Primary and Secondary Sources
Grade 3 Social Studies Worksheet
NameDate
Circle the answer.
Which of these is a primary source about the 1936 flood?
- a 2020 website about the flood
- Sam's letter
- a movie made last year about it
- the library book about floods
Why is the election ballot a primary source?
- It was printed many years later.
- It tells about many elections.
- Voters used it on election day.
- It explains what councils do.
Which source was written long after the snowstorm?
- a photo taken during the storm
- Rosa's diary
- a note Rosa's mom wrote that day
- the weather website
Which detail comes only from the construction photograph?
- workers placing steel beams
- the day the bridge opened
- people crossing the river faster
- how much the bridge cost
A historian wants to know what visitors read on opening day. Which source should she use?
- a garden club website
- the opening-day program
- the history book chapter
- a 2019 newspaper story
Which source was made long after the train station opened?
- a ticket from the first train
- a photo from opening day
- the documentary film
- the telegram to the mayor
What does the cleanup report tell us that the interview does not?
- Many cleanups helped the rivers.
- One volunteer carried three bags.
- The volunteer worked that day.
- The riverbank was very muddy.
How do you know the magazine article is a secondary source?
- It talks about the children.
- It was written 60 years after the fair.
- It was printed on paper.
- It has a title at the top.
Ella's diary says her room had one wood stove. What kind of evidence is this?
- a guess made years later
- evidence from someone who was there
- a fact from a museum
- a summary of many records
Why might a historian look at both the parade photograph and the textbook?
- to compare a first-hand view with a later summary
- because the photograph has no facts
- because textbooks are never wrong
- to see which source looks older