1980’s Unit Study – Badge Resources for the Historic Era Badge
The 1980’s
Use this 1980’s unit study to learn about one of the most iconic decades in the last century. Known for neon colors, big hair, new musical genres, break dancing and block buster movies, this decade is frequently remembered for its materialism and consumerism. While earning your 1980’s badge, you may want to earn your Hair Styling, Fashion History, or Costume Design badge at the same time.
1980’s Fashion
1980s fashion is known for its bold style, neon colors, and silhouettes. Hair was BIG and clothing was loud. From ripped tights and biker jackets to oversized blazers, parachute pants and jelly shoes, the 80’s was a fashion explosion. Here is a list of just a few iconic 1980’s fashion pieces:
- Leg Warmers
- Petticoats and Poof Skirts
- Parachute Pants
- Oversized Blazers
- High waisted, pleated pants.
- Ripped tights
- Jelly Shoes
- Cut off sweat shirts
- Acid wash jeans
- Fanny packs
- Fingerless gloves
- Stirrup pants
To Do: Design an outfit for the 1980’s. You can purchase actual 1980’s items from a thrift store, sew your own, or use printable fashion models to draw a variety of 1980’s fashion designs. Be able to explain why each piece of your outfit is relevant to 80’s fashion.
Pretatemplate.com has a great variety of free printable models, just be aware that they email the template to you so you may want it sent to a junk email box if you don’t want to be on their mailing list. I like this site as the models are modest and come in a variety of ages and sexes and even include animals and people in wheel chairs. If you want to work on your Book Binding badge they even have instructions for making your own sketchbook at the bottom of their printables page.
Fulfills starred requirement #1
1980’s Hair
The 1980’s is known for big hair. Whether, permed, crimped, or teased, the more volume the better! Here are a few 80’s hair styles and hair accessories: (Several of these links lead to product sites. I do not get a commission and do not recommend buying the products. They are just good resources to see both the hair style and how it is made.)
- Side ponytails
- Banana Clips
- Mullet
- Crimped
- Permed
- Teased
- Feathered
- Ribboned barrettes and big bows
- Flat top
- Mohawk
- Pompadour
To Do: Find out what each of the above styles looked like and try out a 1980’s hair style on yourself. If you don’t have long enough hair to style your own, try on a wig and see what you might have looked like in the 80’s.
Fulfills optional requirement #9
Events of the 1980’s
From the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens to the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, the 1980’s were filled with momentous events. While a few are listed below, visit ThePeopleHistory.com for a more comprehensive list.
- Mt. Saint Helens erupts in Washington state
- Sandra Day O’Connor is nominated as the first female Supreme Court Justice by President Reagan.
- Disney World opens the EPCOT (Experimental Community of Tomorrow ) park.
- Microsoft releases “Word” their word processing program.
- China and the United Kingdom agree that the U.K. will transfer power over Hong Kong back to China in the future.
- The first version of Microsoft Windows is released.
- The Chernobyl nuclear reactor explodes in the USSR.
- Disposable contact lenses are first sold.
- The Iran-Iraq war ends.
- The Berlin Wall is torn down at the end of the Cold War.
To Do: Play a 1980’s timeline game. Print out cards with 10- 20 events from the 1980’s and pin one to the back of each player. Everyone then asks each other yes or no questions to see if they can figure out which event they have pinned to them.
Fulfills starred requirement #2
1980’s Music
1980’s music saw a wide range of genres. In addition to genres like rock and pop, new genres like hip hop, new wave and hair metal emerged. While the music itself was expanding into new genres, the way people listened to music was also changing. The portable “Walkman” allowed people to bring music cassette tapes anywhere they went and to listen with their own headphones. In 1984 the portable CD player was launched and portable music changed once again.
The Rock Archives has a great compilation of the greatest 80’s music artists from a variety of genres if you want to work on your Biographies badge.
To Do: Listen to music from the 1980’s. If possible do so on a 1980’s Walkman or a portable CD player. How does the music differ from what people listen to today? There are several 1980’s playlists on Youtube, but the one above is one of my favorites.
Fulfills optional requirement #4
Dance Moves of the 80’s
With the introduction of MTV (music television) in 1981, music fans could actually see the dance moves of their famous singers. Popular music videos influenced dance as did movies like Flashdance and Footloose. The Odyssey Online has a great article that shows short clips of the actual movies or music videos that inspired many of the 1980’s dance moves while the youtube video below quickly shows examples of a dozen or so 80’s moves.
To Do: Learn at least three of the following dances:
- Moonwalk
- Electric Slide
- The Robot
- The Worm
- Walk Like an Egyptian
- The Snake
- Cabbage Patch
- Breakdancing
- Running Man
- Thriller
Fulfills optional requirement #13.
What did people do for fun in the 80’s?
So what did people do for fun in the 1980’s? Teens in the 80’s spent a lot of time in the local video arcade or even playing video or computer games at home. The Rubik’s Cube was invented and hours could be spent trying to solve this maddening puzzle. The popularity of the boom box meant that kids could dance anywhere they wished and breakdancing on large pieces of cardboard became popular. Skateboarding and BMX biking were not only the favorite modes of transportation, but were a past-time in and of themselves. Trivial Pursuit was invented in 1981 and quickly became one of the most popular board games in the nation.
To Do: Play a game that was popular in the 1980’s.
- Video/Arcade game examples: Tetris, PacMan, Mario Brothers, Frogger, or Centipede
- Board game examples: Trivial Pursuit, Hungry Hungry Hippo, Pictionary, or Guess Who
To Do: Learn to solve a Rubik’s Cube
To Do: Visit an old fashioned video arcade and play 1980’s videogames
Fulfills optional requirement #10
Food of the 1980’s
Just like fashion, every decade has different foods that gain in popularity. Here are just a few of the foods you may have eaten in the 1980’s:
- Lean Cuisine Frozen Meals
- Totino’s Pizza Rolls
- Jello Pudding Pops
- 7 Layer Mexican Dip
- Diet Coke
- Pesto
- Baked Brie – Wrap a wheel of brie, smothered in apricot jam, in puff pastry (or crescent dough) and bake.
- Spinach Dip in a bread bowl – Cut the top off a round loaf of sourdough bread. Hollow out the center and fill with spinach dip. Cube the removed bread and use for dipping.
To Do: Make a meal from 1980’s foods. Click here for few recipes from thekitchn.com to get you started
To Do: Do a cost comparison of groceries from the 1980’s compared to today. Take the list below to your local grocery store and compare the prices.
Fulfills optional requirement #5
Follow our Facebook page for badge of the week posts and other resources. For planning purposes you can see which badges will be featured on our badge of the week calendar. You can also sort and search articles by topic on our main blog page. If you are not already a member, check out our membership pricing page.
