Flashcards

Question 1

What are the five characteristics of a reliable primary source?

Answer 1

1.) The author is sharing the information close to the time period you are studying

2.) The author is someone who has first-hand knowledge of the topic

3.) The information the author gives is likely to have happened

4.) The author has no bias or their bias doesn’t affect what they say

5.) The information the author gives is corroborated

Question 2

What are the five characteristics of a reliable secondary source?

Answer 2

1.) The author is an expert on the topic

2.) The author uses reliable sources to back up their claims

3.) The information the author gives is likely to have happened

4.) The author has no bias or their bias doesn’t affect what they say

5.) The information the author gives is corroborated

Question 3

What three reliability characteristics are the same for primary and secondary sources?

Answer 3

The information the author gives is likely to have happened

The author has no bias or their bias doesn’t affect what they say

The information the author gives is corroborated

Question 4

What does the word bias mean?

Answer 4

Being unfairly in favor or against something

Question 5

What does the word corroboration mean?

Answer 5

Shared across other sources

Question 6

What are the four reasons why it is beneficial/important to learn how to think and act like a historian?

Answer 6

1. Helps you learn the difference between trustworthy and untrustworthy sources of information.
2. Helps you develop empathy
3. Helps you learn what’s caused the world to become the way it is
4. Helps you build strong arguments and opinions

Question 7

What is the definition of a primary source?

Answer 7

A primary source is something that …

1. contains information about the time period you are studying
2. was written/created during that time period

Question 8

What is the definition of a secondary source?

Answer 8

A secondary source is something that …

1. contains information about the time period you are studying
2. was written/created after that time period

Question 9

What do primary sources and secondary sources have in common?

Answer 9

Both primary sources and secondary sources contain information about the time period you are studying

Question 10

How do primary sources and secondary sources differ from one another?

Answer 10

Primary sources were created/written DURING the time period you are studying.

Secondary sources were created/written AFTER the time period you are studying.

Question 11

_______ are the people who find primary sources.

_______ are the people who store primary sources

_______ are the people who conduct historical investigations using primary sources.

Answer 11

Archaeologists are the people who find primary sources.

Archivists are the people who store primary sources

Historians are the people who conduct historical investigations using primary sources.

Question 12

What does excavate mean?

Answer 12

To excavate means to “dig up” something from under ground

Question 13

What are artifacts?

Answer 13

Artifacts are objects made by human beings.

Question 14

Who are the people who collect, preserve, maintain control over, and provide access to archives?

Answer 14

Archivists

Question 15

What is an archive?

Answer 15

Archives are places where written records and historical artifacts are stored.

Question 16

What are the two different types of sources about the past known as?

Answer 16

Primary Sources & Secondary Sources

Question 17

How is “History” different from “The Past”?

Answer 17

History are all of the stories about what happened. The past is what actually happened.

Question 18

What are the four steps of the historical method?

Answer 18

1.) Ask question about the past

2.) Find sources of information on what happened in the past

3.) Determine which sources were trustworthy

4.) Create a theory about what happened using information from trustworthy sources

Question 19

What is the goal of this class?

Answer 19

To learn how to think and act like a historian.

Question 20

How many years of human existence are we covering in this class?

Answer 20

7 million years

Question 21

The best historical investigations follow a four-step process called the …

Answer 21

historical method

Question 22

If scientists do experiments and mathematicians do “math” - what do historians do?

Answer 22

Short answer: Historians do historical investigations.

Long answer: Historians do historical investigations to create historical claims about what happened in the past.

Question 23

What is the definition of “the past”?

Answer 23

The past is what actually happened in a previous period of time.

Question 24

What is the definition of a historian?

Answer 24

Historians are the people who …

1. Ask questions about the past
2. Study the past
3. Create theories about the past

Question 25

What is the definition of a historical claim?

Answer 25

A historical claim is a theory a historian creates about what they think probably happened in the past.

Question 26

Why can historians only, at best, create theories about the past?

Answer 26

Because they can not time travel back in time to “check their answers.”

Question 27

What is the definition of “History”?

Answer 27

History refers to all of the historical claims made about a person, group of people, event, or place.

Question 28

What is the definition of a “Historical Investigation”

Answer 28

Historical Investigations are the activities historians are involved in when they create historical claims.

Question 29

What is a good synonym for “the past?”

Answer 29

Facts, the truth, reality

Question 30

What is a good synonym for a “historical claim”?

Answer 30

Theory, educated guess

Question 31

How is “History” different from a “Historical Claim”?

Answer 31

A historical claim is one theory about a topic in the past. History refers to all of the theories about a topic in the past.

(For example: A book written by a historian about the Roman Empire is a “historical claim.” All of the historical claims ever made about the Roman Empire are considered the “History” of the Roman Empire.)

Question 32

What are three examples of primary sources?

Answer 32

Speeches
Books
Letters
Records
Weapons
Tools
Bones
Journals
Statues
Carvings
Paintings
Clothing
Buildings
Pottery
Interviews
Autobiographies
Laws
Maps

Question 33

What are three examples of secondary sources?

Answer 33

Articles
Documentaries
Movies/Video Games
Encyclopedias
Wikipedia
Textbooks
Essays
Summaries
History Book
Biography
Models
Someone telling you a story they heard
Historical Claims
Maps