Break has just finished. The yard still holds clues about what happened there.

What do you think break has left behind in our yard?

Let's find out what the yard can tell us about break, and how we look for it.

1. Look for traces of break: something left behind, a mark on the ground, or something moved.
2. For each trace, write what you see and what it suggests happened. Do not touch it.
3. Circle how sure you are: sure, fairly sure, or a guess.

Back in class: what traces of break did we record today? What kind of trace is each one?

Then we set the traces beside memory: what we remember of break.

• Where do they match?
• Where do they differ?
• What can neither tell us?

We talk about what happened, and never name anyone.

Here are five made-up statements about a break in another school's yard.

Which box does each card belong in?

• the yard shows it
• only somebody who was there could tell us
• nobody could tell us now

Why is that box the best fit?

We found that the yard can show some of what happened at break, that people who were there can add what the yard cannot show, and that some things neither the yard nor memory can settle now. How sure we are depends on the evidence, not on how likely a story sounds.

Talk about this: if historians only had the traces we recorded and no memories at all, what part of break would they still get right, and what would they miss?