Finding Out
S1 History -People, past events and societies
Kinross High School
1
Learning in History:
In these history lessons you will be working
around the Second & Third Level Outcomes &
Experiences.
You will become successful in:
 using knowledge of a historical period to interpret the
evidence and present an informed view. (SOC 3-01a)
 using primary and secondary sources selectively to
research events in the past. (SOC 2-01a)
 interpreting historical evidence from a range of
periods to help to build a picture of Scotland’s
heritage and a sense of chronology. (SOC 2-02a)
Assessment in History
We will use a variety of approaches to assess your progress,
knowledge, understanding, skills and capabilities.
You will have
some formal written assessments, some ongoing observations as
well as some self-assessment to encourage you to think about your
own progress.
2
S1 History – People in the Past
Before you start your work, here are some instructions,
which we would like you to remember:
DO……
 Do try to keep your jotter as tidy as possible.

Do write in blue or black ink

Do your drawings in pencil and colouring pencil.

Do date and title all your work.
DON’T……
 Don’t write on the booklets. We want to be able to use
them again.

Don't leave blank pages in your exercise book - if you
miss work, copy it up.
If you follow these instructions, it means that you should
have good quality materials to use. Your parents are likely
to be impressed with how tidy you are!
3
People in the Past - Finding Out
In S1 History you will be finding out about many
different periods of history. However, before you find out about
a particular period of history you need to develop your 'history
skills'.
In this unit you will:
 develop a sense of the past
 develop a sense of chronology (the order of historical events)
 find out how to use evidence
 learn to appreciate the historic environment.
You will find out how to answer questions like these:
 What is history?
 How do we study history?
 Why do we study history?
 How do we measure time?
 What is chronology?
 How do we know that events in the past actually happened?
 What kinds of evidence exist?
 Does history tell us what happened?
 Should we look after our history?
4
What is history?
Aims:
 to find out what is history
 to find out how we learn about the past
How would you complete the sentence….
History is......................????????????????????????
This spider diagram has some ideas about what history is.
understanding time
and the order of
events
studying the past
using evidence
investigating
people from the
past
History is about.....
developing a
questioning mind
making & using
maps
the study of
peoples in the past
learning to look
after our past
understanding
events in the past
5
What is history?
History is the study of people and events in the past.
But we need to find out how history is understood.
 How do we study history?
We can study history in lots of different ways - the table below
shows us the main four ways of investigating the past:
Ways of looking at the
past
1. Family history
2. Local history
3. National history
4. World history
This type of history is the
I know ….
story of…..
This is my story, and that of my
family going back through time
This is the story of Perth &
Kinross.
This is Scotland's story and
that of Great Britain
This tells us how the world
developed and what has made it
as it is today
Things to do:
Carefully, write the title ‘What is history?’ and underneath your
title copy down the 2 aims from page 5 - neatly.
1.
Neatly, make a spider diagram showing what history is about (like
on page 5). Use your own ideas to finish the diagram. (Use a ruler to
draw straight lines!)
2. Write the subheading 'How do we study history?' and then
draw a table like the one above but fill in all three columns so
the column headed 'I know' is complete.
6
How do we organise the past – measuring time?
Aims:
 To find out how we organise time
 To understand key words for measuring time
 Background:
As historians we want to make sense of people’s actions in the
past. However, we need to organise the past to help it make
sense. To organise the past we use ideas such as: seconds,
minutes, days, decades, centuries, millennia, B.C and A.D and so on.
To be a good historian it is essential to understand these terms:
1. B.C (Before
Christ)
2. A.D (Anno
Domini)
3. Century
4. Decade
 What does A.D mean and what does B.C mean?
1. A.D To organise time historians chose what they thought was
an important date to start counting years. The year when Jesus
Christ was born was the chosen starting point. This year
became the year 0A.D, as it was 0 years since Jesus’ birth. So,
6 years after Jesus’ birth would be the year 6A.D. 1897 years
after Jesus’ birth would be 1897A.D.
2. B.C However, people existed for millions of years before Jesus
was born…..problem! To solve this problem people talk about the
time ‘Before Christ’ so ten years before Jesus was born would
be 10B.C whilst three hundred and twenty two years before
Jesus was born would be 322B.C…………phew!!!!!!!
7
How do we organise the past? – Measuring time
Things to do:
 Carefully write the title 'How do we organise the past?' and
copy the 2 aims from Page 7 .
1. Make a ‘Key Terms Table’ like the one below and write
explanations of the words in the table.
KEY TERMS TABLE
Century
Decade
A.D
B.C
2. Copy the passage below into your jotter, filling in the blanks.
 A century is a period of one ------d years. All the years from
0A.D to 99A.D are in the 1st century A.D. In other words they
are in the 1st 100 years after J---s’ birth. All the years from
100A.D to 199A.D happen in the 2nd h-----d years after Jesus’
birth. And so on until our ce----y. Things that happen between
2000 and 2100 are happening in the --st century. The 22nd
century will begin in the year 2100-.-.
 World War One began in 1914 & so this is the --th century.
st
 A year from the 21 century would be ----.
 The Vikings came to GB in 793A.D so this is the -th century.
Extension work:
3. Do you think it is useful to divide history into periods? Do you
think it is possible to find one moment when one period ends &
another begins? Explain your views.
8
What is chronology?
Aims:
 To understand the term 'chronology'
 To find out how to arrange events in chronological order
 Background:
Lots of things have happened in the past and historians need to
organise events in the order that they happened – for example it
is important to know that the Romans came before the Vikings.
When we arrange events or people in order of time (who/what
came first) we arrange events chronologically.
 So are these events in chronological order? (are the events in
the order that they happened?)
Order
Happened 1st
Happened 2nd
Happened 3rd
Happened 4th
Happened 5th
Date
 1066 A.D
 1352 BC
 1962 A.D
 1665 A.D
 1536 A.D
Event
King Harold of England died
Tutankhamun of Egypt died
President Kennedy of the USA died
Londoners died in the Great Plague
King Henry’s second wife is killed
These events are not in chronological order because Tutankhuman
died first, then King Harold died, then King Henry’s wife died,
then the Londoners died and finally President Kennedy died!!!!!!
9
What is chronology?
Things to do:
 Write the title ‘What is chronology?’ and then copy carefully
the 2 aims from page 9.
1. Draw the table from Page 9, arranging the events in the correct
chronological order.
2. To make history easier historians divide the past into periods
called the Middle Ages, Prehistoric Times, Modern Times,
Ancient Times and the Early Modern Times. Make a table titled
‘The Order of Historical Periods’ and copy and complete the
table using the information below:
Historical Period
1. Prehistoric Times
2. Ancie……..
3. ------ Ages
4.
5.
Date
Before people could write
3-- B.C until
 Information: The period before the birth of Christ and before people
could write was known as ‘Prehistoric Times’. The term ‘Ancient Times‘
describes the period from 300BC-500AD – this was a time when there
were great civilisations like the Romans. After Ancient Times came the
Middle Ages. These lasted about 1000 years, from 500AD to 1500AD.
They were followed by the Early Modern Times (1500AD-1700AD) and
then we get to Modern Times, which is 1700 until now!
 Extension work:
3. Write the sub-title ‘The Chronology of My Life’ then arrange
the most important or enjoyable events in your life in
chronological order. Illustrate your work as you go.
10
How do we know about events in the past?


Aims:
To find out how we know about the past
To find out what primary & secondary sources are
One reason we know about the past is because EVIDENCE has
been found.
Evidence can be objects, maps, books, bones,
photographs and even diaries. Evidence is divided into two types:
PRIMARY SOURCES
SECONDARY SOURCES
 These are pieces of first
 These are pieces of second
hand evidence written or
hand evidence written or
made by someone present or
created some time after the
alive at the time of the event.
event.
 Are all sources of evidence useful?
To answer this question we should look at some examples….
1. From Siegfried Sassoon’s book - he was writing in 1917 about World War
One.
‘It is hell’s greatest horror, heavy artillery fire continues through the
night & the list of wounded men grow. It is torture.'
2. From the letters of Julian Grenfell - he was writing in 1917 about World
War One.
‘I adore war…it's all the best fun one ever dreamed of……..'
3. From 'the First World War', a schoolbook written in 1999.
'Fighting in the trenches led to slaughter on a scale never seen before.'
Ask yourself….are these primary or secondary sources and are
they useful for helping us learn about the past?
11
How do we know about events in the past?
Things to do:
 Write the title, 'How do we know about events in the past?' and
then carefully copy the aims from page 11.
1. Write the sub-heading: Primary & Secondary Sources, then in
your own words explain what are primary sources and secondary
sources. Try to give one example for each type of source.
2. Study the 3 sources on page 11. Copy this passage filling in the
missing words.
Passage:
The sources are all about the experience of World War One. Two
of the sources are ------- but one is a ------ary source. The
primary sources were written d----- World War One in ----. The
secondary source was written a---- the war in 19-- and is based on
some pr----y sources.
Word box:
after
primary secondary
during
1917
1999
 Extension work:
3. Which of the 3 sources on page 11 is the most useful for the
study of World War one? Does each source have some sort of
usefulness for historians? Explain your answers.
12
Does history tell us what happened in the past?
Aim:
 To find out what bias is
 To discover if history can be biased
Historians need to look at the past to find out what happened.
However, when we look at the past everybody sees things
differently. When we talk or write, our own ideas and ways of
looking at things are shown, for example…
Person 1
Person 2
“We were totally robbed. Two “We absolutely destroyed them.
lucky goals and that was never a When the penalty came, it was a
penalty.
result of so much pressure.
The referee was always on their To be honest, we could have
side.
scored five or six but took our
feet off the pedal.
We really never had a chance.”
I think in the end the referee
just felt sorry for them.”
Clearly, the two people above have different points of view and
ways of looking at things – their points of view influence the way
they remember events such as the winning goal in the football
match.
13
Historians call this BIAS - when we say something is biased we
mean that it favours one point of view. Many historical sources
are biased. Look below at the two accounts of the Battle of
Hastings:
Written by an English soldier:
'We, the English fought
bravely at Hastings but at the
end of the day we were
unlucky. The French had good
luck when one of their
soldiers fired an arrow, which
killed our King Harold.'
Written by a French soldier:
We, the French were the more
skilled warriors – we were more
accurate in our aim and braver
in our efforts. Our good skill
was rewarded when an archer
carefully fired an arrow
straight into the English King.'
Clearly, these sources are biased. However, even biased sources
are useful to the historian. Historians need to check that
information is trustworthy and reliable.
Things to do:
1. Write the title, 'Does history tell us what happened in the
past?' and then copy the aim from page 13 into your book.
2. In your own words explain what bias means - give an example.
3. Think of two different ways, two people could view the same
football match, piece of art and clothes. Write 2 accounts that
reveal the different ways two people view one of the above
issues. Label the accounts Account 1 and Account 2.
4. Try to think of ways in which a historian could find out if a
source is or isn’t biased. Recommend ways of identifying bias.
14
Does history tell us how things change?
Aim:
 To find out if history only tells us about changes in the past
Background: To understand the past historians have to ask lots of
questions such as:
 Why did that change?
 Why has that stayed the same?
Historians know that there have been many changes in the past.
However, historians know that not everything changes. When
historians see things that have not changed they call this
'continuity'.
The way to understand change & continuity is to study examples.
Look below at the pictures of Edinburgh Castle. Can you spot
change and continuity?
15
Can you spot change & continuity in Edinburgh?
Edinburgh,
1730
Edinburgh,
1840
Edinburgh,
1870
16
Does history tell us how things change?
Things to do:
 Carefully write the title 'Does history tell us how things
change?' and then copy the two aims from page 15.
1. Study the three maps on Page 16. Try to spot things change
and continuity in Edinburgh. Copy the table below into your
jotter and write down as many street names, buildings, and
features that you can identify and place them in the correct
column.
CHANGED




STAYED THE SAME



 and so on………..
2. Write a paragraph explaining what the main changes were in
Edinburgh from the 1750s to the 1870s.
 Extension work:
3. Another important job a historian has to do is to explain change
and continuity. A historian has to ask WHY did that change or
WHY did that stay the same? Can you think of two reasons why
parts of Edinburgh changed and two reasons why parts of
Edinburgh stayed the same?
17
Should we look after our past?
Aim:
 To find out whether or not we should look after our past
Nowadays, if we look around we see lots of things from the past –
for example, we see Edinburgh Castle, the medieval street on the
Royal Mile, St Giles Cathedral and much more.
 What should we do with remains from the past?
Some people think it is important to look after remains from the
past by making sure objects and historic sites are conserved.
However, others think that remains should be left to decay or
should be replaced with useful modern buildings.
 What should happen to Edinburgh Castle?
Edinburgh Castle is a medieval castle in Edinburgh. Nobody lives
in the castle because it is a ruin but it can help historians learn
about castles and many people enjoy visiting Edinburgh Castle.
 The people below have different opinions on what to do:
1. Developer: 'I think we should straighten out the bends in the road by
Edinburgh Castle. However, pollution & vibrations from the cars may
weaken the castle walls and foundations.
2. Inspector of Ancient Monuments: ' Edinburgh Castle is a good example
of a medieval defensive castle. It had a rich history and helps us
understand Scotland's castles'.
3. Bed and Breakfast Owner: 'I wish they'd turn the castle into a
adventure theme park or something more interesting, then I could have
lots of tourists staying at my B&B!'
18
Should we look after our past?
Things to do:
 Carefully copy the title, ' Should we look after our past?' into
your book and then copy the aim from Page 18.
1. You have discussed the views of the developer, the inspector
and the owner of the B&B regarding how to treat Edinburgh
Castle. Decide what view you agree with & think of reasons for
your decision.
2. Write a report trying to persuade Edinburgh City Council to
agree with your views. Present it like the example below:
REPORT ON EDINBURGH
Report to: Edinburgh City Council
From:……………………….
Subject: The handling of Edinburgh Castle
Date:………………………
CASTLE
 Proposal for Edinburgh Castle: I am a ………………….. and I
believe that Edinburgh Castle should be…………………….
 Reasons: I think that the castle should be …………….(give
reasons)
 Final Outcome: If our proposal is accepted, in the future
at Edinburgh Castle you will find……..
19
Glossary:
You should write these words in a glossary at the back of your
exercise book. Try to learn their meanings…
1. B.C: means 'Before Christ'
2. A.D: means 'Anno Domini'
3. Century: period of 100 years e.g. from 1900-1999
4. Decade: a period of ten years e.g. from 1960-1969
5. Chronology: the order of events
6. Chronologically: to arrange things in the order that they
happened
7. Primary source: a source of evidence from the time of the
event
8. Secondary source: a source of evidence from after the event
9. Evidence: used by historians to learn about the past – can be
books, photo's, objects………
10. Biased: when a source of evidence has someone's own point of
view
11.
Continuity: when things stay the same
12. Conserve: to look after historic remains
20