This Kapow pupil video is part of the Kapow History scheme of work. It helps pupils understand how historians describe and organise time when talking about the past. Pupils learn that historians use numbers, dates and terms like decades, centuries and millennia to explain when events happened. The video explains how a decade means ten years, a century means one hundred years, and a millennium means one thousand years. It also shows how centuries are counted from the year one onwards, so the 1900s belong to the twentieth century, and 2024 is in the twenty-first.

The narrative continues by exploring how historians use eras and periods to group events, such as the Victorian era or Stone Age. It introduces the idea of historical timelines, where events are placed in chronological order. Pupils learn the difference between BC (Before Christ), AD (Anno Domini), and the more inclusive terms BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era). It explains how BC dates count backwards and AD dates forwards, helping pupils understand why 2000 BC is further back in time than 100 BC. The video finishes by showing how these tools help historians make sense of the past and see how events are connected across time.

History, Lower key stage 2, Year 3, British history 1: Would you prefer to have lived in the Stone Age, Bronze Age or Iron Age? Lesson 1: How long ago did prehistoric man live?