Clues Within These Walls

Grade Range: 4-12
Resource Type(s): Reference Materials
Date Posted: 10/21/2008

On this page, students will find some of the methods historians and curators used to learn about the house at 16 Elm Street in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Students will learn how to use primary source documents, photographs and architectural clues to answer questions such as: Who lived in a house and what the neighborhood was like? When was the house built? How do historians discover how a house changes over time? Also included is a link to House Detective: Finding History in Your Home, a research guide that will help students conduct investigations of their own home. This activity accompanies the online exhibition, Within These Walls.


National Standards

Historical Thinking Standards (Grades K-4)

World History Standards (Grades 5-12)

Historical Thinking Standards (Grades 5-12)

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards (Grades 3-5)

2: Applying Disciplinary Tools and Concepts

D2.Civ.1.3-5. (Civics): Distinguish the responsibilities and powers of government officials at various levels and branches of government and in different times and places.
 
D2.Civ.2.3-5. (Civics): Explain how a democracy relies on people's responsible participation, and draw implications for how individuals should participate.
 
D2.Civ.3.3-5. (Civics): Examine the origins and purposes of rules, laws, and key U.S. constitutional provisions.
 
D2.Civ.4.3-5. (Civics): Explain how groups of people make rules to create responsibilities and protect freedoms.
 
D2.Civ.5.3-5. (Civics): Explain the origins, functions, and structure of different systems of government, including those created by the U.S. and state constitutions.
 
D2.Civ.6.3-5. (Civics): Describe ways in which people benefit from and are challenged by working together, including through government, workplaces, voluntary organizations, and families.
 
D2.Civ.7.3-5. (Civics): Apply civic virtues and democratic principles in school settings.
 
D2.Civ.8.3-5. (Civics): Identify core civic virtues and democratic principles that guide government, society, and communities.
 
D2.Civ.9.3-5. (Civics): Use deliberative processes when making decisions or reaching judgments as a group.
 
D2.Civ.10.3-5. (Civics): Identify the beliefs, experiences, perspectives, and values that underlie their own and others' points of view about civic issues.
 
D2.Civ.11.3-5. (Civics): Compare procedures for making decisions in a variety of settings, including classroom, school, government, and/or society.
 
D2.Civ.12.3-5. (Civics): Explain how rules and laws change society and how people change rules and laws.
 
D2.Civ.13.3-5. (Civics): Explain how policies are developed to address public problems.
 
D2.Civ.14.3-5. (Civics): Illustrate historical and contemporary means of changing society.
 
D2.Eco.1.3-5. (Economics): Compare the benefits and costs of individual choices.
 
D2.Eco.2.3-5. (Economics): Identify positive and negative incentives that influence the decisions people make.
 
D2.Eco.3.3-5. (Economics): Identify examples of the variety of resources (human capital, physical capital, and natural resources) that are used to produce goods and services.
 
D2.Eco.4.3-5. (Economics): Explain why individuals and businesses specialize and trade.
 
D2.Eco.5.3-5. (Economics): Explain the role of money in making exchange easier.
 
D2.Eco.6.3-5. (Economics): Explain the relationship between investment in human capital, productivity, and future incomes.
 
D2.Eco.7.3-5. (Economics): Explain how profits influence sellers in markets.
 
D2.Eco.8.3-5. (Economics): Identify examples of external benefits and costs.
 
D2.Eco.9.3-5.(Economics): Describe the role of other financial institutions in an economy.
 
D2.Eco.10.3-5. (Economics): Explain what interest rates are.
 
D2.Eco.11.3-5. (Economics): Explain the meaning of inflation, deflation, and unemployment.
 
D2.Eco.12.3-5. (Economics): Explain the ways in which the government pays for the goods and services it provides.
 
D2.Eco.13.3-5.(Economics): Describe ways people can increase productivity by using improved capital goods and improving their human capital.
 
D2.Eco.14.3-5. (Economics): Explain how trade leads to increasing economic interdependence among nations.
 
D2.Eco.15.3-5. (Economics): Explain the effects of increasing economic interdependence on different groups within participating nations.
 
D2.Geo.1.3-5. (Geography): Construct maps and other graphic representations of both familiar and unfamiliar places.
 
D2.Geo.2.3-5.(Geography): Use maps, satellite images, photographs, and other representations to explain relationships between the locations of places and regions and their environmental characteristics.
 
D2.Geo.3.3-5. (Geography): Use maps of different scales to describe the locations of cultural and environmental characteristics.
 
D2.Geo.4.3-5. (Geography): Explain how culture influences the way people modify and adapt to their environments.
 
D2.Geo.5.3-5. (Geography): Explain how the cultural and environmental characteristics of places change over time.
 
D2.Geo.6.3-5. (Geography): Describe how environmental and cultural characteristics influence population distribution in specific places or regions.
 
D2.Geo.7.3-5. (Geography): Explain how cultural and environmental characteristics affect the distribution and movement of people, goods, and ideas.
 
D2.Geo.8.3-5. (Geography): Explain how human settlements and movements relate to the locations and use of various natural resources.
 
D2.Geo.9.3-5. (Geography): Analyze the effects of catastrophic environmental and technological events on human settlements and migration.
 
D2.Geo.10.3-5. (Geography): Explain why environmental characteristics vary among different world regions.
 
D2.Geo.11.3-5. (Geography): Describe how the spatial patterns of economic activities in a place change over time because of interactions with nearby and distant places.
 
D2.Geo.12.3-5. (Geography): Explain how natural and human-made catastrophic events in one place affect people living in other places.
 
D2.His.1.3-5. (History): Create and use a chronological sequence of related events to compare developments that happened at the same time.
 
D2.His.2.3-5. (History): Compare life in specific historical time periods to life today.
 
D2.His.3.3-5. (History): Generate questions about individuals and groups who have shaped significant historical changes and continuities.
 
D2.His.4.3-5. (History): Explain why individuals and groups during the same historical period differed in their perspectives.
 
D2.His.5.3-5. (History): Explain connections among historical contexts and people's perspectives at the time.
 
D2.His.6.3-5. (History): Describe how people's perspectives shaped the historical sources they created.
 
D2.His.9.3-5. (History): Summarize how different kinds of historical sources are used to explain events in the past.
 
D2.His.10.3-5. (History): Compare information provided by different historical sources about the past.
 
D2.His.11.3-5. (History): Infer the intended audience and purpose of a historical source from information within the source itself.
 
D2.His.12.3-5. (History): Generate questions about multiple historical sources and their relationships to particular historical events and developments.
 
D2.His.13.3-5. (History): Use information about a historical source, including the maker, date, place of origin, intended audience, and purpose to judge the extent to which the source is useful for studying a particular topic.
 
D2.His.14.3-5. (History): Explain probable causes and effects of events and developments.
 
D2.His.16.3-5. (History): Use evidence to develop a claim about the past.
 
D2.His.17.3-5. (History): Summarize the central claim in a secondary work of history.
 

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards (Grades 9-12)

2: Applying Disciplinary Tools and Concepts

D2.Civ.1.9-12. (Civics): Distinguish the powers and responsibilities of local, state, tribal, national, and international civic and political institutions.
 
D2.Civ.2.9-12. (Civics): Analyze the role of citizens in the U.S. political system, with attention to various theories of democracy, changes in Americans' participation over time, and alternative models from other countries, past and present.
 
D2.Civ.3.9-12. (Civics): Analyze the impact of constitutions, laws, treaties, and international agreements on the maintenance of national and international order.
 
D2.Civ.4.9-12.(Civics): Explain how the U.S. Constitution establishes a system of government that has powers, responsibilities, and limits that have changed over time and that are still contested.
 
D2.Civ.5.9-12. (Civics): Evaluate citizens' and institutions' effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.
 
D2.Civ.6.9-12. (Civics): Critique relationships among governments, civil societies, and economic markets.
 
D2.Civ.7.9-12. (Civics): Apply civic virtues and democratic principles when working with others.
 
D2.Civ.8.9-12. (Civics): Evaluate social and political systems in different contexts, times, and places, that promote civic virtues and enact democratic principles.
 
D2.Civ.9.9-12 (Civics): Use appropriate deliberative processes in multiple settings.
 
D2.Civ.10.9-12. (Civics): Analyze the impact and the appropriate roles of personal interests and perspectives on the application of civic virtues, democratic principles, constitutional rights, and human rights.
 
D2.Civ.11.9-12. (Civics): Evaluate multiple procedures for making governmental decisions at the local, state, national, and international levels in terms of the civic purposes achieved.
 
D2.Civ.12.9-12. (Civics): Analyze how people use and challenge local, state, national, and international laws to address a variety of public issues.
 
D2.Civ.13.9-12. (Civics): Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes, and related consequences.
 
D2.Civ.14.9-12. (Civics): Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.
 
D2.Eco.1.9-12. (Economics): Analyze how incentives influence choices that may result in policies with a range of costs and benefits for different groups.
 
D2.Eco.2.9-12. (Economics): Use marginal benefits and marginal costs to construct an argument for or against an approach or solution to an economic issue.
 
D2.Eco.3.9-12. (Economics): Analyze the ways in which incentives influence what is produced and distributed in a market system.
 
D2.Eco.4.9-12. (Economics): Evaluate the extent to which competition among sellers and among buyers exists in specific markets.
 
D2.Eco.5.9-12. (Economics): Describe the consequences of competition in specific markets.
 
D2.Eco.6.9-12. (Economics): Generate possible explanations for a government role in markets when market inefficiencies exist.
 
D2.Eco.7.9-12. (Economics): Use benefits and costs to evaluate the effectiveness of government policies to improve market outcomes.
 
D2.Eco.8.9-12. (Economics): Describe the possible consequences, both intended and unintended, of government policies to improve market outcomes.
 
D2.Eco.9.9-12. (Economics): Describe the roles of institutions such as clearly defined property rights and the rule of law in a market economy.
 
D2.Eco.10.9-12. (Economics): Use current data to explain the influence of changes in spending, production, and the money supply on various economic conditions.
 
D2.Eco.11.9-12. (Economics): Use economic indicators to analyze the current and future state of the economy.
 
D2.Eco.12.9-12. (Economics): Evaluate the selection of monetary and fiscal policies in a variety of economic conditions.
 
D2.Eco.13.9-12. (Economics): Explain why advancements in technology and investments in capital goods and human capital increase economic growth and standards of living.
 
D2.Eco.14.9-12. (Economics): Analyze the role of comparative advantage in international trade of goods and services.
 
D2.Eco.15.9-12. (Economics): Explain how current globalization trends and policies affect economic growth, labor markets, rights of citizens, the environment, and resource and income distribution in different nations.
 
D2.Geo.1.9-12. (Geography): Use geospatial and related technologies to create maps to display and explain the spatial patterns of cultural and environmental characteristics.
 
D2.Geo.2.9-12. (Geography): Use maps, satellite images, photographs, and other representations to explain relationships between the locations of places and regions and their political, cultural, and economic dynamics.
 
D2.Geo.3.9-12. (Geography): Use geographic data to analyze variations in the spatial patterns of cultural and environmental characteristics at multiple scales.
 
D2.Geo.4.9-12. (Geography): Analyze relationships and interactions within and between human and physical systems to explain reciprocal influences that occur among them.
 
D2.Geo.5.9-12. (Geography): Evaluate how political and economic decisions throughout time have influenced cultural and environmental characteristics of various places and regions.
 
D2.Geo.6.9-12. (Geography): Evaluate the impact of human settlement activities on the environmental and cultural characteristics of specific places and regions.
 
D2.Geo.7.9-12. (Geography): Analyze the reciprocal nature of how historical events and the spatial diffusion of ideas, technologies, and cultural practices have influenced migration patterns and the distribution of human population.
 
D2.Geo.8.9-12. (Geography): Evaluate the impact of economic activities and political decisions on spatial patterns within and among urban, suburban, and rural regions.
 
D2.Geo.9.9-12. (Geography): Evaluate the influence of long-term climate variability on human migration and settlement patterns, resource use, and land uses at local-to-global scales.
 
D2.Geo.10.9-12. (Geography): Evaluate how changes in the environmental and cultural characteristics of a place or region influence spatial patterns of trade and land use.
 
D2.Geo.11.9-12. (Geography): Evaluate how economic globalization and the expanding use of scarce resources contribute to conflict and cooperation within and among countries.
 
D2.Geo.12.9-12. (Geography): Evaluate the consequences of human-made and natural catastrophes on global trade, politics, and human migration.
 
D2.His.1.9-12. (History): Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
 
D2.His.2.9-12. (History): Analyze change and continuity in historical eras.
 
D2.His.3.9-12. (History): Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context.
 
D2.His.4.9-12. (History): Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.
 
D2.His.5.9-12. (History): Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people's perspectives.
 
D2.His.6.9-12. (History): Analyze the ways in which the perspectives of those writing history shaped the history that they produced.
 
D2.His.7.9-12. (History): Explain how the perspectives of people in the present shape interpretations of the past.
 
D2.His.8.9-12. (History): Analyze how current interpretations of the past are limited by the extent to which available historical sources represent perspectives of people at the time.
 
D2.His.9.9-12. (History): Analyze the relationship between historical sources and the secondary interpretations made from them.
 
D2.His.10.9-12. (History): Detect possible limitations in various kinds of historical evidence and differing secondary interpretations.
 
D2.His.11.9-12. (History): Critique the usefulness of historical sources for a specific historical inquiry based on their maker, date, place of origin, intended audience, and purpose.
 
D2.His.12.9-12. (History): Use questions generated about multiple historical sources to pursue further inquiry and investigate additional sources.
 
D2.His.13.9-12. (History): Critique the appropriateness of the historical sources used in a secondary interpretation.
 
D2.His.14.9-12. (History): Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past.
 
D2.His.15.9-12. (History): Distinguish between long-term causes and triggering events in developing a historical argument.
 
D2.His.16.9-12. (History): Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past.
 
D2.His.17.9-12. (History): Critique the central arguments in secondary works of history on related topics in multiple media in terms of their historical accuracy.
 

4: Communicating Conclusions and Taking Informed Action

D4.1.9-12. (Communicating and Critiquing Conclusions): Construct arguments using precise and knowledgeable claims, with evidence from multiple sources, while acknowledging counterclaims and evidentiary weaknesses.
 
D4.2.9-12. (Communicating and Critiquing Conclusions): Construct explanations using sound reasoning, correct sequence (linear or non-linear), examples, and details with significant and pertinent information and data, while acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of the explanation given its purpose (e.g., cause and effect, chronological, procedural, technical).
 
D4.3.9-12. (Communicating and Critiquing Conclusions): Present adaptations of arguments and explanations that feature evocative ideas and perspectives on issues and topics to reach a range of audiences and venues outside the classroom using print and oral technologies (e.g., posters, essays, letters, debates, speeches, reports, and maps) and digital technologies (e.g., Internet, social media, and digital documentary).
 
D4.4.9-12. (Communicating and Critiquing Conclusions): Critique the use of claims and evidence in arguments for credibility.
 
D4.5.9-12. (Communicating and Critiquing Conclusions): Critique the use of the reasoning, sequencing, and supporting details of explanations.
 
D4.6.9-12. (Taking Informed Action): Use disciplinary and interdisciplinary lenses to understand the characteristics and causes of local, regional, and global problems; instances of such problems in multiple contexts; and challenges and opportunities faced by those trying to address these problems over time and place.
 
D4.7.9-12. (Taking Informed Action): Assess options for individual and collective action to address local, regional, and global problems by engaging in self-reflection, strategy identification, and complex causal reasoning.
 
D4.8.9-12. (Taking Informed Action): Apply a range of deliberative and democratic strategies and procedures to make decisions and take action in their classrooms, schools, and out-of-school civic contexts.