EnglishFreePrintable

Local History Research Test

A free english worksheet ready for your classroom. Open in Kuraplan to grab the print-ready PDF, customize it for your students, or generate a fresh version in seconds.

Download now

Name:Date:

Local History Research Test

Read the short source pack, then answer the questions. Use evidence from the sources and explain when an answer is your own inference. For multiple-choice questions, choose one answer unless the question says otherwise.

Source pack: A changing waterfront

A local history group is preparing a short account of how a town’s waterfront changed. The following fictional sources are provided for practice. SOURCE A — Extract from a council record, 1974: “The timber wharf has closed after years of declining use. The council will consider proposals for the site at its next meeting.” The record was written by a council clerk after the meeting. SOURCE B — Oral-history interview with Wiremu, recorded in 2008: “When I was a child in the late 1960s, fishing boats came in most mornings. The wharf was noisy and busy. It felt like the heart of the town.” SOURCE C — Local newspaper report, 1974: “The wharf’s closure will bring an end to an era. Some traders fear fewer visitors, while others hope the site can be put to better use.” The report does not name the traders. SOURCE D — Researcher’s article, published in 2022: “The wharf closed in 1974. Council minutes and two newspaper reports confirm the date. Later plans turned part of the waterfront into a public walkway.” These sources give different kinds of evidence. A primary source was made at the time being studied or by someone with direct experience; a secondary source is a later account that uses and interprets evidence.

Read the evidence

Answer questions 1–6 using the source pack.

1.Which source is the council record?

Source A, the council record
Source B, the interview recorded in 2008
Source D, the article published in 2022
None of the sources

2.What does Source B mainly tell us about Wiremu’s memory of the wharf?

It was a busy and important place in his childhood
It was built in 2008
The council planned the public walkway
All traders supported its closure

3.Which statement is best supported by more than one source?

The wharf closed in 1974
Every trader opposed the closure
The wharf was quiet in the 1960s
The council clerk owned fishing boats

4.True or false: Source D is a primary source because it gives a date for the closure.

TrueFalse

5.Source C says some traders feared fewer visitors, while others hoped for a different use of the site. What does this suggest about people’s perspectives on the closure?

6.Give one strength and one limitation of Source B as evidence about the wharf.

Build a reliable account

Think like a careful local-history researcher. Use specific evidence where you can.

7.You want to check whether the public walkway was built after the wharf closed. Which source in the pack mentions this, and what additional source could you seek to verify it?

8.A cycling club is researching the history of a race route that passes an old local landmark. Hemi finds a recent blog post, Zoe finds a dated newspaper report from the race year, and Mere interviews a person who watched the race. Name the strongest source for what the newspaper reported at the time, and explain one way to check its claims.

9.Why might Source B and Source C describe the wharf differently without either source necessarily being dishonest?

10.Write a short evidence-based conclusion (3–5 sentences) about why the waterfront mattered and what changed. Include at least two source references, such as “Source A”.