As an introduction to the hypothesis and testing method of investigation, young history detectives engage in a special investigation of a family artifact. After watching a short video that demonstrates the method, they develop a hypothesis about the origin of the artifact. They then gather evidence about how the item became part of the family to see if their original theory was correct.

Concepts

hypotheses, evidence, supporting evidence, artifacts, primary source analysis, primary sources, conclusions, drawing conclusions

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Encourage young sleuths to select a family artifact that comes with a tale about how the item came to be important to the family, a tale they can research

Classroom Considerations

• Requires detectives to have their classifications and observations list created for the previous lesson in the series
• First of a two-part lesson

Pros

• Provides an opportunity to practice the method while connecting home and school life
• Uses a clip from a real investigation to model the process

Cons

• None