What is history?
History is all around us.
History is the study of the past and how people lived long ago.
Historians are like detectives who look for clues, called evidence, to help them understand what happened. These clues, especially primary sources like old newspapers, official documents, or objects from the past, show us real life from long ago.
By examining these clues carefully, historians build a picture of history of what happened in the past and how things have changed over time.
Being a historian is surprisingly similar to being a detective. Find out what skills you need to be a historian and whether or not all sources are reliable.
Being a historian is surprisingly similar to being a detective.
The first and most important thing both need to do is be curious and ask important questions like, “What happened here?”
Then comes the hard part – finding evidence… Archaeology is a good place to start.
You explore an excavation like a detective explores a crime scene.
Archaeologists dig for artefacts which are objects made by people in the past.
Although you often end up with much more mud on you than a detective would! Like a detective you need to sort your evidence.
Primary sources are things that people made or wrote during the time in history you’re learning about – like a coin, or a diary. If you don’t like digging though, you can find artefacts in museums and archives too.
Secondary sources are things that were written after an event has happened, by people who weren’t there at the time – like your history textbook. And they’re not always right!
Both historians and detectives need to think critically about the clues they find. You need to question your evidence, don’t immediately believe everything you see!
At the end of the day both historians and detectives need to look at all the evidence together.
You won’t always know exactly what happened, because you weren’t there, but a good historian, like a good detective, tries their best to get as close to the truth as possible.
Important words
| Keyword | Definition |
|---|---|
| History | The story of what happened in the past and how people lived. |
| Historian | A person who studies history and finds out about the past using evidence. |
| Evidence | Clues from the past that help us understand what happened. This can include things like objects and newspaper reports. |
| Primary source | First hand informations such as photos or letters. |
| Archive | A place where important things from the past are kept safe, like documents, letters or photos, so people can learn about history. |
| Interpret | To look at evidence and figure out what it tells us about the past. |
What is a historian?
Historians are people who study what life was like in the past. To do this, they look for clues, just like detectives! These clues are called evidence.
The most important clues are called primary sources. These are real things from the time being studied, such as letters, photos, old objects or diary entries.
By reading, examining and thinking carefully about these clues, historians build a picture of what happened long ago.
History is all around us. Look out of the window. What is the oldest thing you can see?
How can we ask good History questions?
One way to learn about history is to ask someone with lived experience (they were alive and saw a moment of history themselves) or an expert, like a museum curator.
It's good to start with a topic that can be explored by the people and evidence you're looking at. You will find out more if you ask questions about specific topics, such as toys, transport, or school life.
If you're speaking to a person, it's a good idea to record your interview so you can listen to it again and not miss any important details.
Before you start, make a list of questions. Try to include questions that begin with: how, when, why, what, who and where.
Some questions are called closed questions. These usually have short, factual answers, or can be answered with "yes" or "no". They can help to get people talking - but you usually won't get a lot of information.
"How old were you when you started school?" or "Did you like your classroom?" are closed questions.
Other questions are called open questions. These ask people to share their thoughts and feelings. They often give longer, more interesting answers.
"What did you like about your first classroom?" is an open question.
When you interview someone, it's important to be prepared. Think carefully about the questions you want to ask and how you will interpret the answers you are given.
Presenter: If you want to go history hunting, you need to dig deep. The best way to uncover the facts is to use the same skills and methods that real professional historians use.
Presenter: Today we're going to be focusing on interviewing people. You can find out lots of information from people who were part of or knew someone from history, but to get the best out of them, you'll need to know how to question them and how to think about what they've told you.
Presenter: Family members or friends of figures from history often have photographs or objects that used to belong to the people you're investigating. Ask them to bring anything like this along to a meeting, or if you're going to see them, tell them to have a good look for anything that could be useful.
Gentleman: And this was my father's hat that he wore on his travels. And this is his faithful suitcase that he took with him on many of his journeys overseas.
Presenter: It's best to ask them in advance as then they'll have time to get things ready for you. And if you can, take copies in some way. Then you can look at them in detail afterwards.
Presenter: It's not just what you ask, it's how you ask it that's important too. Good interviewers use open questions. Things like 'tell me what your grandfather was like or how did he invent that?' Poor interviewers use closed questions, things that just call for a yes or no answer. Ask these type of questions and you won't find out much.
Girl: How did the Titanic sink and how did it affect your family?
Presenter: You'll want to ask a lot of questions and it's always good to do plenty of research beforehand. This might be your only chance to meet these people. Therefore, you need to know the right questions to ask. Do your homework and work out what areas they're likely to be able to help you with.
Boy: Where was George Cayley so important?
Gentleman: He studied why it was that birds flew and from that why an airplane might fly.
Presenter: It's also vitally important that you listen carefully. They might tell you something you didn't expect so you can ask a follow-up question that will get you more information.
Girl: So tell me a bit more about the photograph.
Woman: This photograph showed really what the structure of the DNA was.
Presenter: And always remember that people are often biased when they're talking about friends or relatives. They might exaggerate their importance or hide their faults.
Woman: But what happened was somebody showed it to Crick and Watson and that's what they used to do their discovery. But she didn't know that they'd got hold of it.
Presenter: It's up to you as historians to work out what you need to check up on by using methods such as talking to other people or looking at documents in archives.
Presenter: So be careful. Think about what seems sensible and what needs to be confirmed using other sources. But if we bear all that in mind, speaking to people who knew historical figures can be a great way of finding out things that are otherwise really hard to discover and they can provide photos and details that give us an insight into what a person was really like.
Think like a historian
Have a look at the thinking points below and think about your answer to each question. You could even write them down on a piece of paper or discuss them with somebody else if you want to.
- How do historians use clues like letters, photos, or diary entries to understand what life was like in the past?
- How can things you see in your town, like old churches, memorials, or museums give you clues about life in the past?
Did you think about how historians use clues, called evidence, to learn about the past? These clues can be letters, photos, diary entries or old objects from the time being studied. This helps historians understand what people did, how they lived and what life was like long ago.
You may have thought about how churches might have inscriptions or records showing when people were baptised, married or buried, helping us understand how people lived and celebrated important events. War memorials show who fought and died in wars, helping us remember local people and important events. Museums display artefacts, like old tools, clothing or toys, which give clues about how people worked, played, and lived.
By looking at these clues, you can learn about daily life, important events and changes in the town over time, just like a history detective!
How can we be history detectives in our own town?
Your home town is full of clues about the past. Historical sources can be found all around you, even on your own street! Can you find them?
Did you find all six sources? You can click on the church, the war memorial, the sign, the statue, the library and the museum.
What are archives?
Archives are places where important records from the past are kept safe. These records can be:
Letters and diaries
Photographs
Maps
Official documents
Archives collect information from towns, schools, families or governments. They keep them safe, so they don’t get lost or damaged and organise them, so they are easy to find.
They help people, like historians and students, to research and learn about life in the past. For example, a local archive might have old school registers, town maps, or letters from people who lived there 100 years ago, helping us understand how things have changed over time.
Even if you don’t notice it, you probably have an archive at home. It could be a filing cabinet in your study, a box in the basement, or a chest in the attic. This is your personal archive - a collection of things that record important events from your family’s history.
Find out below how to use an archive, a place where historical material is collected and stored.
Joe Crowley explains how to use an archive
Presenter: If you want to go history hunting, you need to dig deep. The best way to uncover the facts is to use the same skills and methods that real professional historians use.
Presenter: Today we're going to be looking at archives. These are places where historical records are collected and stored. They can be a real mine of information, but you have to know what to look for and how to investigate them properly if you're goingto get what you need from them.
Presenter: You can find archives in most towns and cities across the country. There are national archives too, most of which will be based in London. They're full of material that's useful to historians trying to find out about events and people in the past. In them you'll find all sorts of evidence of events that you'll be investigating. Things like newspapers…
Boy: Boy hero of the naval battle.
Presenter: Photographs…
Girl: Thomas Anders, Thomas Anders, Thomas, yes.
Presenter: Letters…
Girl: There must be…
Presenter: And notebooks…
Woman: Lots and lots of maths and diagrams.
Presenter: Now if the person or events are particularly famous, the archives may already have a separate section specially for them. Otherwise, you may have to go looking for information in catalogues or on things like microfiche readers.
Presenter: One important thing you need to remember about archives is that they're full of material that's impossible to replace. That means you have to be really careful about how you treat the documents and artefacts that you'll be looking at.
Presenter: It just depends on what the material is. If you're looking at some fragile objects, you'll need to wear gloves. Because if people touch them, even the things that you might not think would be a problem, say, like sweat on your hands, that could damage them.
Woman: First, can I get you to put on the white gloves? Because this particular document you're going to see is really very fragile. Also, we don't want any greasy finger marks on it or anything like.
Presenter: Many of the documents will be contemporary accounts of things that happened. That means they were written at thetime. We have to really think about what we're dealing with, especially WHEN they state opinions.
Boy: The Times are not really for women's right.
Boy and girl: Yeah, I don't think because probably most of the people who write The Times are men.
Presenter: Often people don't have a full picture of events. They can only see things from their point of view. They may be wrong or they may be biased. So we have to think about why the people involved may be saying certain things and what that tells us about the person.
Woman: Because it's a police report, it's written in the style that a policeman would write a report so…
Girl: …instead of a style that a newspaper might want, to find the angles the newspapers… what it thinks people will like… and this is kind of… and the police are trying to find the angle in which it's right.
Presenter: It can be a real privilege seeing and handling original documents produced by the people from history that we're investigating it can give us a fascinating insight into the past. And remind us that these aren't just names on a page. These were real people.
Activity: Maps
Can you spot Stone Age, Iron Age, Roman and Tudor remains on this map of Avebury?
Did you find all of the historical sites? Click the question mark button to reveal all of the places.
Grown-ups corner
Are you a parent, carer or teacher?
Take a look at some of the links below on KS2 History which are packed full of knowledge, videos, quizzes and activities.
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KS2: Ibn Battuta
Bitesize for Teachers
What happened to the Maya?
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Horrible Histories: Raid and Trade game! game
Play Horrible Histories: Raid and Trade KS2 History
