How+to+create+a+Timeline

HOW TO CREATE A TIMELINE


 * Purpose**: When studying history it is often useful to summarize a complex story by putting all the events on a timeline. It makes it easier to understand.

However, it is not enough to make a chronological list of events. A true timeline looks like a number line first, then the events are added. We need to see not only the order in which they occurred, but the gaps of time between and how things overlapped as well.


 * Follow the steps:** Otherwise you end up starting over several times, and it is hard to get the spacing precise. It is also important that it all fit on one sheet of paper so you can see the patterns.


 * How To Do This:**

1. Write a Title (the content of the timeline. Timeline is not a good title.)

2. Make a list of events with dates. This can be in random order. It won't matter.

3. Draw a line on a separate piece of paper; mark off near the left end and the right end.

4. Look at your list of events to decide what years are first and last. Round off to decades (10 year spans) or centuries (100 year spans). Label the left and right marks with the first and last year you need to show. (example: 500 B.C. not 476 B.C. )

5. Divide up the line evenly into decades or centuries, depending on what you are showing. In our class it is usually centuries. Label the centuries. Now what you have should look like a number line.

6. Place the events from your list on the correct part of your timeline using long, straight arrows. You need to use a ruler for this. Wavy or crooked lines that wander around are not easy to read. Keep the words away from the line - use all the white space on the paper.

DO NOT SKIP STEPS. It is obvious when you do, and it makes finding patterns difficult.