What is History?

Introduction to History for middle school through early high school

1. What is history E. Kent Rogers

2. In pairs, discuss these topics:

3. What is History? Offer a definition for the subject we call “history”.

4. What do others say? a branch of knowledge that records and explains past events –Merriam-Webster the study of or a record of past events considered together, especially events of a particular period, country, or subject – Cambridge Dictionaries Online

5. Why do we study history? To know more about the roots of our current culture. Why is this important? To learn about the mistakes of those who have gone before us. Why is this important? To learn about human nature in general by looking at trends that repeat through history. Why is this important? To learn historical facts. Why is this important? To learn about how different factors shape society e.g. religion, greed, the intersection of different cultures, technology, etc. Why is this important?

6. Why is history important? In sum, we study history to learn about who we are—both our past and our present.

7. Who investigates history Archaeologists

8. Who investigates history? Anthropologists

9. Who Investigates history Oral Historians

10. Who investigates history? Chemists

11. Who investigates history? Linguists

12. History is a mystery to be solved Finding out about history is a lot like trying to solve a mystery… You must look for clues. You must interpret those clues You must bring all the clues together to shed light on each other. You must reinterpret each clue every time you find a new clue. You must then try fill in the gaps and come to an educated conclusion.

13. Sources Scholars call anything that gives us a clue about history “Sources.” Sources fall into two major categories Primary Sources , and, you guessed it, Secondary Sources .

14. Can you guess what is meant by primary source ?

15. Primary Sources A primary source is a document or physical object which was written or created during the time under study. These sources were present during an experience or time period and offer an inside view of a particular event.

16. Primary sources What are some examples of primary sources?

17. Primary Sources First-hand accounts of events

18. Primary sources Artifacts an object made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest.

19. Primary sources Historical documents

20. Primary sources Memoirs

21. Primary sources Oral histories

22. Primary Sources Newsprint

23. More examples of primary sources Diaries Poetry Personal Interviews Government Documents Autobiographies Peer-reviewed journal a rticles of new findings Photographs Video Etc.

24. Secondary Sources What do you think is meant by Secondary Source ? A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources. These sources are one or more steps removed from the event.

25. What are included as Secondary sources? Textbooks Encyclopedias Magazine or news articles dealing with issues from the past

26. Which kind of source do you think we’ll be looking at? Secondary!