Sources of history information

• History
• Special Education

LO:  I can identify sources of history facts.

How do we find out about what happened in history?

We use a number of different sources to find out about the past.

What is a source?

A source is the place that something comes from or the cause of something.

There are a number of sources from which we find out about the past.

We look at written records.  

These could be letters, diaries, official documents or old newspapers, 

The next slide shows a newspaper from 1912.  What is it reporting about?

The next slide has an extract from a diary.  What is it about?

Did you work it out?

It is an extract from Anne Frank's diary and tells us what life was like for her during World War II when Jewish people were being murdered by the Nazis.  She was hiding from the soldiers who would send her to a death camp.

See if you can work out what the following letter is about.

It is a letter written home from the trenches in WWI.

Another way we find out about the past is from paintings.

What is happening in the next painting?

Did you work it out? 

It was showing the execution of King Charles I in 1649.

For nearly the last 200 years there have also been photographs to give us information.

Pictures and photographs tell us about events and give us information about how people dressed and how they lived.

Look at the following photograph of a Victorian school and see what it can tell us about the way children dressed and how they were taught.

Archaeologists excavate the ground to find things buried there which give us information from the time before there was writing.

They may find pottery with pictures on that give us information about the past. 

What can you see on the following vase?

Cave drawings & carvings also give us information about history.

What is this?

Did you work it out?  It is fossilised Viking poo and it is about 1,200 years old.

From it we can tell that Vikings ate meat and bread and also that the owner of this poo had worms.

People have also been able to make recordings of interviews with people who have lived through historical events.

Now how do you think we find out about what happened in history?

Do you feel more confident to name sources from which we get information about history?

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