Every card in Working with evidence, Year 8: more practice
The whole deck, in order — so you can read it through before your child ever sees it.
- Two independent sources back each other up on a detail. What is the historian's word for this?
Corroboration
HintIt begins with "cor-", meaning "together".
WhyCorroborated details can be trusted more. The word also gives us "corroborate", meaning to support a claim with other evidence.
- Two sources clash over who started a riot. Does that mean one of them is lying?
No — they may differ in viewpoint, knowledge or purpose
HintThink about where each writer was standing.
WhyWitnesses see different parts of an event, and makers have different aims. A clash is a reason to ask more questions, not to pick a side at once.
- Why is it better to cross-reference sources made by different, unconnected people?
They cannot just be copying each other
HintTwo copies of the same mistake do not add up to two pieces of evidence.
WhyIf one writer copied the other, their agreement proves nothing new. Independent accounts that agree are much stronger evidence.
- Source A says a fire began at midnight and Source B says at dawn. Source C, written that same day, says "shortly after midnight". Which does Source C support?
Source A
HintCompare the times each one gives.
WhySource C corroborates A on the time, which makes it more likely, though not certain. Cross-referencing weighs how many sources agree and how good they are.
- A claim rests on only one source. How secure is it compared with a claim backed by several?
Less secure, because nothing else supports it
HintIs there anything to check it against?
WhyOne source may be mistaken or biased and nothing can show it. A historian treats a single-source claim carefully and looks for more.
- Can a source be unreliable and still be useful?
Yes — it can still answer some questions
HintThink of propaganda.
WhyPropaganda is a poor guide to facts but excellent evidence of what a government wanted people to think.
- The usefulness of a source depends mainly on what?
The question being asked
HintA source is useful FOR something.
WhyA diary may be useful for one question and no use for another. Always ask: useful for what?
- Which word asks "does this source help me answer MY question": reliable or useful?
Useful
HintThe other word asks whether you can trust it.
WhyReliable asks about trustworthiness; useful asks about fit with your question. Separating the two avoids mistakes in source work.
- A Victorian charity leaflet exaggerates children's misery to raise money. What is it useful for finding out?
How charities tried to persuade people to donate
HintThink about what the leaflet was trying to do.
WhyThe exaggeration makes it unreliable about how bad conditions truly were, but it shows how charities worked and what donors were expected to respond to.
- A soldier's letter home in 1915 was read by an army censor. Why might it be less reliable about conditions at the front?
Soldiers held back, and censors cut, bad news
HintWho else read the letter before it was sent?
WhySoldiers often wrote reassuringly to protect their families, and censors removed anything that might harm morale. The letter is still useful evidence of what soldiers chose to say.
1★ KS3-HIST-EVI-0033
2★ KS3-HIST-EVI-0034
3★ KS3-HIST-EVI-0035
4★ KS3-HIST-EVI-0036
5★ KS3-HIST-EVI-0037
6★ KS3-HIST-EVI-0038
7★ KS3-HIST-EVI-0039
8★ KS3-HIST-EVI-0040
9★ KS3-HIST-EVI-0041
10★ KS3-HIST-EVI-0042
Keep what you learn
Here, nothing is saved. In your child’s own sky every card is scheduled — it comes back just before they’d forget it — and the professor who wrote it is one tap away.