Time Sense in History: Elements, Maps, Charts, Layer Charts

Time Sense in History: Elements, Maps, Charts, Layer Charts!

A history teacher finds the task of cultivation of time and space sense and imagination development amongst his pupils as the most complicated and a difficult problem. Time and space being two most abstract concepts in history.

All the events of history have occurred at a definite place and a definite time so history devoid of the sense of time and place is nothing but a story, similarly, development of historical imagination is also an equally important task.

A history teacher should therefore try to develop among the pupils the capacity to see every historical event in its time perspective.

Time sense refers to the capacity through which we are able to establish a lively relationship between the various events. In fact, time is focal point or some definite point. It helps in understanding the flow of various events of society in the order they come to pass.

Elements of Time Sense:

Location, distance and duration are the three elements which constitute time relations.

(a) The Location of Time:

Most of the historical facts are localized and not indefinite. Location of an event refers to its placing on the long line of time so that it may enable as to measure its distance from us. By location we mean determining the events with the help of dates and periods. For having a time sense we have following agencies:

(a) Time chart, (b) Time line, and (c) Time graph.

(b) Time Chart:

It consists of a list of pictures pasted on it (paper or chart) indicating the description of a particular dynasty. Following lines clarify this point:

“The main use of time chart is to provide a chronological frame­work within which events and developments may be recorded and to guard against the vagueness of time sense which may result from teaching arranged, often necessarily by ‘topics’ rather than by ‘reigns’.”

Panorama charts depicts one event of one century e.g. to depicts 19th century we may depicts First War for independence, of 1857.

Time charts be drown on certain scale, they should be attractive and drawn in a scientific manner.

(c) Time Line:

It is quite helpful in developing time sense in an effective and easy way. It provides the pupils a scientific knowledge about the dates of history.

Time line is prepared to represent a few dates carefully selected. Time lines may be either progressive time line or Regressive time line.

To draw a time line following procedure is generally followed:

Draw a line 20 centimeters long to represent a century and divide it into ten equal parts which will indicate units of ten years.

The figure for each unit of 10 years will be written on the left side of the line. On the right side, the dates which are considered most important will be marked at suitable points.

(d) Time Graph:

It is also used for development of time sense. It can be used for making a comparative study of certain events. It can also be used to show the comparative down fall of two dynasties.

In drawing a time graph, we may take a line of 3 to 4 centimeters in length. Each centimeter may indicate 10 years and so this line shall indicate 3 to 4 centuries. We can sort out certain dates on this line. On special dates and places, certain straight or perpendicular lines may be drawn. They should be indicative of the development of the English Rule in the Indian sub-continent.

Requisites of time line and time graph following are the requisites of time line and time graph:

(1) Time line and time graphs should be drawn with great caution. An attempt should be made to see that the dates are accurate. While drawing graphs, it should be borne in mind that the line does not go very high.

(2) Time line and time graph should be artistically drawn. Ill-drawn figures shall scare away the students from history. If these graphs are nicely drawn, the students shall be attracted towards them and they shall try to look at them carefully.

(3) The students should be associated with drawing of these figures.

(4) These things should be explained elaborately to the students. Their explanation is difficult than their drawing. Aims of these things are to develop time sense in the students and therefore, their explanation should be properly done.

Since this is a difficult task, only those teachers who are interested in the teaching of history can do these things properly.

Walls of the history class or the ‘history laboratory’ should be decorated with these time charts and time graphs. They shall provide decorative as well as study material for the students.

The teachers should put questions to the students in regard to these devices.

Forms of the Time Line Charts Time line charts may be of the following forms: or walking a mile down the road has a line of physical reality denied to the thirty minutes which it may take a child to walk a mile down”. The teaching of place relations will, however, require ingenuity and strenuous effort on the part of the teacher. For this purpose h j can make use of various devices such as maps, place charts, layer charts etc.

Maps:

Map is the most commonly used symbol for the representation of space. It shows location, direction, distance; extent, area, land and water forms. It conveys information about distribution of people, animal and vegetable life, climate, economic resources, etc. It also indicates the extent of territories, areas of political control, routes of movement of armies, travels, and so on.

It also helps us in visualizing important historical happenings which would not have been possible for us to understand they appreciate properly from their oral and written accounts. Thus maps are the sure means of concretising historical happenings and help in the understanding of the historical phenomena with reference to their place of occurrence from their very birth children being to experience persons and objects around them.

They note their size, location, differences and relationships and meanings in order to deal with them successfully. Maps give expression to these through visual symbols. From the very beginning of their school instruction pupils should be initiated in the art of drawing maps. First of all the teacher should try to make the pupil familiar with general lay out of the map drawing.

He should give them the idea of directions, scale and other symbols. After this preliminary knowledge pupils should be asked to draw map of their own locality and in this way as the area of their experience widens they will take to the drawing of the sketch maps of their town, their province, their country and finally of the world. But at every stage the need is that they got a clear understanding of location’ distance and direction.

Place charts:

The concept of distance and direction can be greatly clarified by drawing lines from their home town or from a particular place of historical occurrence. We may call this resulting diagram a place chart. It may be constructed within a blackboard or on the outline map of a country or of the world or as lines without any map. Exercises of this kind help the pupils to have an idea of the distances and directions of the places mentioned in the history lesson. They also help the pupils to have an idea of “Where he is in history while he is there”.

Layer charts:

It is an interesting device for showing the growth of a kingdom or an empire. For this a thick paper of the same size of the map is taken and the portion under each rule is cut. These papers may be pinned or stitched in one side, one over the other and thereby will show the territories under each ruler over the other. By lifting each sheet and then allowing it to fall, the pupils would get a good idea of the addition made by a ruler or the loss suffered by him in regard to territories.