World War One (junior)
Where can I find information about World War One?
(Years 1-4)
Image: Machine gun practice by [Unknown]. Collection: Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Entry last updated: 1/12/23
Introduction
World War One, also called the First World War, took place between 1914 and 1918. It is called a 'world war' because so many different countries were involved. New Zealand also took part in the war, on the side of the Allies.
General websites
Here are some of our favourite sites that have information about the war, how it started, where the battles were and what it was like for soldiers and other people involved.
This website is from a publisher of educational books and has lots of good facts and pictures.
- Select History from the front page, then go to World War 1.
- From here you can explore lots of different topics, including the Origins of war (why it started) right through to The end of the war.
Tips: Websites that have .com or .co in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About us link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the company’s mission and values are.
This website is from BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) in the United Kingdom. The content is written by teachers and subject experts to help with learning.
- Use the search bar at the top of the page to enter keywords 'World War One'.
- You will find lots of articles on this topic, such as What were the causes of World War One?, What was life like in a World War One trench? and How did children help in World War One?
- There are lots of other pages too so make sure you explore all the different ones!
Tips: Search words, or keywords, are the most important words in our question. Usually it’s better to leave out small words like ‘the’, ‘a’ and ‘of’ and just choose the main ones, eg World War One. We can always change our keywords or add more if we need to.
This is part of a collection of reliable websites called EPIC. They cover lots of different topics and are put together especially for New Zealand school students. You may need a password from your school or local library to get to them.
- Search Britannica using the search words 'world war 1' to find the World War 1 (1914-1918) article.
- This article includes an animated timeline of the war that you can watch.
- From the results page, you can also choose to look at Images or Videos about World War One.
Tips: To get to the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian first. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians between 1 and 6pm Monday to Friday and they will help you online. Some EPIC databases may also be available through your public library.
New Zealand websites
World War One had a big impact on New Zealand even though the actual fighting happened in other countries. These websites have information and stories about New Zealand in the First World War.
Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Te Ara is a great place to start for information about Aotearoa New Zealand.
- Select Stories A-Z and then F.
- Look for First World War from the results.
- The Story summary is a short story about when New Zealand entered the war, the battles fought and the impact of the war on our country.
Tips: We like sites like this because they're reliable. You can tell because of their web address - they have either .govt or.ac, meaning they are from government or educational organisations.
This website also has lots of information about New Zealand history.
- Go to the section New Zealand at War, then select New Zealand and the First World War.
- You will find here information about the battles fought in the air and at sea, the impact of the war on New Zealand and how World War One is remembered today on Anzac Day.
Tips: If we go all the way down the page we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so we can trust the information.
Schools' Living Heritage Stories
This website shows what some primary school students have been learning about World War One.
- Enter the search words 'World War One' into the search box.
- Look at the story A past pupil goes to war to read about what Kilbirnie School discovered.
- Go to Brooklyn School remembers to find lots of stories of local soldiers, written by students.
Tips: Websites with .org can have good information but we need to check how reliable it is. Look at the About us page on the website, if you can find it. That will tell you more about the organisation and what their purpose is.
Books
There have been many books written about World War One. Check out your local public or school library to see what they have.
Some suggested titles are:
- World War One by Stephen White-Thomson
- World War I for kids: a history with 21 activities by R. Kent Rasmussen
- World War I by Brian Williams
- The ANZACs. published by Puffin Little
- World War One by Kevin Boon.
SCIS no: 1832729
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