1. Thinking Like a Historian
Unit 2: Lesson 1
Thinking Like a Historian

2. Vocabulary History: the study of the past
the study of the past
Example: When you study history you study about people and events of the past.
Historian:
a person who studies the past
Example: A historian studies clues from the past.
Primary Sources:
records made by people
who saw or took place in an event
Example: Photographs, diaries, newspaper articles and letters are primary sources.
Secondary Sources:
records written by someone who was not there at the time of the event
Example: Textbooks are secondary sources

3. Constructing a Graphic Organizer:
Cut out the pieces shown at the left.
How do you think they should be fit together?

4. MYSTERY SOURCE

5. What important ideas about history and historians can be learned from the previous activities?
Historians can be wrong about the past.
To understand the past you need to use lots of sources, not just one.
Because the past can be very different from the present, it is sometimes hard to understand the past.
Historians often try to understand the past by comparing it to the present.

6. A Future Historian’s Report
I have examined the ancient photograph and found it to be over 1000 years old since it is now the year I have determined that the device shown in the photograph was a time machine. People took a seat in one of the little boxes and then the devise was turned on. If it spun clockwise, people were sent into the future. If it spun counterclockwise, people were sent into the past.
Is the analysis of the photo correct or incorrect?
Do you think there are time machines at the time this historian is living? Why or why not?

7. A Timeline can help us to organize events in time.
Understanding “WHAT” happened is important, but historians also want to know “WHEN” it happened.
A Timeline can help us to organize events in time.
timeline
a diagram that shows the
order in which events happened
Example: You can make a timeline of important events in your life
1998
2000
2005

8. Michigan History Events
1600
2000
1900
1800
1700
Chronological order
time sequence
Example: He put the events in Michigan history in chronological order.
1900
1950
2000
Century
100 years
Example: The timeline showed four centuries

9. Historians also want to know “WHO” was involved in the events of the past.
History is the story of the past and people are a very important part of history.
Historians gather evidence about people of the past.
As they gather and analyze evidence, historians try to understand the actions and feelings of the people.
Historians also try to understand the point of view of people in the past.
A person’s point of view can be shaped by age, occupation, living location, cultural background, etc.
Point of view
how a person looks at a problem or an event
Example: People can have different points of view because their ages or backgrounds are different.

10. MYSTERY SOURCE

11. Historians also want to know “How” and “Why” an event of the past occurred.
Cause
an action that makes
something else happen
Example: One cause of population growth in Michigan was the opening of the Erie Canal.
Effect
something that results from
something else happening
Example: One effect of the fur trade in Michigan was that American Indians and the French began to interact.