Learning goal
What changed at the school, and what can an image not tell us?
Read together
Aerial photographs show the ground from above. The school collection includes images from 1999 through 2025. Comparing them can reveal visible changes. Current parcel outlines help locate the campus, but they are not historical boundaries. Neither image tells us everything about earlier land use.
Vocabulary
- evidence
- Information from a source that helps us test a claim.
- source
- A document, object, image, or account we can examine.
- inference
- An explanation based on clues; it still needs checking.
Use a real source
Open the source activity- Compare the 1999 and 2025 aerial photographs.
- Describe one visible difference and name both image dates.
- Explain one thing these pictures cannot prove.
Student recording page
Name or initials: ____________________ Date: ____________________
Teacher notes & answer guidance
5 minutes: introduce the question. 10 minutes: read and explain vocabulary. 15 minutes: investigate with a partner. 5–10 minutes: share, reflect, and revise.
Accept a visible, correctly dated difference. Neither aerial proves what occupied the land before the school opened.
Access and differentiation
Emerging English: preview three words, use Portuguese or Spanish, point to an image, and rehearse “I notice… This tells me…”. For dyslexia or writing difficulties: offer Listen, enlarged text, oral answers, drawing, dictation, or a scribe. Assess reasoning rather than handwriting or English fluency.
Grades 6–8: compare a second source, explain an uncertainty, and consider which perspective is missing.
Quick rubric
Beginning: names a topic. Developing: identifies a source and detail. Secure: connects that detail to an explanation and recognizes a limitation. Different supported answers are welcome.
At home · 10 minutes
Look at one old family or neighborhood photograph. What is visible? What would you need to ask someone?
Children may use the published source instead of sharing personal or family history.