Evidence and Artifacts: Reading the Past

Students learn best when history connects to their personal lives. This topic helps them see their own family stories as part of the larger historical narrative, making abstract concepts like time and change feel concrete and meaningful. Active learning through interviews, timelines, and discussions draws on their lived experiences to build deeper historical understanding.

• 3rd Class
• Exploring Our Past: From Local Roots to Ancient Worlds
• 3 activities
• 15 min–45 min

Learning Objectives

1. Analyze how specific features of an artifact, such as its material or decoration, suggest its original use.
2. Compare the type and amount of information gained from an original artifact versus a photograph of an artifact.
3. Explain the challenges historians face when interpreting artifacts with missing parts or unclear origins.
4. Classify common objects from a historical period into categories based on their function (e.g., tools, clothing, household items).

Role Play

⏱ 30 min·Pairs

Role Play: The Grandparent Interview

In pairs, one student acts as a historian and the other as a grandparent from the 1970s. They use prepared questions about school lunches and games to practice gathering oral history before conducting a real interview at home.

Prepare & details

Analyze how a single artifact can reveal aspects of daily life in a past society.

Facilitation Tip: Before the Grandparent Interview, provide students with a list of open-ended questions to practice, such as ‘What was your favorite childhood game and why?’ to help them craft thoughtful follow-ups.

Setup: Open space or rearranged desks for scenario staging

Materials: Character cards with backstory and goals, Scenario briefing sheet

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Inquiry Circle

⏱ 45 min·Whole Class

Inquiry Circle: The Class Timeline

Students bring in a photo or drawing of a significant personal event. Together, the class arranges these on a long wall timeline, identifying which events happened at the same time and discussing the concept of 'simultaneous' history.

Prepare & details

Predict the challenges historians face when archaeological evidence is incomplete.

Facilitation Tip: For the Class Timeline, assign each student a specific decade or event to research, ensuring the timeline includes both global events and personal family milestones.

Setup: Groups at tables with access to source materials

Materials: Source material collection, Inquiry cycle worksheet, Question generation protocol, Findings presentation template

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Self-Awareness

Think-Pair-Share

⏱ 15 min·Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Then and Now

Show a picture of a 1950s kitchen and a modern one. Students identify three things that have changed and one thing that has stayed the same, sharing their findings with a partner to define 'continuity'.

Prepare & details

Compare an original artifact with a replica, assessing their value as historical evidence.

Facilitation Tip: During the Think-Pair-Share, give students a graphic organizer with columns for ‘Then,’ ‘Now,’ and ‘Why It Matters’ to structure their comparisons and discussions.

Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor

Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Teaching This Topic

Teachers should approach this topic by grounding abstract historical concepts in students’ personal experiences. Encourage students to ask questions of family members and analyze artifacts from their own lives, such as old photographs or heirlooms. Avoid overwhelming students with too many dates or events; instead, focus on helping them see connections between their lives and the past. Research shows that when students connect emotionally to history, they retain information longer and develop stronger analytical skills.

What to Expect

Successful learning looks like students actively engaging with family stories, identifying patterns of change and continuity, and confidently interpreting artifacts as evidence of the past. They should be able to explain how their own lives fit into the broader timeline of history and discuss how different perspectives shape our understanding of the past.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During the Grandparent Interview, watch for students who assume history is only about big events or famous people. Redirect them by asking follow-up questions like ‘What everyday objects did you use that are different from today?’ to highlight the importance of personal stories.

What to Teach Instead

After the interview, have students share one surprising detail they learned and explain why it matters to their family’s history. This helps them see that even small stories contribute to the larger narrative.

Common Misconception

During the Think-Pair-Share activity, watch for students who believe the past was always worse than today. Use the ‘Then and Now’ comparison to guide them toward nuanced observations, such as ‘People in the past had fewer distractions but more chores—how did that shape their lives?’

What to Teach Instead

Ask students to find one example from their interviews or timelines where a past practice might have been better, such as stronger community ties, and discuss why it changed over time.

Assessment Ideas

Quick Check

After the Collaborative Investigation: The Class Timeline, present students with images of three artifacts from the timeline. Ask them to write one sentence for each, explaining what it might have been used for and what it tells us about the people who used it.

Discussion Prompt

During the Collaborative Investigation: The Class Timeline, show students a photograph of an incomplete artifact (e.g., a broken pot with missing pieces). Ask: ‘What can we still learn from this artifact? What information is missing because it is broken? How might a historian try to figure out what the whole object looked like?’

Exit Ticket

After the Role Play: The Grandparent Interview, give each student a small card. Ask them to draw one artifact they discussed in their interview and write one word describing what it tells us about the past. Collect these to assess their ability to interpret artifacts as evidence.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge students who finish early to create a ‘Future Timeline’ that predicts how their own lives might change in the next 20 years, including personal, technological, and societal shifts.
• For students who struggle, provide sentence stems during the Grandparent Interview, such as ‘One way life was different when you were my age was…’ to scaffold their responses.
• Deeper exploration: Invite a local historian or archivist to speak about how personal artifacts are preserved and interpreted in museums or libraries, connecting classroom activities to real-world practices.

Key Vocabulary

Artifact	An object made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest found at an archaeological site.
Archaeology	The study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains.
Interpretation	The act of explaining the meaning of something, in this case, what an artifact can tell us about the past.
Replica	A copy or reproduction of an artifact, often made to help people understand what the original looked like or how it was used.
Primary Source	An artifact or object that was created during the time period being studied, offering direct evidence about the past.