Explain the Causes of the Great Depression

Strengthen historical understanding by analysing the economic and social causes of the Great Depression.

Teaching Context:
Perfect for Year 9 to Year 11 History or HASS when studying interwar periods.

Basic AI Prompt:
List the causes of the Great Depression.

Enhanced AI Prompt:
You are learning about historical economic crises. Ask AI to explain the major causes of the Great Depression: overproduction, stock market speculation, banking collapse, and unequal wealth distribution. For each cause, ask AI to provide a real-world example from the 1920s that shows how it contributed to the crisis. Finally, ask AI to explain how these causes affected ordinary people in Australia, America, and Europe.

Spice it Up (Optional Extension):
Ask AI to write a fictional newspaper article from 1930 describing the impact of the crash.

Lesson Implementation:
Start with a timeline of key economic events in the 1920s.
Students use AI to map the causes of the Depression in a flowchart showing how one cause led to another.
In pairs, they research the impact on an ordinary family in a chosen country and present their story as a news article or oral presentation.
Wrap up with a class discussion on what lessons modern economies could learn from this period.
This builds historical cause-effect reasoning and empathy.

Got ideas on different ways to use this prompt? Share them with the class in the comments below!

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