History is a form
of knowledge about the past. It is constructed from the use of evidence and
interpretation. In this lesson by examining a selection of evidence- an artifact,
photographs and text, students will gain an understanding of historical methods.
Students should come to realize there may be alternative hypothesis, but all
should be reasonable, given the available evidence.
Part 1
What Is History?
Begin this study
by asking the students: What is history?
Record their ideas
on chart paper.
Then ask them:
What do historians do? How do historians know
what happened in the past?
These ideas will
be revisited at the end of the unit.
Divide class into
groups of 4.
Present groups
with an artifact.Tell them where it was found.
Together they should
decide:
Consider:
Students record
their ideas on Artifact
Study Sheet.
2. When done, each
group shares their ideas with the class
Tell them they
are thinking like historians when they hypothesize.
Historians examine
evidence from the past to construct a theory of what might have happened.
Sometimes historians don't agree. Did they agree?
Ask the students
to think more about historical evidence. If a historian wanted to write about
the history of schooling in the present day, what evidence could they find
here in our room? Collect ideas and discuss.
Tell them one of
the types of evidence is artifacts, or objects, another
type of artifact is an image.
Present the class
with an image. Copy it onto an overhead transparency. Willis Stark with cougar
Tell them it is
a picture from the Salt Spring Archives and is of Salt Spring.
Explain that the
Archives is a place that collects historical evidence,
like old photographs and artifacts.
Ask them to look
carefully at its details.
Using chart paper,
record the people, objects, activities
seen in the photograph.
Discuss.
Visit the Salt Spring Archives Website
In pairs have students
go online onto the archives website. They browse the picture collection, then
choose 1 picture to analyze. They print their selection, then
analyze it together using the Photo
Analysis Sheet.
When finished,
they can take turns sharing their photos and analysis with the class.
Another
way we learn about the past is from the accounts of those who lived at the
time. Explain we will be reading an account from the past.
First
pass out or share as an overhead transparency the Text
Analysis Sheet. Discuss the
meaning of the various parts.
Pass
out copies of a selection from
Explain
he was a minister on Salt Spring in 1861, soon after
the first non-Aboriginal settlers came to Salt Spring.
They
can use highlighting pens to highlight parts they think are important in thinking about Salt Spring history.
When
done, have the students discuss their findings.
Lesson
2: Who Were The First People Who Lived On Salt Spring?
Lesson
3: Who Were The Next Settlers? Why Did They Come?
Lesson
4: What Was It Like To Live Here?
Lesson
5: How Did The First Nations And Early Settlers Get Along?
Lesson
6: How Has Salt Spring Been Mapped?