National 5
History
Assignment
Pupil workbook
NAME:
CLASS:
2013 S. Doyle
National 5
History Assignment
The purpose of the assignment is to demonstrate your ability to apply your
skills, knowledge and understanding to answer a historical question of your
choice. This may be related to areas you have studied in class if you wish, but
you are free to research any historical question. You may wish to use this opportunity to research areas of local history or an area of interest suggested
by what you have studied in class.
This assignment is worth 20 marks. The marks contribute 25% of the overall
marks for the course. The course will be graded A–D.
The assignment is designed to assess your research skills within
history:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
The ability to choose an appropriate historical question.
The ability to explain different factors contributing to the impact or
causes of an event or development.
The ability to use information to support factors.
The ability to reference sources.
The ability to evaluate different factors contributing to the impact or
causes of an event or development.
The ability to organise information to address the question or issue.
The ability to come to a conclusion about the question.
The ability to support a conclusion with reasons.
The assessment for the assignment will be
in the form of a report of your findings.
You must complete this report within one
hour.
You will have the “History Resource Sheet”
which you will have prepared beforehand
in class. This will help you produce your
report of your assignment. You may use
only one side of this single sheet. The
“History Resource Sheet” will be submitted
with your report of your findings to SQA
for marking.
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National 5 History Assignment
Learning Intention of National 5 Assignment:
We are developing our historical research skills
Success Criteria:
1. I can choose an appropriate historical question.
2. I can locate and record relevant evidence on a number of factors
3. I can explain different factors contributing to the impact or causes of an
event or development.
4. I can use information to support factors.
5. I can reference sources.
6. I can evaluate different factors contributing to the impact or causes of
an event or development.
7. I can organise information to address the question or issue.
8. I can to a conclusion about the question.
9.
I can support a conclusion with reasons.
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National 5 History Assignment
Choosing an Appropriate Historical Question
Learning Intention of National 5 Assignment:
We are developing our historical research skills
Success Criteria:
•
I can choose an appropriate historical question.
question
You can choose to study and research
within an area we have covered in class
or on any area of history that you are
interested in or would like to find out
more about. However you must choose
a historical question which will allow
you to:
1. find information on the event or theme you have chosen to study –
therefore you
can’t pick a question that has little or no available resources
2. show different points of view on your question—to ensure you are
evaluating a number of different factors
3. come to a conclusion which you can support with reasons -to show that
you can take a number of factors into consideration and make a judgement
The best questions:
1.
2.
Choose to focus on an event or development
ask why it happened or what impact it had
The best types of question start with phrases such as:
To what extent did …
How important was …
How significant was …
How far can it be argued that …
These types of questions allow you to analyse and present your own conclusions
based on your research.
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National 5 History Assignment
Choosing an Appropriate Historical Question
To help you to choose your assignment topic and research question you are going to pick 3 topics that you have studied in history at secondary school and 3
areas 3 topics in the past that you are interested in or would like to find out
more about. Take 10 minutes to go through your work and think about areas
you would like to research. Write them in the boxes below.
Topics studied in History
Topics I’m interested in or would like
to find out more on
One of the best ways to write a question when researching the past is to choose
an event or development and then choose one of the factors (cause or impact) to
put in the question.
If you wanted to write a piece of research on the outbreak of WW1 your question might look like:
“What were the causes of WW1?”
However if we were to choose one of the causes and put that in the question then
it helps you to make evaluations and judgements in your research and write up:
“How important was the Alliance System as a cause of WW1?”
The question is basically the same, however, the second question will allow you to
evaluate the importance of the causes and make a judgement on the main cause
much easier than the first. A quick plan for this question may look like this.
The Alliance
System
Causes of
WW1
Assassination at
Sarajevo
Militarism in
Europe
Imperial rivalry between
European powers
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National 5 History Assignment
Choosing an Appropriate Historical Question
The Alliance
System
Causes of
WW1
Militarism in
Europe
Imperial rivalry between
European powers
Assassination at
Sarajevo
Using the example above, take 3 of your suggested topics and draw up a short
plan that identifies the factors you will have to research and evaluate. You may
work with a partner to help you to do this. Some topics may have more than
4 factors. You will not be able to identify all the factors at this stage. This
should take around 15 minutes in total.
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National 5 History Assignment
Choosing an Appropriate Historical Question
Now that you have identified the factors in your topic you must begin to think
about how you will word your research question to ensure that you are evaluating and making a judgement on the topic. If you don’t do this your work could
end up being a narrative (story) that just lists things that happened in the past.
You can work in pairs or groups with people doing the same topic to try and
come up with 3 possible questions for each topic. When you are finished
show your teacher.
Possible research questions for topic X: Causes of WW1
How important was the Alliance system as a cause of WW1?
How significant was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand as a cause of WW1?
To what extent did imperial rivalry contribute to the outbreak of WW1?
Possible research questions for topic 1: _____________________________
Possible research questions for topic 2: _____________________________
Possible research questions for topic 3: ______________________________
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National 5 History Assignment
Choosing an Appropriate Historical Question
Now choose the question you would like to research and record it below.
You will then record all the factors you have identified so far in the plan at
the bottom of the page. You can come back as you research your topic and
add or remove factors from your plan. WRITE IN PENCIL TO ALLOW YOURSELF TO DO THIS.
My research question is:
Plan of factors to research
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National 5 History Assignment
Locating and Recording Evidence
to Explain Different Factors
Learning Intention of National 5 Assignment:
We are developing our historical research skills
Success Criteria:
•
•
•
I can locate and record evidence to the explain different factors
contributing to the impact or causes of an event or development.
I can apply my knowledge of where and how to find information to locate relevant information
I can reference sources that I use to gather evidence
You have to collect information which will help you answer your question. Take
a note of where you found this information.
You should collect relevant evidence from at least two distinct sources.
These may be either primary or secondary sources such as:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
websites
newspapers/magazines/books (print or electronic)
visits or fieldtrips
television/video
radio/podcasts
libraries
textbooks
history books
interviews
letters, photographs, diaries etc
other sources of information
You need to begin to gather evidence for each of the factors you have identified. Be aware that you may discover more factors as your knowledge of
the topic increases.
Use the following 10 pages to record your evidence
Make sure that you take careful notes on where you have collected the evidence.
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National 5 History Assignment
Locating and Recording Evidence
to Explain Different Factors
Learning Intention of National 5 Assignment:
We are developing our historical research skills
Success Criteria:
•
•
•
I can locate and record evidence to the explain different factors
contributing to the impact or causes of an event or development.
I can apply my knowledge of where and how to find information to locate relevant information
I can reference sources that I use to gather evidence
You are going to carry out a “graffiti“ exercise with your home group. This
does not involve writing on your desk! Collect a large piece of paper from
your teacher.
You group task is to write down as many
sources of information or places where
you can find information as you can
think of.
For example you could include:
•
•
Asking an expert
A school textbook
After you have completed your “graffiti” exercise:
1. 1. With your group number all the different sources or places where
you may find information on your sheet. If the source/place appears
more than once please score them out.
2. Discuss each of the sources/ places you have numbered and decide
whether they are useful or not useful for finding information.
3. Write down the ones that you agree are useful on the next page.
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National 5 History Assignment
Locating and Recording Evidence
to Explain Different Factors
USEFUL SOURCES OF INFORMATION FROM GROUP GRAFITTI
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
You need to identify from the group list sources of information that will be useful for your research question. You don’t have to record specific books or
sources just yet!
USEFUL SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR MY RESEARCH
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
When you start recording your evidence for each of your relevant factors
you must be very specific about where the information comes. In presenting
evidence from sources, you should say where the information comes from. This
allows the reader to judge how useful the sources you have used really are.
If you use a quote from a source, you may simply put the author, the type
of source or title of the book, and the date if you know it. For example:
‘Mr Doyle is the greatest teacher that has ever lived at anytime and anywhere.” (K. Webster, Falkirk High School Newsletter, 2013) “
You could also summarise a viewpoint from a longer source by saying:
K. Webster suggests that Mr Doyle is the world’s best teacher.
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National 5 History Assignment
Locating and Recording Evidence
to Explain Different Factors
RELEVANT FACTOR 1:____________________________
i) Explain how this factor contributed to your event or development
ii) Provide evidence to back up the explanation from different sources
iii) State the source of your evidence
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National 5 History Assignment
Locating and Recording Evidence
to Explain Different Factors
RELEVANT FACTOR 1 cont’d:_________________________
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National 5 History Assignment
Locating and Recording Evidence
to Explain Different Factors
RELEVANT FACTOR 2:____________________________
i) Explain how this factor contributed to your event or development
ii) Provide evidence to back up the explanation from different sources
iii) State the source of your evidence
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National 5 History Assignment
Locating and Recording Evidence
to Explain Different Factors
RELEVANT FACTOR 2 cont’d:_________________________
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National 5 History Assignment
Locating and Recording Evidence
to Explain Different Factors
RELEVANT FACTOR 3:____________________________
i) Explain how this factor contributed to your event or development
ii) Provide evidence to back up the explanation from different sources
iii) State the source of your evidence
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National 5 History Assignment
Locating and Recording Evidence
to Explain Different Factors
RELEVANT FACTOR 3 cont’d:_________________________
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National 5 History Assignment
Locating and Recording Evidence
to Explain Different Factors
RELEVANT FACTOR 4:____________________________
i) Explain how this factor contributed to your event or development
ii) Provide evidence to back up the explanation from different sources
iii) State the source of your evidence
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National 5 History Assignment
Locating and Recording Evidence
to Explain Different Factors
RELEVANT FACTOR 4 cont’d:_________________________
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National 5 History Assignment
Locating and Recording Evidence
to Explain Different Factors
RELEVANT FACTOR 5:____________________________
i) Explain how this factor contributed to your event or development
ii) Provide evidence to back up the explanation from different sources
iii) State the source of your evidence
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National 5 History Assignment
Locating and Recording Evidence
to Explain Different Factors
RELEVANT FACTOR 5 cont’d:_________________________
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National 5 History Assignment
Evaluating Different Factors
Learning Intention of National 5 Assignment:
We are developing our historical research skills
Success Criteria:
1.
2.
I can evaluate different factors contributing to the impact or causes of an
event or development.
I can organise information to address the question or issue.
You have now collected evidence on a number of different factors that contributed to the impact or the causes of your event or development. You are now going to evaluate the different factors and decide which are the most important.
Basically, you are going to rank them in order of importance based on the
evidence you have collected.
Double check that the evidence is relevant and referenced and record it in the
boxes below. Be succinct when organising your evidence.
Evidence from Relevant Factor 1__________________________
Evidence from Relevant Factor 2__________________________
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National 5 History Assignment
Evidence from Relevant Factor 3__________________________
Evidence from Relevant Factor 4__________________________
Evidence from Relevant Factor 1__________________________
In the grey box, rank them in order of importance (1-5) based on the
evidence you have collected.
•
•
The factors with the best evidence should be your most important.
You have to make a judgement on their importance.
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National 5 History Assignment
Learning Intention of National 5 Assignment:
We are developing our historical research skills
Success Criteria:
I can organise information to address the question or issue.
I can evaluate different factors contributing to the impact or causes of an event/development.
The information you have collected is going to be used to write up your assignment. The format of your assignment is similar to the short (8 mark) essays that
we have been writing throughout the year. Your assignment will have an introduction, several paragraphs developing your relevant factors and a conclusion. The following is an example of how to use your question and plan to write
up your introduction.
My research question is:
How important was the assassination at Sarajevo as a cause of WW1?
Plan of factors to research
Assassination at
Sarajevo
Causes of WW1
Militarism in
Europe
Imperial rivalry between
European powers
The Alliance System
INTRODUCTION:
i) Give some background information on your question
ii) Reword the question and answer it briefly
jj) State all the relevant factors you are going to evaluate
i) WW1 broke out in 1914 when Archduke Franz Ferdinand was
assassinated by Gavrillo Princip. Princip was protesting about the Austro
-Hungarian Empire’s control of Bosnia.
ii) The assassination at Sarajevo was an important cause of WW1 as it
was the beginning of a chain of events which led to all the major powers
going to war.
iii) However, there were other important factors that led to the outbreak
of WW1 such as the growth of militarism in Europe, the Alliance system
that meant a small war could spread quickly and rivalry among the
European powers over empires and colonies.
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My research question is:
Plan of factors to research
INTRODUCTION:
i) Give some background information on your question
ii) Reword the question and answer it briefly
jj) State all the relevant factors you are going to evaluate
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National 5 History Assignment
Once you have written your introduction and had it checked over by your
teacher you are ready to start writing up and developing the relevant factors
that you identified in your research. Again, this is similar to writing the developed paragraphs in your short essays, however, this time you have to tell the
marker your sources of evidence. The example below shows one way of working
through each of your relevant factors. Notice how it is important to address
the question in part i).
My research question is:
How important was the assassination at Sarajevo as a cause of WW1?
RELEVANT FACTOR 1: Assassination
at Sarajevo
i) Explain how this factor contributed to your event or development
ii) Provide evidence to back up the explanation
iii) State the source of your evidence
iv) Provide evidence from your own knowledge
i) The assassination at Sarajevo was an important cause of WW1 as
this was the spark that ignited Europe and led to Austria and Serbia going
to war.
ii) Germany supported Austria and Russia supported Serbia and this led to
increased tensions and war being declared between Germany and Russia.
iii) Ronald Cameron (The Great War 1914-1918) states that the events
in Sarajevo were the beginning of WW1 as Germany and Russia clashed.
The BBC Bitesize website (www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/sg/ww1) states the
assassination of Franz Ferdinand was the beginning of a chain reaction
which led Europe to war.
iv) The assassination at Sarajevo was an important factor in causing
WW1 as it made the Austrians attack Serbia and the Russians saw
themselves as the protectors of the Slavs and wanted to help Serbia.
Germany promised to help Austria by protecting her from Russian attack
and this led to Germany and Russia going to war.
Now write up your first relevant factor using the example page to help. Write
up the factor from the question first and then write them up in the order of
importance you decided on p.22 and 23.
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National 5 History Assignment
My research question is:
How important was the assassination at Sarajevo as a cause of WW1?
RELEVANT FACTOR 1: ____________________________
i) Explain how this factor contributed to your event or development
ii) Provide evidence to back up the explanation
iii) State the source of your evidence
iv) Provide evidence from your own knowledge
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National 5 History Assignment
My research question is:
How important was the assassination at Sarajevo as a cause of WW1?
RELEVANT FACTOR 2: ____________________________
i) Explain how this factor contributed to your event or development
ii) Provide evidence to back up the explanation
iii) State the source of your evidence
iv) Provide evidence from your own knowledge
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National 5 History Assignment
My research question is:
How important was the assassination at Sarajevo as a cause of WW1?
RELEVANT FACTOR 3: ____________________________
i) Explain how this factor contributed to your event or development
ii) Provide evidence to back up the explanation
iii) State the source of your evidence
iv) Provide evidence from your own knowledge
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National 5 History Assignment
My research question is:
How important was the assassination at Sarajevo as a cause of WW1?
RELEVANT FACTOR 4: ____________________________
i) Explain how this factor contributed to your event or development
ii) Provide evidence to back up the explanation
iii) State the source of your evidence
iv) Provide evidence from your own knowledge
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National 5 History Assignment
My research question is:
How important was the assassination at Sarajevo as a cause of WW1?
RELEVANT FACTOR 5: ____________________________
i) Explain how this factor contributed to your event or development
ii) Provide evidence to back up the explanation
iii) State the source of your evidence
iv) Provide evidence from your own knowledge
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National 5 History Assignment
Choosing an Appropriate Historical Question
Learning Intention of National 5 Assignment:
We are developing our historical research skills
Success Criteria:
I can come to a conclusion about the question.
I can support a conclusion with reasons.
My research question is:
How important was the assassination at Sarajevo as a cause of WW1?
CONCLUSION:
i) Answer the question
ii) Make a judgement on the most important reason for your
cause, event or development
iii) Back up your judgement with at least 2 pieces of evidence
iv) Summarise the other reasons for your cause, event or development
i) The assassination at Sarajevo was an important cause of WW1.
ii) However, it was not the most important reason for the outbreak of war
the most important reason was the Alliance system.
iii) The Alliance system ensured that any war between the Great Powers
could easily escalate into a full European War as countries were bound
by their treaties to protect each other.
The Alliance system led to Germany declaring war on France in August
1914 as she knew France would come to the aid of Russia if attacked.
iv) The other causes of WW1 were the increase in military forces by the
great powers and also rivalry over colonies and empires.
Now write up your conclusion based on the evidence you have collected
and evaluated.
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National 5 History Assignment
Choosing an Appropriate Historical Question
CONCLUSION:
ii) Answer the question
ii) Make a judgement on the most important reason for your cause, event
or development
iii) Back up your judgement with at least 2 pieces of evidence
iv) Summarise the other reasons for your cause, event or development
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National 5 History Assignment
Marking Criteria for National 5 Assignment
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National 5 History Assignment
Self and Peer Assessment of Marking
Criteria for National 5 Assignment
You are now going to self assess your introduction, developed relevant factors
and conclusion and see if they meet the Marking Criteria for the National 5 Assignment. Tick the box that applies to your assignment for each of the skills
highlighted in the first column. Write in your marks for each section in the box.
Give yourself a score out of 20 at the bottom. Get a classmate to do this too.
2013 S. Doyle
SELF
PEER
Total/20
Total/20
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National 5 History Assignment
You must now use the evidence you have collected to fill in the “History Resource
Sheet” that you will take into the assignment write up. Remember, you will have
one hour to write up your report on your chosen question. You can put as much
or as little you like on the sheet. You may only use one side.
My research question is:
How important was the assassination at Sarajevo as a cause of WW1?
Factor 1: Assassination at Sarajevo
Led to Austria and Serbia going to war led
to Germany and Russia clashing
Ronald Cameron (The Great War 19141918)
This was the beginning of a chain of events
that led to the outbreak of WW1
The BBC Bitesize website (www.bbc.co.uk/
bitesize/sg/ww1)
Factor 2: The Alliance System
Ensured that any war between 2 powers
would escalate into a full European war
Harkness et al (International Cooperation
and Conflict, 1830-1930)
The Alliance system pushed Europe into war
in 1914 as Germany attacked France first
as she knew that France would honour her
treaty to fight if Russia was attacked by
Germany
Hew Strachan (The First World War)
Factor 3: Military build up in Europe
Tensions rose between Britain and Germany
when Germany began to build dreadnoughts and challenge the Royal Navy’s
dominance. This forced Britain to build
more ships
Harkness et al (International Cooperation
and Conflict, 1830-1930)
All the Great Powers dramatically increased their spending on munitions at the
beginning of the 20th Century
Factor 4: Rivalry over Empires/colonies
Germany wanted her “place in the sun” and
was prepared to fight for her chance to
gain resources from colonies in Africa and
the middle east.
The Moroccan crisis brought these tensions to
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a head with France and Germany
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Now complete the resource sheet for your question. You must write carefully
(and small) to get as much information on as possible.
My research question is:
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National 5 History Assignment
You have 1 hour to complete the assignment in exam conditions using only the
“History Resource Sheet” to help you. This is a practice run which your
teacher will give you feedback on.
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National 5 History Assignment
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National 5 History Assignment
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National 5 History Assignment
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National 5 History Assignment
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National 5 History Assignment
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National 5 History Assignment
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National 5 History Assignment
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National 5 History Assignment
Teacher Feedback
Marks
Total/20
Feedback comments:
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