How our town began, and old objects

How towns begin and get their names, main streets, and old objects like sundials and hourglasses. Read one part at a time and tap “I know this”. Then test yourself in the quiz.

Know it already? Jump straight to the quiz

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Researching your town

Search at the museum, library or in old newspapers; an archive keeps old documents.
Older residents who grew up there know most. An old photo shows how buildings and streets looked.
A timeline shows which events came first. Street names sometimes change to honour other people or events.

A sundial and an hourglass: how people measured time.

Tap when you could tell someone without looking.

Measuring time

People began measuring time to organise work, travel and meetings. An old object tells how people lived at that time. Later, clocks and watches with hands made it easy to tell the exact time.

Tap when you could tell someone without looking.

Remember this and test yourself

Remember this: your summary

Many South African towns began as a farm, or around a church, at a mission station, near a mine, at a harbour or at a railway station; the founder is the person who started it.
A town gets its name from the founder, the farm or a feature of the land.
The main street is often on an old road, because the town grew along the travel route.
Before clocks: a sundial (the sun’s shadow shows the time) and an hourglass (sand runs slowly through).
A memorial is built to remember an event.

Write these points in your book. Read them again the night before the test.

Memory trick

Where the water was, the town came: first a farm, then a main street.

Flash cards · Tap to turn over

Important words

First say what the word means, then turn the card over.

Test yourself · Part 2

True or false?

Read the question and the answer. Is the answer right? Tap True or False.

Now the real quiz!

The quiz has many more questions on this topic. Every question shows straight away whether you are right and explains why.

Take the quiz: How our town began, and old objects

All Grade 4 History summaries

For parents

Read one part together and ask your child to tell it back in their own words.
The ticks (“I know this”) are saved on this device only. We never ask for names or emails.

Follows CAPS for Grade 4 Social Sciences (History). Always check your teacher’s notes and textbook too.