Digging Deeper

Find primary sources to use in your lesson plan

The historical components of your lesson plan should be based primarily on secondary research––after all, professional historians have already done most of the hard work for you. However, using primary sources in a STEM lesson can help bring history alive. For example, you may include excerpts, quotations, or paraphrases that convey key concepts, scientists’ and mathematicians’ positions in a debate, how they did their research, or struggles they faced. Also consider using important equations in the form presented in a primary source. Images, such as diagrams, paintings, or photographs, can also be primary sources. You can also use images or video of primary source objects (original scientific instruments, archeological artifacts, examples of art or architecture). For more about using primary sources in a STEM lesson, go to the Plan a Lesson section of this site.

To find primary sources, the first place to look is within secondary sources––check the footnotes and bibliographies of the history books and articles you have already found. What primary sources do they cite or discuss? Then, track these down using the same methods you used to find secondary sources: If the primary source is a book, use the library catalogue. If it is a journal article, use a scholarly database. Or, try a general internet search. 

You can also browse the recommended links in the “Primary Source Bibliographies and Digitized Collections” sidebar. 

For tips on reading historical primary sources, see How to Read a Primary Source.