Tell a primary source from a secondary source, and what each can show
Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Champollion's letter
Who made it: Jean-François Champollion. When: 1822. Where: Paris, France. For whom: Bon-Joseph Dacier and the scholars of a French academy. Why: to explain how he read Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Champollion's 1822 letter explains how to read ancient Egyptian writing. For ancient Egypt itself, which is right, Pia asks?
- Not a source: it is a letter
- Primary: it is 200 years old
- Primary: it is about Egypt
- Secondary: a scholar wrote it much later
Seismoscope replica
Who made it: modern scientists in China. When: 2005. Where: China. For whom: scientists and museum visitors. Why: to test how Zhang Heng's seismoscope of 132 CE may have worked.
Scientists built a seismoscope replica in 2005, based on Zhang Heng's device of 132 CE. Which is right for the replica, Ren asks?
- Secondary: a model made in 2005
- Not a source: it is a machine
- Primary: it looks like the real one
- Primary: it works like the original
Champollion's letter
Who made it: Jean-François Champollion. When: 1822. Where: Paris, France. For whom: Bon-Joseph Dacier and the scholars of a French academy. Why: to explain how he read Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Tala wants to know how scholars decoded Egyptian writing in 1822. For that question, what is Champollion's letter?
- Primary: Champollion wrote it in 1822
- Not a source: it is just a letter
- Secondary, whatever the question
- Secondary: it is about Egypt
Book of the Later Han
Who made it: Fan Ye and other historians. When: the 400s CE. Where: China. For whom: readers of official histories. Why: to record the history of the Han, 6–189 CE, from older records. Summary in our words, not a quotation: It tells how Cai Lun made paper from tree bark, hemp, old rags and fishing nets, and showed it at court in 105 CE.
Zee wants to know how Chinese historians of the 400s CE wrote history. For that question, what is the Book of the Later Han?
- Not a source: it is too long
- Secondary, whatever question you ask
- Primary: those historians made it
- Secondary: it is about the Han
List of Olympic winners
Who made it: later Greek writers. When: more than 300 years after 776 BCE. Where: Greece. For whom: Greek readers. Why: to list winners and count years by Olympiads.
Ari wants to know about the first Olympic Games of 776 BCE. Greek writers made the list of winners more than 300 years later. What is the list for that question?
- Primary: it is very old
- Secondary: made long after the first games
- Primary, whatever the question
- Primary: it is about the games
Old paper pieces
Who made it: papermakers in China. When: before Cai Lun's time (before 105 CE). Where: China. For whom: not known. Why: not known.
Pieces of paper older than Cai Lun's time have been found in China. What can they show, Bo asks?
- That Cai Lun made the first paper
- Who made each piece, by name
- How a replica was built
- That paper existed before Cai Lun
Seismoscope replica
Who made it: modern scientists in China. When: 2005. Where: China. For whom: scientists and museum visitors. Why: to test how Zhang Heng's seismoscope of 132 CE may have worked.
What can the 2005 seismoscope replica show us, Esme asks?
- Exactly how the original looked inside
- How experts think the device worked
- That the original still exists
- Who built the original in 132 CE
Book of the Later Han
Who made it: Fan Ye and other historians. When: the 400s CE. Where: China. For whom: readers of official histories. Why: to record the history of the Han, 6–189 CE, from older records. Summary in our words, not a quotation: It tells how Cai Lun made paper from tree bark, hemp, old rags and fishing nets, and showed it at court in 105 CE.
What can the Book of the Later Han tell Jun about Cai Lun's paper?
- What older records said about it
- What modern scientists found
- What Cai Lun saw with his own eyes
- Nothing: it is a secondary source
Seismoscope replica
Who made it: modern scientists in China. When: 2005. Where: China. For whom: scientists and museum visitors. Why: to test how Zhang Heng's seismoscope of 132 CE may have worked.
In a museum, Kira sees a bronze seismoscope built in 2005. Is it the original from 132 CE?
- No: it is a drawing
- Yes: it looks just like the old one
- No: it is a replica made in 2005
- Yes: it is made of bronze
Old paper pieces
Who made it: papermakers in China. When: before Cai Lun's time (before 105 CE). Where: China. For whom: not known. Why: not known.
The paper pieces found in China were made before 105 CE. Are they originals or copies, Luz asks?
- Originals: made before 105 CE
- Copies: paper came later
- Neither: paper is not a source
- Copies: anything old is a copy