A smart task based on an original idea from Lorna Hunter, of Swanmore Technology College.

This deceptively simple example of a familiar technique takes students from the known to the unknown. They begin by annotating all they can see in the picture, available on the downloadable PowerPoint.  Layers of inference are then built into the task which concludes by offering students a satisfyingly detailed provenance and improved skills when it comes to a similar inference activity.

Resources

 

Credits

I am grateful to the Wellcome Trust for granting permission to use the historical image from their website.

Lesson or enquiryHistorical focus
Teaching GCSE thematically: 10 approaches that really workPlanning and teaching thematic history
Teaching the history of medicineOverview and planning
Anachronism-spotting activity set in 1796Chronology and identifying anachronisms
Renaissance physicians: is the artist taking the piss?Interpreting images of Renaissance medicine
Medieval medicine: what can we work out from the picture?Drawing inferences from visual evidence
Revision: name your best squadRevising and selecting significant individuals
Why was there so much opposition to Jenner’s ideas on vaccination in the 19th century?Explaining opposition to vaccination
18th-century surgerySurgery before modern breakthroughs
Penicillin: from discovery to worldwide use – who should take the credit?Assessing contributions to medical progress
Changes in late 19th-century surgery: can contextual clues reveal when this picture was painted?Using contextual knowledge to interpret evidence
Who mattered most in medieval medicine? Who would you have on your textbook front cover from 1500?Evaluating historical significance
How did John Snow make the breakthrough with cholera?Explaining a public health breakthrough
The impact of the theory of the four humours on medicine: the case of the three tadpoles!Medical beliefs and their influence
Who deserves to be remembered as the inventor of vaccination: Jenner or Jesty?Significance, recognition and competing claims
Vesalius’ claim to fame: using the B.A.D formula to prepare for a BBC interviewExplaining Vesalius’ contribution to medicine
Prehistoric medicine: getting your GCSE course off to a great startIntroducing the history of medicine
GCSE questions on Renaissance medicineDeveloping examination answers
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