Grade 5 · Social Studies · Lesson 9

Primary and Secondary Sources

Historians, journalists, and detectives all do the same job in different costumes — they collect EVIDENCE and tell the story behind it. The evidence comes in two flavors. A PRIMARY SOURCE was made AT the time the event happened, by someone who was there. A SECONDARY SOURCE was made LATER by someone who studied the event but did not live through it.

What this lesson teaches

1Define primary and secondary sources in your own words
2Sort everyday examples into the correct source category
3Match real historical items to the matching source type
4Explain why historians use both kinds of sources together

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