Humanities Aut 1 · 2026–27 · Enquiry: How can dates, periods and intervals help us build and challenge chronological claims?
| Key Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| Date | A fixed point in time |
| Period | A named span (Victorian, Edwardian) |
| Interval | The measured gap between events |
| c. (circa) | About — an approximate date |
| Chronology | An ordered account of events in time |
| Periodisation | How historians carve time into named eras |
1) Put in order: railway 1825 · ironstone 1850 · bridge 1911.
2) How many years in a century?
3) Give one clue that dates a photo.
4) What was found in the Eston Hills in 1850?
1) How many years between the railway (1825) and the bridge (1911)?
2) Which monarch names the era 1837–1901?
3) 'The olden days' — why do historians avoid this phrase?
4) A source claims a 'Victorian' event in 1930. Problem?
1) What do c. and CE mean? Why is every date on our timeline CE?
2) c.1850 to 2015 — how many years, and why 'c.'?
3) How can an interval CHALLENGE a claim? Example.
4) Who decides when 'the Victorian era' starts? Why does it matter?
Key Question: Someone claims: 'Middlesbrough sprang up overnight.' The dates themselves can prove them wrong. How?
Groups: 📍 DATE (fixed point), 🗂️ PERIOD (named span), 📏 INTERVAL (measured gap). Sort: The bridge opened in 1911, It was built in the Edwardian era, 86 years after the railway, The furnace went cold in 2015, 165 years of iron-making, The post-war chemical boom, Two generations lived through it, The 1901 census was taken that spring
Draw lines to match:
'The town grew overnight' · 'Docks came at once' · 'Iron followed the rail instantly' · 'Iron-making lasted forever' · 'The closure is ancient history' · 'A Victorian bridge'
1829→1901: 72 years of census growth · 1825→1850: 25 years apart · 1830→1842: a 12-year gap · 1911 — Edwardian, not Victorian · c.1850→2015: 165 years — long, not forever · 2015→now: inside living memory
date, gap, years, between, before, after, era
"The gap between ___ and ___ is ___ years." | "___ happened in the ___ era."
Claim: quote it. Anchor: two dates. Interval: the measured gap. Verdict: "The claim fails/holds because…"
"I define ___ as ___–___ because…" | "The label includes ___ but excludes ___, which matters because…" | "An alternative periodisation would be…"
| Tool | What it claims | Local example |
|---|---|---|
| 📍 DATE | A fixed point | The bridge opened in 1911 |
| 🗂️ PERIOD | A named span of years | It was built in the Edwardian era |
| 📏 INTERVAL | The measured gap — and what it implies | 86 years after the railway |
⚡ The GROW move: an interval is an ARGUMENT. Anyone can state a date. Measuring the gap and reading what it means is the historian’s work.
Victorian 1837–1901 · Edwardian 1901–1910 · Inter-war 1918–1939 · Post-war 1945 onwards
So the Transporter Bridge (1911) is Edwardian by a whisker, not Victorian — a period label is a claim you can be wrong about.
| From → to | Gap | What it tests |
|---|---|---|
| 1825 → 1850 | 25 years | “Iron followed the rail instantly” |
| 1830 → 1842 | 12 years | “Docks came at once” |
| 1829 → 1901 | 72 years | “The town grew overnight” |
| 1850 → 2015 | 165 years | “Iron-making lasted forever” |
Centuries, if you need them: first two digits + 1. 1825 → 19th, 1911 → 20th, 2015 → 21st. The rule holds for every year on our timeline.
🛑 SUBTRACTING ACROSS A CENTURY?
Do not try to hold it in your head. Break the jump at the round year:
1825 → 1911. 1825 to 1900 is 75. 1900 to 1911 is 11. 75 + 11 = 86 years.
Two small sums beat one big one, and you can show your working.
❓ I HAVE THE NUMBER. WHAT DO I SAY ABOUT IT?
A gap on its own is arithmetic. Turn it into history with one of these:
➔ “___ years is too long for ‘straight away’ — something was waiting.”
➔ “___ years is short enough that one caused the other.”
➔ “___ years is within living memory, so people still remember it.”
🔤 Words I might need: chronology · date · period · interval · anchor · pace · periodisation · challenge
Anchor & Measure
1) Place the 6 events on the timeline.
2) Interval A: between ______ and ______ = ______ years.
3) Interval B: between ______ and ______ = ______ years.
Chronology & Challenge
1) Full chronology with intervals marked:
2) My claim card says:
3) Challenge: "This claim fails/holds because the interval shows…"
Challenge ×2 + Periodise
1) Two interval-challenges, fully written:
2) My period label for Teesside's story, with dates and defence:
3) One event my label EXCLUDES, and why that's a fair cost:
1) What is an interval?
2) Railway 1825 → ironstone 1850: how many years?
3) Which era: 1837–1901?
Space → Voice → Audience → Influence. The adult’s first job is Space: regulate before you educate.
| Space | The class chronology lives on the wall — anyone may propose a re-anchor with evidence, any day. |
| Voice | Challenge one claim on the Claims Board using an interval — challenges are the point, not cheek. |
| Audience | Your strongest interval-challenge is read to the BUILD class as their stretch example. |
| Influence | Vote which claim Week 2 investigates with real sources — the winner sets next week's archive. |
Closing the loop: this one ends on paper — your own hand, or your words scribed by an adult. Saying it aloud starts the loop; writing it is what closes it. Pass is always allowed.
What I said, and what it changed:
Keep with your book / folder.
| Pupil name: | Date: |
| WWW (What Went Well): | |
| EBI (Even Better If): | |
| Level worked at: Supported / Standard / Stretch | Evidence filed: Yes / Not yet |
| Authorship — what I chose or decided myself: | |
| Support given — prepared / scribed / modelled / hand-over-hand: | |
| Pupil response — my next step: | |
1) Use an interval to challenge 'the town grew overnight'.
2) Why is 'c.1850' more honest than '1850' sometimes?
3) A 'Victorian' bridge from 1911 — what's the error?
1) How do intervals refine causation claims?
2) Who decides period labels, and what turns on it?
3) Defend or attack: 'the Iron Century, 1850–1950' as a period for Teesside.
GROW Humanities · Week 1 · Time Detectives
Add your class once — names stay on this device only, and every Made by Matt lesson on it shares the list. Band each pupil so questions are tier-matched.
Pass is always allowed — passing still counts as taking part.