Learning from Primary Sources: Photographs and Artifacts
Examine historical photographs, letters, maps, and objects to discover what daily life was like in past generations.

Examine historical photographs, letters, maps, and objects to discover what daily life was like in past generations.
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2nd Grade · Social Studies · US-MA-SS
10 lessons
Investigate how local communities were founded, how diverse populations shaped them over time, and how historical inquiry helps us learn about community life.
Research the demographic origins of the town or city (e.g., the Native People who originally lived there or still live there, the people who established it as a colonial town, its founding date, and the free, indentured, and enslaved women and men who contributed to the well-being of the town). Explain that before the mid-19th century most of the settlers were of Native American, Northern European, or African descent; describe the current population and immigrant groups of the 20th and 21st centuries and interview family members, friends, and neighbors to obtain information about living and working there in the past and present.
Explain how any one of the explorers described the Native Peoples and the new lands, and compare an early 17th century map of New England with a current one.