħafna duħħan mit-twieqi wkoll! F’daqqa waħda, il-magna reġgħet bdiet issaffar biex tavża lill-Belt li kienet waslet. Kemm ħadt gost! Għalija dak id-daqsxejn ta’ vjaġġ kien qisu vjaġġ lejn l-Amerka! X’ħin inżilna mit-tren, missieri ħadna nieħdu ġelat. Dari l-ġelati ma konniex neħduhom spiss bħal-lum. Il-ġelat konna neħduh għal xi okkażjoni u kont tieħu gost tieklu aktar mil-lum għax kienet xi ħaġa rari.

For some more information visit:

http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/railways.shtml

It took 3 years to build the railway in Malta. The Railway was opened officially on the 28th of Februray 1883. Many distinguished guests were invited for the first trip and the Bishop of Malta was present to bless the train and the stations.


First Class Second Class

From Valletta to Mdina 6 d (soldi) 3 d (soldi)

The trip from Valletta to Mdina took 25 minutes. You could choose to travel in First Class – which was more comfortable but more expensive, or else you could travel in Second Class which was less comfortable but cheaper.

The Railway was called ‘il-Vapur tal-Art’. Most probably, the people compared its funnel (chimney) with that on a ship – the train ran on coal which was burnt in the engine. This made a lot of black smoke which came out of the chimney.

There were stations all along the way at Msida, Ħamrun, B’Kara, Ħ’Attard and Mdina. The main station was in Valletta. In time, buses were introduced in Malta. The buses were cheaper and they went everywhere, not just on the railway line from Valletta to Mdina. The Railway was closed down in 1931 because it was not making any money.


Try to guess if this information about the Malta Railway are True or False (Your teacher will give you the correct answers. You get 5 points for each answer you have guessed correctly).

True/ False

Points

The train used to start its trip from an underground station in Valletta.

The windows in Second Class did not have any glass panes.

In 1887, a 12 year old boy threw a stone on the train. He was scolded by his parents and had to give up eating sweets for a month.

At the time, boys used to put coins on the rails to see them flattened out by the passing trains.

In 1923, when the train was passing through Msida, it ran into a big herd of bulls and killed 34 of them.

The trip from Valletta to Mdina on the train cost double the same trip in a karozzin

In 1923, the Minister of Education was heavily criticized because he tried to use the train without paying for his ticket.

There isn’t anything left in Malta to remind us of the train.

The last station at Mdina

The engine dragged a number of carriages in which it carried passengers or goods.

Learn more about railways at:

http://inventors.about.com/od/wstartinventors/a/james_watt.htm

The train ran on coal. Coal cannot be found naturally in Malta. Where do you think they got the coal from?


Use these pages for a mini-project on means of transport which are found in Malta.




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