Primary vs Secondary Sources — Practice · Grade 6 Social Studies

Chapter: Geography & the Tools of History

What this practice covers

By the end of Primary vs Secondary Sources you should be able to:

10 questions, written answer, each with a worked explanation.

Vocabulary used: primary source, secondary source, point of view (bias), corroborate.

Problem 1

Ask what the source is evidence of. Can a later memoir be primary evidence for its author’s recollection?
Answer and explanation

Yes. It directly records that recollection, while elapsed time limits what it establishes about the earlier event.

Yes. It directly records that recollection, while elapsed time limits what it establishes about the earlier event.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 2

Separate observation and claim. What can an undeciphered seal not directly supply?
Answer and explanation

A secure verbal statement of its owner’s name, laws or beliefs without a justified decipherment.

A secure verbal statement of its owner’s name, laws or beliefs without a justified decipherment.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 3

Evaluate purpose and access. What could a royal boast establish securely?
Answer and explanation

That the ruler or administration promoted that image, rather than that every claimed achievement occurred as described.

That the ruler or administration promoted that image, rather than that every claimed achievement occurred as described.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 4

Corroborate and qualify. Do copied accounts independently confirm each other?
Answer and explanation

No. Trace their shared source and seek genuinely additional evidence.

No. Trace their shared source and seek genuinely additional evidence.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 5

Separate direct object evidence, a secondary interpretation and an unsupported claim.
Answer and explanation

The object supports claims about carving and surviving marks. The museum description is a modern scholarly account. The blog’s precise political conclusion is unsupported by an unread inscription; settlement and other evidence would be needed.

The object supports claims about carving and surviving marks. The museum description is a modern scholarly account. The blog’s precise political conclusion is unsupported by an unread inscription; settlement and other evidence would be needed.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 6

Write a three-sentence museum or atlas label explaining this case. Include what is directly supported, one inference and one limit.
Answer and explanation

The object supports claims about carving and surviving marks. The museum description is a modern scholarly account. The blog’s precise political conclusion is unsupported by an unread inscription; settlement and other evidence would be needed. The label must identify its evidence and avoid turning a model into an authentic artifact.

The object supports claims about carving and surviving marks. The museum description is a modern scholarly account. The blog’s precise political conclusion is unsupported by an unread inscription; settlement and other evidence would be needed. The label must identify its evidence and avoid turning a model into an authentic artifact.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 7

A writer claims the supplied case proves the same thing happened everywhere in the Eastern Hemisphere. Repair the scope and identify a useful next comparison.
Answer and explanation

The object supports claims about carving and surviving marks. The museum description is a modern scholarly account. The blog’s precise political conclusion is unsupported by an unread inscription; settlement and other evidence would be needed. Limit the conclusion to the named evidence; compare a different dated setting using the same categories before widening it.

The object supports claims about carving and surviving marks. The museum description is a modern scholarly account. The blog’s precise political conclusion is unsupported by an unread inscription; settlement and other evidence would be needed. Limit the conclusion to the named evidence; compare a different dated setting using the same categories before widening it.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 8

Which source or observation would most improve this explanation? Explain the information it could add and a limitation it would still have.
Answer and explanation

A secure verbal statement of its owner’s name, laws or beliefs without a justified decipherment. A useful new source addresses the missing information directly. Explain its provenance, access or scale; do not assume a second source answers every question.

A secure verbal statement of its owner’s name, laws or beliefs without a justified decipherment. A useful new source addresses the missing information directly. Explain its provenance, access or scale; do not assume a second source answers every question.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 9

Using the assigned chapter reader, connect this topic to another named society or period. Give one similarity and one difference using matched categories.
Answer and explanation

Use two specifically located details from the chapter reader and distinguish period, source purpose and scale. No. Trace their shared source and seek genuinely additional evidence.

Use two specifically located details from the chapter reader and distinguish period, source purpose and scale. No. Trace their shared source and seek genuinely additional evidence.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 10

Revise your response to the whole-unit case after checking the fourth teaching part. State exactly what you changed and why.
Answer and explanation

The object supports claims about carving and surviving marks. The museum description is a modern scholarly account. The blog’s precise political conclusion is unsupported by an unread inscription; settlement and other evidence would be needed. The revision note must quote or reproduce the changed claim and explain its improved accuracy.

The object supports claims about carving and surviving marks. The museum description is a modern scholarly account. The blog’s precise political conclusion is unsupported by an unread inscription; settlement and other evidence would be needed. The revision note must quote or reproduce the changed claim and explain its improved accuracy.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

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