If this is the answer, what is the question?

12

What can we find out by looking at primary sources?

• _____________ are useful because they offer first person evidence about historical topics.

• Primary sources also allow for different ___________ of events and people.

• They let us make __________, • and are almost always _________and ___________.

KEY TERMS:Primary sourceInterpretationsInferencesReliableUseful

Examples of primary sources

• How many can you think of?

Newspaper articlesMagazine articles

PoemsRadio broadcasts

Television programmesFilms

PhotographsBlog posts

Videos

Why are primary sources sometimes useful?

Why are primary sources sometimes less useful?

Spot the primary source!

PRIMARYSECONDARY

Mateo is learning about how the First World War started. He uses a

school text book, published in 2008.

PRIMARYSECONDARY

Anna wants to learn about trench conditions. She uses photographs taken at the time which have been

compiled in a book which was published in 2010.

PRIMARYSECONDARY

Lauren is trying to find out about how people reacted to the Iraq war. She goes on Youtube and

watches a BBC news report from when war was declared.

PRIMARYSECONDARY

Benjamin is researching the reasons why some Germans

supported Hitler and the Nazis. He reads a diary from the 1930s

which was published in the 1980s.

PRIMARYSECONDARY

Polina wants to know how many unemployed people there were in Germany in 1933. She uses a table of unemployment figures that he found in a book written in 1987.

PRIMARYSECONDARY

Alex wants to know how many unemployed people there were in Germany in 1933. He uses a table of unemployment figures that he found in a book written in 1987.

PRIMARYSECONDARY

Celine wants to know who was to blame for starting the Second

World War, so he reads a British newspaper article from 1939.

CHALLENGE: WHY WOULD THIS BE UNRELIABLE?!

Just a Minute

One student starts to speak about primary sources.

At the first repetition, pause

or mistake another takes over - and so on until the minute is up.

1

One of you will be chosen at random to

explain primary sources to the rest of

the class!

WHAT IS A PRIMARY SOURCE?GIVE SOME EXAMPLES.WHY ARE PRIMARY SOURCES USEFUL?WHY ARE THEY SOMETIMES UNRELIABLE?

2

TOP 3Primary sources are useful because…

1) They are interesting to read2) They usually give a good indication of what really happened3) They use old-fashioned language4) You get to understand how people at the time felt5) They are important evidence so we don’t forget what happened 3