MARYLAND HISTORY DAY PREASSESSMENT
Maryland History Day gives you a chance a chance to be a historian and research a
topic that you are passionate about. Test out you historical thinking skills now, and
see how they develop as you work on your project! You can also take this quiz
online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7DPGNGR. It will be returned to your
teacher by Maryland History Day staff.
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Name________________________________________________________
School_______________________________________________________
Teacher_______________________________________________________
Grade________________________________________________________
Is this your first time participating in Maryland History Day? Yes No
6. Which best describes your feelings about learning history?
a. strongly dislike it
b. dislike it
c. no opinion
d. like it
e. love it!
7. Have you ever used sources from the Library of Congress online
(www.loc.gov?) Yes No
8. Have you ever conducted a Social Studies research project before? Yes No
9. What is a primary source?
a. A book for young readers
b. A document created well after a historic event has taken place, a
second-hand account
c. A document created at the time that a historic event was taking place,
a first-hand account
d. The most frequently used source from a particular time period
10.What is a secondary source?
a. A book for older readers
b. A document created well after a historic event has taken place, a
second-hand account
c. A document created at the time that a historic event was taking place,
a first-hand account
d. A less frequently used source from a particular time period
11. Imagine that you are doing a project on the Fire of Baltimore in 1904.
Which of these is a primary source that you could use?
a. A biography of Mayor Robert McLane, written in 1932
b. A Wikipedia article about the fire
c. A textbook entry about the fire
d. A photograph of Baltimore, the day after the fire.
12.Imagine that you are doing a project on the Chesapeake Bay Oyster Wars of
the 1880s. Which of these is a secondary source you could use?
a. An drawing published in the Richmond Star the morning after a boat
captain was killed
b. An article in the Baltimore Sun, remembering the hundredth
anniversary of the Oyster Wars
c. A diary of an involved police officer
d. A boat built during the Oyster Wars
13. Which of the following is the best thesis for a Maryland History Day
project about the Baltimore Fire?
a. The Baltimore Fire of 1904 burned most of the city
b. The Baltimore Fire of 1904 destroyed the city, but led to advances in
fire prevention technology and city planning
c. Robert McLane was the mayor of Baltimore during the Fire of 1904
d. The Baltimore Fire happened on a cold night in February of 1904