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8th grade · Social Studies · Unit 5 of 12

Sources & Evidence

Primary and secondary sources, context and conclusions

What your child practices

Children practice choosing and judging sources, reading artifacts and art, comparing accounts and drawing conclusions from evidence.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 8.SP3.4; 8.SP4.4 · judging sources and comparing arguments about the past

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A primary source was created by someone who was there at the time; a secondary source was made later.
  2. When accounts disagree, compare them and ask who wrote each one and why.
  3. A clear research plan: choose a topic, write questions, find sources, take notes, then draw conclusions.

Example: Two accounts of the same battle disagree. What should a good historian do? Do not just pick the one you like. Ask who wrote each and why. Compare them with other evidence. Answer: compare them and ask why they differ

Sources & Evidence in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 5 of 12 in 8th grade Social Studies, after Media & Democracy and before Maps, Graphs & Data.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Arizona Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What can an old tool tell historians?

    • nothing at all
    • the future
    • today's weather
    • how people lived and what they could make

  2. Question 2

    Considering the context of a source means…

    • copying it
    • ignoring the author
    • thinking about when, where and why it was made
    • reading only the title

  3. Question 3

    Which is a secondary source?

    • a textbook about the Renaissance
    • a Roman coin
    • a letter by Leonardo
    • a Renaissance painting

  4. Question 4

    Drawing a conclusion means…

    • memorizing dates
    • copying
    • making a judgement based on evidence
    • guessing

  5. Question 5

    A secondary source is…

    • a coin
    • a photo from the time
    • a letter from the time
    • an account based on other sources, made later

  6. Question 6

    A history book from 1920 may differ from one written in 2020 because…

    • people changed the past
    • history is made up
    • books never change
    • perspectives and evidence change over time

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