Understanding HistoryTools of the Historian

Think About It…

• How has your life changed from the way it was five years ago?

• Ten years from now, how will your life be different?

• What do historians do to look into the past?

Key Vocabulary

• Please define the following words:• History• Oral tradition• Artifact• Primary source• Secondary source

History

• History is the story of the past.• People who study history are called

historians.• Historians use different kinds of sources to

discover what life was like in the past. • Sources are an historian’s most important

tool.

Oral Tradition

• Oral tradition is the passing on of history by word of mouth.

• Examples:

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of oral history?

Artifacts

• An artifact is an object made by someone in the past.

• Examples:

Primary Sources

• Primary sources are materials created during the time under study.

• They can be written things such as magazines or advertisements.

• They can also be non-written things such as toys or pictures.

Secondary Sources

• Secondary sources are records of the past based on studies of primary sources.

I hope you were paying attention…