1.3 Research project on your province

Social sciences: history

Grade 5

The story of your province

Module 4

Research project on your province

This is a self-study task to test your ability to apply sources. The exercise on Broederstroom beforehand will help a lot!

AN ARCHAEOLOGIST’S MAP OF BROEDERSTROOM

From : C. Malherbe (et al.), Nuwe leefwyse, Nuwe landskap , p. 32.

Archaeologists have found the remains of many villages which were built during the same period. Broederstroom was inhabited between A.D. 350 - 600. The site was discovered after a thorough search of the area by archaeologists linked to the University of the Witwatersrand. They found the remains of round houses with clay floors, the largest being about 6 m in diameter. Clay pots of different shapes and sizes were also found. Iron ore found lying nearby indicated that forging was done on the site. The environment of the Broederstroom site is bushy. There is sufficient water in the area, and there are grasslands within reach.

Activity:

To discover new facts and opinions

[lo 1.2]

(a) Study the above information and see if you can distinguish between fact and fiction.

(b) Study the sketches below and then explain the use of the objects to your friend. Supply the relevant facts.

(c) Cattle was very important to the early farmers. If you connect the words in column A and column B correctly, you will see why:

(d) Now draw your own sketches to indicate how the duties of women and men differed. (Hint: avoid opinions!)

SPECIAL!

These early farmers were skilled in the art of firing clay objects and in weaving. Design your own cooking pot from clay or a woven mat. Invite someone to demonstrate these crafts in class.

(e) Your teacher is going to give you a short research assignment on your province.

Assessment

LO 1

HISTORICAL ENQUIRY The learner will be to use enquiry skills to investigate the past and present.

We know this when the learner:

1.1 finds sources:

with guidance, selects sources useful for finding information on the past (e.g. oral, written and visual sources, including maps, graphs and tables, objects, buildings, monuments, museums);

1.2 works with sources:

records and categorises information from a variety of sources (e.g. oral, written and visual sources, including maps, graphs and tables, objects, buildings, monuments, museums);

1.3 answers the question:

• continues to use information from sources to answer questions about people, events, objects, and places in the past.

Memorandum

ACTIVITY

a) Opinion: North West Province (previously South-Western Transvaal)

Fact

Opinion: North-Westerly direction

Fact

Opinion: Floors and foundations remain intact

b) 1. Cultivator

2. Hoarding place (maize, wheat)

3. Axe head

c) Cattle: Wealth and status

Meat: Meal

Hide: Clothing and shields

Horn: Containers

Dung: Plastering clay

d) Men: Hunt, look after the cattle, protect family and belongings, plough, manufacture weapons, build huts

Women: Gatherers, tillers, potters, plait baskets and mats, prepare food, keep the huts clean, plant and harvest, repair roofs.