History: sources, change over time, and cause and effect (grade 3) · lesson

Change and staying the same

💡 To see change, compare the same place at two times and ask what is different and what is the same.

Towns change over time. Dirt roads get paved. Old buildings get new uses. More people move in.

Some things stay the same. A town may still have farms. The word "still" is a clue that something did not change.

Old photos help us see change. People rode horses and drove wagons long before cars were common. So a street photo with wagons is most likely older than one with cars.

🧠 Let's work it out

Find two times, then and now.
In 1900, roads in a town were dirt.
Later, they were paved. That is a change.
A sentence about just one time, like "Most families farmed in 1900," does not show a change by itself.

What do you think comes next?

change: when something becomes different
past: the time before now

Timelines

💡 A timeline puts events in order by when they happened, from first to last.

A timeline is a line with dates on it. The oldest date is on the left. The newest date is on the right.

To put events in order, find the year for each one. The smallest year goes first.

Ten years make a decade. Two decades are 20 years.

🧠 Let's work it out

A timeline goes from 1900 to 2000.

Where does 1950 go?
It is bigger than 1900 but smaller than 2000. So it goes in the middle.
Now try four events: 1905, 1925, 1950, 2015. Start with the smallest year and go up.

What do you think comes next?

timeline: a line that shows events in the order they happened
decade: ten years

Cause and effect

💡 A cause is why something happens, and the effect is what happens because of it.

One event can lead to another. The first event is the cause. What happens next is the effect.

When a railroad came to a town, farmers could ship wheat to cities. Stores opened near the train station. New families came to work in them.

A new bridge has an effect too. People can get across the river faster. So more people may visit the other side.

🧠 Let's work it out

Ask "Why?" and "What happened next?"
Why did stores open near the station? The train brought people and trade.
Check the order too. A cause must come first.
A highway built in 1960 can't cause stores that opened in 1910.

What do you think comes next?

cause: why something happens
effect: what happens because of a cause

Primary and secondary sources

💡 A primary source was made by someone who was there at the time; a secondary source was made later.

A primary source comes from the time of the event. A photo, a letter, a ticket, or a diary from back then is a primary source.

A person who saw something can tell about it out loud. Grandpa's story of his town when he was a boy is a primary source. This is called an oral history.

A secondary source is made later by someone who was not there. A new book, poster, or video about the past is a secondary source.

🧠 Let's work it out

Ask two questions.
When was it made?
Was the maker there?
A ticket from the 1925 fair was used at the fair, so it is primary.
A video made this year about 1925 is secondary, even if it is true.

What do you think comes next?

primary source: something made at the time by someone who was there
secondary source: something made later by someone who was not there
oral history: a true story told out loud by someone who lived it