Grade by Grade
A. Heritage and Identity · Changing Family and Community Traditions

Clues From the Past: Photos, Artifacts and Other Sources

A2About 35 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can explain what a primary source and a secondary source are.
  • I can ask questions about a photo or an artifact to learn about the past.
  • I can use clues in a source to learn about a tradition.

Words to know

source
Any place we get information from: a person, a photo, a book, an object, a website.
primary source
Something made or used at the time by people who were there: an old photo, a letter, an artifact, a recipe card in Grandma's writing, or a person telling what they saw and did.
secondary source
Something made later by someone who was not there, to tell about the past: a book, a website or a video about a tradition.
artifact
An object made or used by people, especially an object from the past, that teaches us about how they lived.
evidence
Clues that help us know something is true.

A mystery box

At Grandma Ruth's house, Owen finds a dusty box. Inside are: an old black and white photo, a cookie cutter shaped like a star, a birthday card with a postage stamp from 1975, and a handwritten recipe card for ginger cookies.

Owen says, "These are clues about my family's past!" He's right. Things like these are called sources.

An open cardboard box holding a star-shaped cookie cutter, an old key, a pair of old eyeglasses, a small knitted mitten and a striped ribbon.
Objects from a family's past, like the things in Owen's mystery box, are artifacts. Each one is a clue about how people lived. AI-generated image

Primary and secondary sources

A primary source was made or used at the time by people who were there. It is like a clue straight from the past.

A secondary source is made later by someone who was not there. It tells about the past.

Primary sources (from the time)Secondary sources (made later, about it)
an old family photoa library book about holidays long ago
Great-grandma's recipe card in her own writinga website that explains a celebration
an artifact, like an old toboggan, a menorah or a Métis sash used by your familya video about how people celebrated long ago
a letter or birthday card from long agoa poster your class makes about traditions
Grandpa telling what he did when he was a boy (an interview)someone telling a story they read about
Primary and secondary sources

Detective questions

Ask these about any photo or artifact:

  • Who is in it, or who used it?
  • What is happening, or what is it for?
  • When was it made or used?
  • Where was it?
  • Why was it made or kept?
  • How do I know? What clues did I see?
Back: "Christmas 1958, Gram's house, Sault Ste. Marie"
An old photo from Owen's mystery box: a house with a snowy roof, a snowman and a child. Writing on the back says "Christmas 1958, Gram's house, Sault Ste. Marie".
Worked example

Example: Let's read the photo clues

Look at the photo from Owen's mystery box. The photo is in black and white. There is a house, a snowman and a child in a snowsuit. On the back, someone wrote: "Christmas 1958, Gram's house, Sault Ste. Marie."

  1. What kind of source is it? A primary source. It was taken at the time, by someone who was there.
  2. When? The writing says 1958. It is also in black and white; many photos long ago were not in colour. That's more evidence it is old.
  3. Where? At Gram's house in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
  4. What tradition? Christmas, with the family at Gram's house. There's snow and a snowman, so playing in the snow might have been part of it.
  5. What can't we tell? Who the child is. Owen should ask Grandma Ruth: another source!

It is a primary source showing a Christmas at Gram's house in 1958. Owen can ask Grandma Ruth to learn who the child is.

Worked example

Example: Let's be artifact detectives

Owen holds the star-shaped cookie cutter from the box. It is made of metal and a bit rusty. It was with the ginger cookie recipe card.

  1. What is it made of? Metal.
  2. What was it used for? Cutting cookie dough into star shapes.
  3. Who used it? Someone in Owen's family, probably the person who wrote the recipe card. He can ask Grandma.
  4. What tradition might it show? Baking ginger cookies, maybe for a celebration. The recipe card is more evidence.
  5. How do I know? The cookie cutter and the recipe card were kept together, and both are about cookies.

The cookie cutter is an artifact that suggests a family cookie-baking tradition. Owen can check by asking Grandma Ruth.

metal, a bit rusty→ it is probably oldstar shape, sharp edge→ for cutting cookie doughkept with the ginger cookierecipe card → a baking tradition?artifact detective
Each clue on the cookie cutter is evidence. Put the clues together, then check your idea with another source, like asking Grandma Ruth.

Take care of the past

Old photos and artifacts can be fragile and precious to your family. Always ask permission before you touch them, hold them with clean, dry hands, and put them back where they belong.

Riddle time

What is black and white and full of clues from long ago?

Not a zebra... an old family photo!

Hands-on activity

Our family museum

  1. With a grown-up's permission, collect 3 to 5 primary sources from home: old photos, a card, an heirloom, a holiday decoration, a recipe.
  2. For each one, ask the detective questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How do I know?
  3. Ask a family member to tell you the story of each object. (That's an interview, another primary source!)
  4. Make a small label card for each one, like a real museum: What it is, how old it is, what tradition it shows.
  5. Give a tour of your museum to your family!

Your turn

1

What is a primary source?

2

What is a secondary source?

3

Is Great-grandma's handwritten recipe card a primary or secondary source?

4

Is a library book about holidays long ago a primary or secondary source?

5

What is an artifact? Give an example.

6

Name three detective questions to ask about a photo.

7

What should you do before touching an old family photo?

More practice: warm-up

1

Is an old family photo a primary source?

2

Fill in the blank: Clues that help us know something is true are called ______.

3

Is Grandpa telling you about his own childhood a primary source?

4

Name one artifact in your home that could tell about a tradition.

5

Black and white photos are often... new or old?

More practice: on your own

1

Sort these: a website about Diwali, a 1975 birthday card, Grandma's old toboggan, a video about life long ago.

2

How did Owen know the photo was taken in 1958?

3

Why is it a good idea to use more than one source?

4

A photo shows a family at a picnic with a red and white cake and flags. What celebration might it be? What clue tells you?

5

What can an artifact tell us that a photo might not?

Challenge

1

Owen's class makes a poster about his family's cookie tradition, using the recipe card and photos. Is the poster a primary or secondary source? Explain.

2

The photo doesn't show who the child is. Name two ways Owen could find out.

3

Can you make a primary source about today's traditions? How?

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which is a primary source?

2.

Which is a secondary source?

3.

An artifact is...

4.

Which question helps you learn when a photo was taken?

5.

Before you touch an old family photo, you should...

6.

Grandpa tells you how he celebrated New Year's as a boy. This is...

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Primary sources (photos, artifacts, letters, recipes, first-hand interviews) come from the time; secondary sources (books, websites, videos about the past) are made later. Asking who, what, when, where, why and how-do-I-know questions turns objects into evidence. Gathering information from primary sources is a core Grade 2 inquiry skill.

How to help at home:

  • Bring out a photo album or a box of keepsakes and play "detective" together.
  • Point out clues: clothing, cars, colour versus black and white, writing on the back.
  • Encourage your child to check guesses by asking a relative.

Common difficulties:

  • Thinking "old" equals "primary". An old book about an even older time is still secondary. The key question is "Was the maker there?"
  • Guessing without evidence. Ask "How do you know? What clue shows that?"
  • Handle fragile items for your child, or let them use a phone photo of the item.