Learning Goal(s): Understand how historians evaluate sources of information. Evidence of Learning: Use the 3C’s method to evaluate several sources of information.

You can’t just believe everything you read!

Historians investigate historical questions by employing the following reading strategies... Sourcing Contextualizing Corroborating Close Reading

As you read and study historical sources, you’ll sometimes find that different sources (artifacts) tell a different story of what happened.

As you read and study historical sources, you’ll sometimes find that different sources tell a different story of what happened. What the heck is a source?

A source is anything you can get information from that helps you answer your question. But, some sources are better than others. As you read and study historical sources, you’ll sometimes find that different sources tell a different story of what happened.

One example of this is the discovery of the remains, in 1996, of an ancient American, who scientists named “Kennewick Man”. As you read and study historical sources, you’ll sometimes find that different sources tell a different story of what happened.

Historians wanted to use the remains to help them answer the question: Where was Kennewick Man from? As you read and study historical sources, you’ll sometimes find that different sources tell a different story of what happened.

First, an anthropologist looked at the skull, and determined that Kennewick Man belonged to a group of ocean hunter gatherers most similar to modern Polynesians. As you read and study historical sources, you’ll sometimes find that different sources tell a different story of what happened.

This was very controversial because local Native Americans wanted the government to hand over the remains so they could be buried in traditional manner, which has deep meaning for many Native Americans. As you read and study historical sources, you’ll sometimes find that different sources tell a different story of what happened.

In 2013, advances in DNA science allowed geneticists to re-examine the remains by testing the DNA. These scientists concluded that, based on DNA evidence, Kennewick Man was actually most closely related to the Colville People, a Native American tribe of Northeast Washington As you read and study historical sources, you’ll sometimes find that different sources tell a different story of what happened.

The anthropologist and the geneticists couldn’t both be correct The anthropologist and the geneticists couldn’t both be correct. It’s up to historians to determine which source is more reliable. As you read and study historical sources, you’ll sometimes find that different sources tell a different story of what happened.

In this case, because Genetics has proven to be a far more accurate method of determining ancestry, historians must choose the DNA evidence as the best source. Kennewick Man was a forefather of local Native Americans. As you read and study historical sources, you’ll sometimes find that different sources tell a different story of what happened.

In this course, most of the sources that you will be asked to analyze are going to be written sources called Documentary Evidence. Primary Source Secondary Source

Primary Source - Original documents written by an eyewitness to a person, place or event. Autobiography Original Documents (or direct copies) Photograph Audio or Video recording Eyewitness Testimony These are usually the most reliable sources.

Secondary Source - A source that was produced later, by someone who did not personally participate in or witness the person, place or event. These are less reliable than primary sources.

After figuring out the type of source you're looking at, a historian then has to follow the Three C’s: Context Close Read Corroboration

Secondary Source - A source that was produced later, by someone who did not personally witness the event.

Context - What was happening around the source? Close Read - What exactly is the source telling me? Corroboration - Can other sources be found that match what this source is telling me?

Let’s practice evaluating sources using the Three C’s Let’s practice evaluating sources using the Three C’s. I’m going to tell you a story about a fight I got into when I was in middle school. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees about what happened. It’s up to you to decide what really happened. Lunchroom Fight: When Indie was young he got into a fight with another student at his school. There were several people interviewed by the Principal, and each had a different story to tell… Indiana Jones Biff Tannen Eric (Biff’s good friend) Marion (Indiana’s girlfriend) Anthony (Bystander) Cafeteria Worker Jamie (Classmate of Indiana and Biff) Ms. Frizzle (English Teacher)

Lunchroom Fight: When Indie was young he got into a fight with another student at his school. There were several people interviewed by the Principal, and each had a different story to tell… Indiana Jones Biff Tannen Eric (Biff’s good friend) Marion (Indie’s girlfriend) Anthony (Bystander) John - (Cafeteria Worker) Jamie (Classmate of Indiana and Biff) Ms. Frizzle (Teacher)

Directions: As a group (Small Groups), read each source. Fill in the 3C’s Evidence Chart Fill in the Principal's Report