Humanities Aut 1 · 2026–27 · Enquiry: Which causes were decisive, contributing or background?
| Key Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| Decisive cause | The outcome turns on it |
| Contributing cause | Adds weight; outcome shrinks without it |
| Background cause | Scene-setting; barely missed |
| Steel-manning | The rival's best case, honestly made |
| Balance of probabilities | History's standard of proof |
| Dependency | Which cause requires which |
1) Name two spectrum positions.
2) Motive, condition, trigger — name the EVENT kind.
3) Give one condition behind Tees migration.
4) In a courtroom, who tests the evidence?
1) Name one weighting discount.
2) Decisive, contributing, background — order them by weight.
3) The counterfactual question is…?
4) Why is 'many causes' a weak answer?
1) Why are undermining sources gifts?
2) What standard of proof suits historical causation?
3) Post hoc ergo propter hoc — the error?
4) Why give the strongest rival cause its best case first?
Key Question: On trial: 'What made Middlesbrough boom?' Three defendants claim the credit — the ore, the rail, the people. Only one can be DECISIVE. Court is now in session.
Groups: 🥇 DECISIVE, 🥈 CONTRIBUTING, 🥉 BACKGROUND. Sort: ⛏️ Ironstone under the Eston Hills, 🚂 The Stockton–Darlington line, 👪 Mass migrant labour arriving, 💷 Bolckow's investment capital, 🌍 Britain's general industrial rise, ⚓ The navigable Tees itself, 🏛️ Stable national government, 📉 Hardship in the sending regions
Draw lines to match:
🛡️ Steel-manning · 🔮 Counterfactual · ⚖️ Comparison case · ⏰ Post hoc check · 📜 Balance ruling · 🔗 Dependency trace
Remove the cause; watch the outcome · Which cause needs which — the arrow's direction · After ≠ because — sequence isn't proof · 'More likely than not…' — the verdict standard · A matched town that lacked the factor · The rival's best case, before you answer it
decisive, contributing, background, without, turned on, verdict
"Without ___, the boom would…" | "More likely than not, it turned on…"
Ranks: all factors placed. Test: counterfactual on the decisive. Rival: best case + answer. Ruling: balance-of-probabilities sentence.
"The majority holds ___; I would rank ___ because ___" | "The crux is whether ___" | "On that crux, the evidence of ___ persuades me to sign ___"
A rank is not how big a cause feels. It is what is left when you take the cause away.
| Rank | Remove it and… | Say it like this |
|---|---|---|
| DECISIVE | the outcome collapses or transforms | “Without ___, the boom would not have come at all.” |
| CONTRIBUTING | the outcome shrinks, slows or shifts | “Without ___, it still comes — later and smaller.” |
| BACKGROUND | the story barely stumbles | “Without ___, little changes.” |
⚖ Steel-man — give the rival cause its best barrister, then answer it. 🔍 Comparison — other ore towns without rail or people: what happened there? ⚖ Balance ruling — “More likely than not, the outcome turned on…”
The counterfactual sentence: “Without ___, the boom would ___.” Run it on your decisive card before you write anything else.
Rank & Rule
1) My ranks (D / C / B for each card):
2) Counterfactual on my decisive:
3) Ruling: "More likely than not, the boom turned on…"
The Written Judgment
1) Full ranking with one-line reasons:
2) Counterfactual test:
3) Steel-manned rival + answer:
4) Balance-of-probabilities ruling:
Majority + Dissent
1) Majority judgment (summary):
2) The dissent, with its own counterfactual:
3) The crux, named:
4) My signature + reason:
1) Name the three ranks.
2) The counterfactual removes a cause to see…?
3) What standard of proof did we use?
Space → Voice → Audience → Influence. The adult’s first job is Space: regulate before you educate.
| Space | The courtroom layout is yours to arrange — bench, counsel tables, exhibit stand; the room serves the trial. |
| Voice | Verdicts are DELIVERED, not handed in — every judge reads their ruling from the bench, pass to written-only allowed. |
| Audience | The GCSE class upstairs receives your judgments as their causation models — write for those readers. |
| Influence | The docket vote: which archive mystery does Week 3 interrogate? Nature, origin and purpose await your pick. |
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) Why steel-man the rival cause?
2) Give the post hoc error in one line.
3) Rule on the rail's rank in one sentence.
1) Trace one dependency arrow between causes.
2) What makes a dissent 'credible'?
3) Which ruling would you sign, and on what crux?
LAUNCH Humanities · Week 2 · Cause and Consequence Courtroom
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.