History 7-10 / Year 10 / Skills / Using historical sources

Curriculum content descriptions

explain the usefulness of primary and secondary sources, and the reliability of the information as evidence (AC9HH10S04)

Elaborations
  • identifying perspectives absent from sources and the extent to which this may affect usefulness
  • explaining the bias of the author and the intent of a source, and the extent to which this may affect reliability
  • determining the usefulness of sources by corroborating with other sources of information
  • examining that the reliability and usefulness of a source depends on the questions asked of it; for example, an account having a particular historical perspective and therefore being of use in revealing past prevailing attitudes
  • determining whether or not the information in one historical source can be verified by information in another historical source
  • comparing a range of historical sources and identifying similarities, differences and inconsistencies in interpretations
General capabilities
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Literacy Literacy
ScOT terms

Terrorism,  Historical sources,  Evidence,  Judgement

Assessment
Assessment

Year 10 history assessment - Rights and freedoms in Australia

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Research Essentials Videos for Secondary Students

This series of short video tutorials aimed at Years 7 to 10 shows students how to break down the research process into manageable chunks. They then generate effective questions to guide their research and learn how to evaluate online sources for reliability, authenticity and relevance. They then learn then how to access ...

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Debating the Bomb

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Being seen and heard in the 70s

Via this resource, students will learn to think critically about the impact of the gay rights movement in Australia in the 1970s on current societal attitudes and beliefs about the LGBTIQ+ community.

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Censoring Tettawonga

Students investigate the removal of a section from Ethel Turner's 'Seven Little Australians' and consider why this may have happened, in the context of contact between European settlers and Indigenous Australians. Via this resource, they are learning to apply an understanding of historical context to interpret the motives ...

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Australian women in war: service, courage and care

This book explores the roles Australian women have carried out during wartimes and examines their relationship with societal change. Topics include the Boer War, World Wars I and II, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and peacekeeping operations. Students are prompted to develop their source analysis skills and are also offered ...

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The use of the atomic bomb: The decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki

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Why did the government lie about the bombing of Darwin?

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When War Came to Australia

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Defending Australia: Australia and the Pacific War

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History EDge episode 4: How to take effective notes

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History EDge episode 7: How to think critically about historical perspective

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History EDge episode 8: Finding and using different kinds of historical evidence

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The Environment Movement Defining Moments: 1960s–present

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Australian service in Indonesia after the Second World War

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United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (Learn)

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Uncovering the Exhibition Building's secret WW II stories

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Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines: Unit of work

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Becoming Kirrali Lewis: Unit of work

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