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The Moon Landing, 1969
Exploring evidence - drawing inferences
from historical sources
http://pdst.ie/postprimary

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The documents-based study
• There will be much greater use of source
materials especially in the teaching of the
case studies
• It is important that there should be variety
in the selection of historical sources to be
used (G12)

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Case studies
• Case studies involve an in-depth
investigation of a particularly significant or
representative aspect of an element of the
topic (S11)
• What makes a particular event historically
significant?

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Five R’s for dealing with historical
significance
• Remarkable
• Remembered
• Resonant
• Resulting in change
• Revealing

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Topic 6: The Moon Landing, 1969
Associated elements
• Advances in military, space and information
technology
• US foreign policy, 1945-1972: Berlin, Korea,
Cuba, Vietnam
Associated key concepts
• Technological development; the military
industrial complex
Associated key personality
• Lyndon Johnson, Norman Mailer

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Enquiry question
Why was the USA the first country to put a
man on the moon?

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Syllabus Learning Outcome
Students should be able to draw conclusions
from historical sources and use these
conclusions to help form judgements on
historical issues (S10)

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Layers of inference
• Documents can be very revealing of the events,
attitudes and mores of a period.
• There are layers of meaning in documents, some
of which may not be immediately obvious to
students.
• This exercise invites students to climb into a
source to search not only for what the source tells
us but what can be inferred from the source.

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Layers of inference
What does the source tell me?
source

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What can be inferred from the source?
What does the source tell me?
Autumn 2007, The United States and the world, 1945-1989,www.pdst.ie
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Layers of inference
source

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What doesn’t the source tell me?
What can be inferred from the source?
What does the source tell me?
Autumn 2007, The United States and the world, 1945-1989, www.pdst.ie
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Layers of inference
source

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What other questions are posed by this source?
What doesn’t this source tell me?
What can be inferred from the source?
What does the source tell me?
Autumn 2007, The United States and the world, 1945-1989, www.pdst.ie
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Layers of inference
source

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Inferring from photographs
• Comprehension – list all you see in the
photograph/diagram
• Interpretation – list three things that could be
inferred from this photograph
• Wider context
– Decisions made by the photographer
– Events surrounding the scene
– Any questions raised

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Use of photographs (see worksheet)

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Apollo 11 astronauts transfer to the launch site

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Task
accomplished…..
July, 1969

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President Nixon talks to the astronauts in quarantine

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“American Know-
How”
July 17 1969
“Louisville Courier
Journal”
Cartoonist:
Hugh Haynie

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Why was the USA the first country to put a man
on the moon?
The US felt
threatened by
Soviet advances
in the space race
Despite urban
poverty and criticism
from some
Americans, massive
spending continued
on the space
programme
The US was
seeking to take
the dominant
role in world
affairs
There were huge advances made in
science and technology
The US wanted a
dramatic success
in the space
programme
The USSR did not put as much
funding into their lunar
programme as the US
One small step…

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Why was the USA the first country to put a man
on the moon?
The US felt
threatened by
Soviet advances
in the space race
Despite urban
poverty and criticism
from some
Americans, massive
spending continued
on the space
programme
The US was
seeking to take
the dominant
role in world
affairs
The US had made big advances in
science and technology
The US
administration
wanted a dramatic
success in the
space programme
The USSR did not put as much
funding into their lunar
programme as the US
One small step…

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22
Why was the USA the first country to put a man
on the moon?
The US felt
threatened by
Soviet advances
in the space race
Despite urban
poverty and criticism
from some
Americans, massive
spending continued
on the space
programme
The US was
seeking to take
the dominant
role in world
affairs
The US had made big advances in
science and technology
The US wanted a
dramatic success
in the space
programme
The USSR did not put as much
funding into their lunar
programme as the US
One small step…

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Why was the USA the first country to put a man
23
on the moon?
The US felt
threatened by
Soviet advances
in the space race
Despite urban
poverty and criticism
from some
Americans, massive
spending continued
on the space
programme
The US was
seeking to take
the dominant
role in world
affairs
The US had made big advances in science
and technology
The US wanted a
dramatic success
in the space
programme
The USSR did not put as much
funding into their lunar
programme as the US
One small step…

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Why was the USA the first country to put a man
24
on the moon?
The US felt
threatened by
Soviet advances
in the space race
Despite urban
poverty and criticism
from some
Americans, massive
spending continued
on the space
programme
The US was
seeking to take
the dominant
role in world
affairs
The US had made big advances in science
and technology
The US wanted a
dramatic success
in the space
programme
The USSR did not put as much
funding into their lunar
programme as the US
One small step…

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www.pdst.ie
Document resources for LME 6
Khrushchev and Kennedy Johnson and Kennedy

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www.pdst.ie
Exemplar documents-based question
More exemplar
DBQs are available
on www.pdst.ie

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27
“In the Shadow of the Moon”
New documentary about the Apollo 11
Moon landing, on release from early
November, with re-mastered NASA archive
footage.
Promotional trailer, and other relevant
materials, can be accessed through
www.imdb.com/title/tt0925248/trailers

28. Fí s Foghlaim Fo rbai r t
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