Evaluating Conflicting Evidence Lesson Summary | History Detectives
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Essential Question How do we use research sources to unravel a 150yearold mystery? Overview In this lesson, students investigate a historical mystery—the 1865 explosion of the steamship Sultana—by analyzing a collection of primary and secondary source documents. They work in cooperative reading groups to complete a jigsaw activity in which they weigh the merits of two competing theories about the disaster, then come to a conclusion based on the available evidence. Related History Detectives Episode: The Sultana Investigation It was April of 1865. The Civil War was newly ended, and steamboats were regularly traveling up the Mississippi River to take soldiers back to their homes. One such steamboat, the Sultana, left Vicksburg on April 24 to carry soldiers up to Cairo, Illinois. Tragically, just three days later, the boat caught fire and its 2000 passengers had an impossible choice to make: burn to death on the boat or jump overboard and risk drowning. Over 1700 people died that day, but to this day, no one knows conclusively what caused the explosion. Was it an accident? Or was it an act of sabotage, one final blow struck by the Confederacy against the Union? Wes Cowan, Tukufu Zuberi, and Kaiama Glover set out to solve the mystery. Suggested Grade Level This lesson is written for grades 910, but can be adapted for use in grades 612. For middle school grades, primary source analysis can be simplified by highlighting the most important portions of the documents. For grades 1112, lesson can be made more challenging by withholding the theories from the students, asking them to formulate their own theories of the Sultana explosion and then back up that theory with the supplied evidence. Be sure to have students explain why they valued some documents over others. Suggested Unit of Study This lesson plan would fit into American History units covering the Civil War and Reconstruction. Materials ● Reproducible: "The Sinking of the Sultana: The Evidence" ● Reproducible: "Evaluating Conflicting Evidence" ● Optional Video: "Introduction to the Sultana Tragedy" ● Optional Video: "The Mystery of the Sultana: Reveal" Estimated Time Required 2 class periods
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Evaluating Conflicting Sources
Transcript of Evaluating Conflicting Evidence Lesson Summary | History Detectives
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EssentialQuestionHowdoweuseresearchsourcestounravela150yearoldmystery?
OverviewInthislesson,studentsinvestigateahistoricalmysterythe1865explosionofthesteamshipSultanabyanalyzingacollectionofprimaryandsecondarysourcedocuments.Theyworkincooperativereadinggroupstocompleteajigsawactivityinwhichtheyweighthemeritsoftwocompetingtheoriesaboutthedisaster,thencometoaconclusionbasedontheavailableevidence.
RelatedHistoryDetectivesEpisode:TheSultanaInvestigationItwasAprilof1865.TheCivilWarwasnewlyended,andsteamboatswereregularlytravelinguptheMississippiRivertotakesoldiersbacktotheirhomes.Onesuchsteamboat,theSultana,leftVicksburgonApril24tocarrysoldiersuptoCairo,Illinois.Tragically,justthreedayslater,theboatcaughtfireandits2000passengershadanimpossiblechoicetomake:burntodeathontheboatorjumpoverboardandriskdrowning.Over1700peoplediedthatday,buttothisday,nooneknowsconclusivelywhatcausedtheexplosion.Wasitanaccident?Orwasitanactofsabotage,onefinalblowstruckbytheConfederacyagainsttheUnion?WesCowan,TukufuZuberi,andKaiamaGloversetouttosolvethemystery.
SuggestedGradeLevelThislessoniswrittenforgrades910,butcanbeadaptedforuseingrades612.Formiddleschoolgrades,primarysourceanalysiscanbesimplifiedbyhighlightingthemostimportantportionsofthedocuments.Forgrades1112,lessoncanbemademorechallengingbywithholdingthetheoriesfromthestudents,askingthemtoformulatetheirowntheoriesoftheSultanaexplosionandthenbackupthattheorywiththesuppliedevidence.Besuretohavestudentsexplainwhytheyvaluedsomedocumentsoverothers.
SuggestedUnitofStudyThislessonplanwouldfitintoAmericanHistoryunitscoveringtheCivilWarandReconstruction.
Materials Reproducible:"TheSinkingoftheSultana:TheEvidence" Reproducible:"EvaluatingConflictingEvidence" OptionalVideo:"IntroductiontotheSultanaTragedy" OptionalVideo:"TheMysteryoftheSultana:Reveal"
EstimatedTimeRequired2classperiods
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BackgroundTheCivilWarlastedfouryears,from1861through1865.Afterthewar,soldierswerereleasedfromPrisonerofWarcampsandslowlybegantomaketheirwaybacktotheirhomesandfamilies.ManyprisonerstraveledhomebywayoftheMississippiRiver,onlargesteamboats.TheSultanawasonesuchsteamboat.OnApril24,1865,itsetacoursethroughacountryravagedbyyearsofwarandapopulacetenseandfatiguedfromyearsoffighting.Onitsjourney,itcaughtfire,resultinginthedeathsof1700ofits2000passengers.Thefederalgovernmentinvestigatedtheexplosion,butneverreachedaconclusionastoitscause.Twocompetingtheorieshavearisenamongthehistoriansandamateurhistorianswhohavestudiedthetragedy.Someclaimitwasatragicaccident,aboilerexplosionduetoabotchedrepairjob.OthersclaimtheboilerexplodedthankstotheeffortsofConfederateboatburners,whoplantedabombtodeliberatelysabotagethesteamship.
SetUp Makephotocopiesofthe>"EvaluatingConflictingEvidence"reproducible. MakecopiesoftheReproducible:"TheSinkingoftheSultana:The
Evidence."YouwillhandoutonesourcetoeachDocumentGroupofstudents.
Bookmarkthefollowingwebsite(referencedonthe"TheSinkingoftheSultana:TheEvidence"reproducible)onstudentcomputersortablets,orprintoutandphotocopy:
TheCourtenayCoalTorpedo
WarmUpOptional:ShowstudentsthefirstthreeminutesoftheHistoryDetectivesCivilWarSabotage?videoorsharetheinformationfromtheBackgroundpresentedabove.Usethefollowingquestionstoleadadiscussionafterstudentsviewedthevideoorreadthebackgroundparagraph.
WhatwastheSultana?(SteamboattaskedwithtakingsoldiersuptheMississippi,totheirhomes,aftertheendoftheCivilWar)Whathappenedtoit?(Therewasanexplosionanditcaughtfire,killing1700people)
Whatarethetwotheoriesabouttheexplosionaboardtheboat?(ItwasaccidentduetoafaultyboilerrepairandcorruptionitwasConfederatesabotage)
Whydoyouthinkthishistoricaleventhasreceivedsolittleattentioninthehistorybooks?Makeaspeculation.
ActivityForthejigsawactivity,assigneachstudenttotwogroups:first,aDocumentGroup(A,B,C,orD),andsecond,aHomeGroup(eachHomeGroupshouldhaveatleastfourstudents,onerepresentativefromeachDocumentGrouplabelgroupsusingnumbersforclarity,i.e.1,2,3,etc.).Passoutcopiesofthe"TheSinkingoftheSultana:TheEvidence"and"EvaluatingConflictingEvidence"reproduciblestoeachstudent.
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ExplaintotheclassthattheywillbeexaminingprimarysourcesandsecondarysourcesrelatedtotheburningoftheSultana.TheirtaskistousethesedocumentstoevaluatethetwocompetingtheoriesofwhathappenedtotheSultanaandreachaconclusionastowhichtheoryismorelikely.Thedocumentsstudentswillstudyare:
GroupA:ExcerptsfromTheLossoftheSultanaandReminiscencesofSurvivors:Bookofsurvivorstoriesandmemories,collectedbyChesterD.Berryandpublishedin1892,27yearsafterthedisaster.
GroupB:HistoryDetectivesinterviewswiththeExperts:ModerndaysteamshipexpertsspeculateonthepossiblecausesoftheexplosionaboardtheSultana
GroupC:TheCourtenayCoalTorpedo,anarticleaboutThomasEdgewordCourtenay,inventorofthecoaltorpedo,andConfederatesabotageduringtheCivilWarincludesembeddedprimarysources
GroupD:TestimonyfromtheWashburnCommitteeReport:TestimonyofWilliamButler,acookaboardtheSultana,fromtheWashburnCommitteeReport.TheWashburnCommitteewastaskedwithdeterminingthecauseoftheSultanatragedybytheUnitedStatesfederalgovernment.
StudentswillbegintheirworkintheirDocumentGroups,investigatingthesourcetheyhavebeenassigned.IntheirDocumentGroups,studentswill:
Takenotesontheirsource(s)usingthe"EvaluatingConflictingEvidence"reproducible
Sharetheirnoteswithoneanother Discusswhattheorytheirsourcebestsupports,comingtoaconsensus.
Remindstudentstheirsourcemaycontainconflictingevidenceandtheydonotneedtobe100%surewhichtheorytheybelieveatthispoint.
AfterstudentshaveinvestigatedtheirsourcesintheirDocumentGroups,theywillassembleintheirHomeGroups.IntheirHomeGroups,studentswill:
SharetheirnotesaboutthesourcetheyinvestigatedintheirDocumentGroupsinordertoteachtheothermembersoftheirgroup
Takenotesonthe"EvaluatingConflictingEvidence"reproducible Discusswhattheorytheybelieveisthemostprobablebasedonallthe
evidence,comingtoaconsensus.Remindstudentstheyarelookingforthemostprobabletheory,notnecessarilyanirrefutabletheory.
DiscusswhethertheychangedtheiropiniononthebesttheoryfromtheirbestguessintheirDocumentGroupsandwhyorwhynot.
Duringthegroupwork,encouragethestudentsto"ThinkLikeaHistorian."Promptstudentstousethe3CsandanSstrategywheninvestigatingthedocumentsrelatedtotheSultanatragedy.
Sourcing:Whomadethissource?Wherediditcomefrom? Contextualizing:Imaginethesettingsurroundingthissource:Howwasthe
worldthatmadethissourcedifferentthanourown? Corroborating:Whatdoothersourcessayabouttheinformationinthis
document?Dotheyagreeordisagreewithwhatthisdocumentsays? CloseReading:Whatdoesthedocumentsay?Isitbiased?Whatisthetone?
Afterstudentshaveexaminedandevaluatedtheevidence,leadadiscussionabouttheirconclusionsbasedonthequestionsonthe"EvaluatingConflictingEvidence"reproducible.
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Whatdocumentdoyoufindthemostpersuasive?Whatdocumentdoyoufindtheleastpersuasive?Whyistheformermorecrediblethanthelatter?
Basedontheevidencepresented,whichtheoryregardingthesinkingoftheSultanaismoreplausible?
Whatevidencebestsupportsthetheoryyourgroupthinksiscorrect?Whatinparticularaboutthesepiecesofevidencedoesyourgroupfindconvincing?
Whatevidencecontradictsthetheoryyourgroupthinksiscorrect?Whydidyougroupchoosetodiscountthisevidence?
Basedonyourexperiencesinconductingthisinvestigation,howdohistorianscometoaconsensusaboutahistoricaleventwhenpresentedwithconflictingevidence?
WrapUpGivestudentsanopportunitytoanswerthequestionsinPart3ofthe"EvaluatingConflictingEvidence"reproducibleindependently.Thenleadaclassdiscussionbasedontheiranswers.
WhatdidyoulearnabouttheCivilWaranditsimmediateaftermathfromconductingthisinvestigation?
WhyisstudyingeventssuchasthesinkingoftheSultanaanimportanthistoricalendeavor?
Whatdidyoulearnfromtheprimarysourcedocumentsthatyoudidnotorcouldnotlearninatextbook?
HowdidthisinvestigationchangeyourunderstandingoftheCivilWar?OfAbrahamLincoln?Ofwaringeneral?
GoingFurtherThestrategiesandjigsawstrategyandthe"EvaluatingConflictingEvidence"reproduciblefeaturedinthislessonplancanbeusedtodevelopanotherlessonwherestudentsinvestigateanotherhistoricalmysterywithcompetingtheories.Somepossibilities:
TheDisappearanceofAmeliaEarhart TheGreatChicagoFireof1871 TheLostColonyofRoanoke
Afterpullingtogetherarangeofsourcesforstudentstoexamine,youmayaskstudentstosummarizethecompetingtheoriesaboutthemystery,findevidencethatsupportsthevarioustheories,andthenchoosethemostplausibletheorybasedontheavailableevidence.
MoreonHistoryDetectivesUsethefollowingepisodesorlessonplansfromHistoryDetectivestosupporttheteachingofthislessoninyourclassroom.Episode:CivilWarLettersLessonPlan:UsingPrimarySources:NaziSpyRingBustedDetectiveTechniqueGuide:GoingBackinTime
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ResourcesRememberingSultanaNationalGeographicarticleaboutthesinkingoftheSultanaSultana:ACaseforSabotageComprehensivecaseforsabotageaboardtheSultana,includingvariousprimarysourcesLossoftheSultanandReminiscencesofSurvivorsLossoftheSultana,FulltextofChesterD.Berrysbook,originallypublished1892,onGoogleBooks
