History Mystery
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 1.4ACTIVITY HISTORY MYSTERY1Unless otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Credit: “History Mystery”, OER Project, https://www.oerproject.com/PurposePiecing together evidence to tell a story will help you understand how historians use different disciplines to construct a narrative.ProcessHow would you solve the mysterious death of Otzi, a 5,300-year-old mummy found in the Alps mountain range in Europe? The only clues you have are within Otzi’s body.1.First, take a guess at how you think Otzi may have died.2.Watch Albert Zink’s A 5,300-Year-Old Murder Mystery, a TED-Ed video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRa0Gi_mRjs). Don’t just watch the video—be an investigator gathering “clues.” Write down as many clues as you can, as well as a description of the information that was gathered from those clues.ClueDescription
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 1.4ACTIVITY HISTORY MYSTERY23.Many scientists and scholars were consulted to understand all the clues and figure out what happened to Otzi. What types of scholars might you ask for help in analyzing these clues? Review the Disciplines Chartif you need to review the disciplines.Discipline 1Discipline 2Discipline 34.Read the short essay “What Will We Leave Behind?” As you read, think about the amount of information we are now able to record and store, compared to how little we had to go on when studying Otzi.5.After you finish reading the essay, respond to thisprompt: In the year 7325, what type of experts do you think will be needed to piece together the story of the era in which we currently live?