Medicine and Disease

Medicine and Disease KS2: The History of Medicine

Discover how medicine has changed throughout history with this complete, ready-to-teach Medicine and Disease KS2 History scheme of work for Years 5 and 6. From the unusual remedies of ancient civilisations to the scientific breakthroughs of the Victorian era and the development of modern healthcare, children will explore how people's understanding of illness, disease and medical treatment has evolved over thousands of years.

Across seven engaging History of Medicine KS2 lessons, children investigate medical beliefs and practices in Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, explore the Black Death and Tudor medicine, and discover how Victorian medical discoveries transformed healthcare. They will also examine the development of the NHS and modern medicine, comparing treatments across different historical periods and investigating the people and discoveries that changed our understanding of disease.

What will children learn?

Children begin by investigating medicine in prehistoric times and Ancient Egypt, exploring early beliefs about illness and the treatments people used. They will compare medical practices between civilisations and learn how historians use primary and secondary sources to investigate the past.

They then explore Greek and Roman medicine, discovering how influential figures such as Hippocrates and Galen shaped medical thinking. Children investigate Roman attitudes towards health, fitness and disease, comparing ancient approaches to healthcare with those of other historical periods and the modern world.

Next, children travel to medieval Britain to investigate medicine and disease during the Middle Ages, with a particular focus on the Black Death. Through historical enquiry and role-play, they explore how people believed disease spread, the treatments they attempted and the conditions that contributed to the spread of the plague.

Moving into the Tudor period, children investigate Tudor medicine and the unusual remedies used to treat illness. They take on the role of archaeologists, examining a mysterious Tudor artefact, asking historical questions and using evidence to test their ideas before discovering some of the folk cures practised during this period.

Children then explore the dramatic developments in Victorian medicine, investigating the scientists and medical pioneers whose discoveries transformed healthcare. They consider how understanding of germs and disease changed during the nineteenth century and explore important developments including anaesthetics, antiseptics and improvements in medical treatment.

The scheme continues into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, where children investigate the development of modern medicine and the NHS. They discover how hospitals, treatments and medical knowledge have changed, exploring important discoveries from the past century and comparing healthcare today with medical practices from earlier periods.

Finally, children bring together their learning by exploring the history of medicine through time, comparing different periods and considering how medical knowledge, treatments and attitudes towards disease have developed. They use historical evidence to support their opinions and reflect on the significance of important medical discoveries.

Throughout the scheme, children develop important KS2 History skills including chronological understanding, interpreting primary and secondary sources, historical enquiry, comparing different periods and evaluating change and continuity over time.

What's included?

This complete Medicine and Disease KS2 scheme of work includes everything you need to teach the topic:

• seven detailed lesson plans
• engaging teaching slides for each lesson
• differentiated worksheets and activities
• historical source cards, fact sheets and enquiry resources
• role-play activities exploring medieval medicine and the Black Death
• investigations into Tudor remedies and Victorian medical discoveries
• a Medicine and Disease Knowledge Organiser
• a History Assessment Grid to support assessment
• an End of Unit Quiz

With lesson plans, slides and supporting resources ready to download and teach, this complete set of History of Medicine KS2 lessons and resources provides an engaging way to explore how medicine and disease have shaped people's lives throughout history while saving valuable preparation time.