1. Uncovering the Past How do we figure out what really happened?
6th Grade Social Studies

2. Today we will be covering these learning targets:
LT 1-I can define the term social scientist.
LT 2-I can explain the role of historians in investigating the past.
LT 3-I can explain the role of archeologists in investigating the past.
LT 4-I can explain the role of geographers in exploring the past and the world around us.
We will also begin to talk about LT 5 (primary and secondary sources).

3. What is History? What does a social scientist have to do with it?
History is the study of the past.
Social scientists study history by using clues from the past.
What CLUES they use tell us what type of social scientist they are.
We can improve our understanding of people’s actions and beliefs through the study of history.
(LT 1) Social scientists are people who seek to understand history and people!
Los científicos sociales tienen que averiguar el pasado usando pistas. Ellos estudian el pasado y los seres humanos.
社会科学者は手がかりを使って過去を把握しなければならない。彼らは過去と人間を研究する。

4. What is the difference between social scientists (LT 2-4)?
Archeologists-examine objects (artifacts) and remains that people have left behind. “Dig up the past”
Historians-record the past by studying artifacts and documents. “Record the past”
Geographers-study the land and human-made structures to discover why people lived where they did, and how they used their environment. “Map the past.”
Put together, all of these types of social scientists help us uncover the past.

5. LT 1- Can you define the term social scientist?
A social scientist is someone who…
A social scientist is someone who studies humans and the past. They try to figure out what happened in the past. They are like detectives because they have to use clues to figure out history and people. Some types of social scientists are historians, geographers, and archaeologists.

6. Let’s focus on historians
We are trying to learn LT 2: I can explain the role of historians in investigating the past.
What clues do they look at to figure out the past?
What do they do with the information?

7. How does a historian (LT 2) uncover the past?
What do historians look at as clues to the past?
A historian uses artifacts, and both PRIMARY and SECONDARY sources to answer the question: What happened in the past?
Then what do they do?
They help to RECORD history by writing it down.
You may be wondering, what are primary and secondary sources?

8. Target 5:
I can explain the difference between primary and secondary sources.

9. Treaties, letters, diaries, laws, court documents, pictures, clothing
Written Clues: People invented writing 5,000 years ago. Historians look at different types of sources to uncover the past:
Primary Sources -
a first hand account left behind by someone who took part in or witnessed the event. They were there!!
Treaties, letters, diaries, laws, court documents, pictures, clothing
Secondary Sources –
information gathered secondhand by someone who did not take part in or witness an event. They were not there!
Examples include history textbooks, journal articles, and encyclopedias.

10. LT 2-To figure out the truth of the past, historians MUST….
Use a combination of secondary and primary sources to try to piece together the whole story.
They must compare and contrast MANY different sources.
Using just one source or one type of source could only give one side of the story-or that one source could be inaccurate or biased.

11. But sometimes their record changes! This is because:
After looking at MANY sources, historians then try to write down history…
But sometimes their record changes! This is because:
Secondary source authors sometimes disagree about information
New evidence emerges
New ideas come about
History ISN’T “set in stone.”
Let’s learn more about how historian use various sources:

12. LT 2-I can explain the role of historians in investigating the past.
Review:
Historians look at many sources
They look at different kinds of sources, both primary and secondary.
They ask questions about the sources and try to answer them.
They compare and contrast the sources to find out what really happened.
What is similar about the sources? What information is in all or most of sources?
WHY? Just looking at one source wouldn’t give the whole story! Remember: There are two sides (or more) to every story!
THEN, they write it down!

13. Let’s talk more about… Archaeologists What do they do?
(LT 3-I can explain the role of archaeologists in investigating the past.)

14. Archaeologists DO NOT:
Study dinosaurs. (that’s a paleontologist)
Just look for pretty or valuable objects.
Just pick up artifacts.
Spend all their time just digging.
Buy, sell, or put a price on artifacts.
Many people have the wrong idea about what archeologists do. But before we learn what they do, lets learn what they don’t do. Archeologists do not study dinosaurs, that is paleontology.
We do not just look for pretty or valuable objects. Every day boring items can tell a lot about a person or group.
We don’t just pick up the artifacts we find. Archaeologists must take notes, take photographs, and make maps so that we can recreate how objects are associated or in relation to one another. The placement of items can tell us what an item may have been used for, not just what the item is.
We do not spend all our time digging, that’s actually a minor part of the process—we spend most of our time analyzing artifacts. Analyzing is looking at something to figure our what it is or what it was used for.
We do not buy, sell or put a price on artifacts. If you ask an archaeologist they will tell you what something is if they can, but they will not tell you what it’s worth.

15. LT 3-So what is archaeology?
The systematic, scientific recovery and analysis of artifacts in order to answer questions about past human culture and behavior.
Archeology is the systematic, scientific recovery and analysis of artifacts in order to answer questions about past human culture and behavior. But what do these words mean?

16. Artifact: Any item resulting from human activity
Artifact: Any item resulting from human activity. A fossil is not an artifact!
An artifact is any item resulting from human activity. Fossils are not artifacts, they were not made by humans.
Artifacts are anything human hands have used. Whether they just picked something up to use or if they made it. Even buildings are considered artifacts. Artifacts are also things left behind. Think about what we leave behind—things we no longer want or need. That’s our garbage! So often archaeologists are studying garbage.

17. Fossil: fossil is a part or imprint of something that was once alive.
For information on the very first humans, we have fossil remains.
Archeologists do study HUMAN fossils/remains, but these are not “artifacts.”

18. Question-based: Archaeologists study artifacts and remains in order to answer questions about how humans lived.
Did they have religion?
Did they have disease or sickness?
What tools did they use?
What did they eat?
When did they live?
Did they hunt or farm?
Did they have laws?
Archeology is a question-based science. Archeologists always develop a question they want answered before they do anything else. These are some of the questions they may ask and try to find the answer to.
Where did they live?
Who took care of the children?
Did they have writing?
Did they have art?
How large was the group?

19. Past: Archaeologists study human cultures that are no longer living.
The past can be 50 years ago or 4.5 million years ago.

20. Archeologists study dinosaurs and their fossils. They dig up the past.
Fix it…
Archeologists study dinosaurs and their fossils. They dig up the past.

21. Fix it…
Archeologists look for pretty and valuable objects from the past to sell. They dig up the past.

22. Archeologists dig up the past.
Fix it…
Archeologists dig up the past.

23. WAIT, what is Archaeology (LT 3) again??
More simply, it is the study of artifacts left behind to learn about people from the past. OR
People
and their
Garbage
So if archaeology is the study of artifacts left behind to learn about people from the past, think about what we leave behind—things we no longer want or need. That’s our garbage! So, often archaeologists are studying garbage. There are even archaeologists today who study landfills out in California to find out about what people throw out today.

24. LT 4-I can explain the role of geographers in exploring the past & the world around us.
First of all, what is geography?
geography is the study of places and people
Geography and history are closely connected
Example: Where did people live in the past, and why?

25. LT 4- How do geographers help uncover the past?
Geographers look at physical land features and human-made features from the past to answer the questions:
Where did people live?
Why did they live there?
How did they use their environment to survive?

26. Geographers study… Natural Features Human-Made Features
Bodies of water
Rivers, lakes, oceans
Landforms
Cliffs, mountains, hills, plateaus, plains, caves
Plants
animals
Towns
Roads
Bridges
Dams
Houses
Buildings
walls

27. Geographers also help us understand the world today…
Geography isn’t just the study of location—like where places are.
Geography is the study of HOW the world and people interact.
So, geographers study HOW people and the world interact.
One way they can show this interaction is by making maps.

28. SO…wait....like... what does a geographer do again?!
Geographers study people and places.
Geographers help us to “MAP” the past by showing us:
Where did people in the past live? And why?
Geographers ask questions like:
Where did people live?
Why did they live there?
How did they use their environment to survive?

29. Historian vs. Archaeologist vs. Geographers
Archeologists “dig up” the past, historians record the past, and geographers “map” the past.

30. Exit Questions
Fill out your exit slip. Please try your best so I know what you understand!
Think about: did you hit your targets?
LT 1-I can describe the roles of historians, archaeologists, and geographers.
LT 2-I can explain the difference between primary and secondary sources.