Prehistory: The Story of the First Humans

Overview:

Prehistory: The Story of the First Humans contains six reading passages as PDF’s and Google Forms quizzes, the “Mystery Artifacts” activity, a Jeopardy-style online review game, and a summative exam. Each passage is written at three difficulty levels in order to accommodate students reading anywhere between grades 3-7. Each passage include ten comprehension questions and an answer key.

Assigned as a whole, the passages give students an overview of early humans from their paleolithic beginnings up to the rise of the first organized civilizations.

Plan on nine instructional sections of approximately 45 minutes each to cover the content in its entirety.

What You'll Get:

Jeopardy-Style Online Review Game

This Jeopardy-style review game can be played with up to three teams. It is based upon the reading passages, and covers all material on the unit exam.

“Mystery Artifacts!” Activity

In this activity, students make observations and hypotheses about mystery artifacts. It can be done as a group or independent activity, and takes approximately 45 minutes.

Summative Exam

Passage 1: Lucy, Forty Years Later (RL 3, 5, and 7)

This science journal-style article describes the discovery of the australopithecus Afarensis known as Lucy. In it, students will learn about: 

· Who Lucy is and why she is important 
· The difference between australopithecus Afarensis and humans 
· The archaelogical work that helped uncover Lucy

Students will test their understanding by answering 9 multiple-choice questions and 1 written response question.

Vocabulary: anthropologist • isolated • critical • ancestor • hominid 

Passage 2: The First Humans (RL 3, 5, and 7)

This informational text introduces students to the lives of paleolithic humans. Students will learn about: 

· The hunter-gatherer lifestyle 
· How artifacts are used to make hypotheses about early humans 
· How toolmaking changed the course of human history

Students will test their understanding by answering 9 multiple-choice questions and 1 written response question.

Vocabulary: artifacts • paleolithic era • hunter-gatherers • megafauna• neolithic era 

Passage 3: Are You Smarter than a Caveman? A Debate (RL 3, 5, and 7)

This debate-style passage introduces students to two perspectives on Neanderthal intelligence. Students will learn about: 

· How persuasive writing uses evidence to convince the reader 
· Why prehuman tools are evidence of intelligence 
· How prehuman art helps us understand the Neanderthal worldview

Students will test their understanding by answering 9 multiple-choice questions and 1 written response question.
Vocabulary: disproven • stereotype • Neanderthal • innovation • ideal 

Passage 4: Prehistoric Art: Gazing into the Minds of Early Humans (RL 3, 5, and 7)

This informational passage describes how we can study prehistoric art in order to learn about how early humans viewed the world and themselves. Students will learn about: 

· Where and when the first cave paintings were discovered 
· The subject matter and techniques used in cave paintings 
· The possible purposes that cave art might have served for early humans

Students will test their understanding by answering 9 multiple-choice questions and 1 written response question.

Students will test their understanding by answering 9 multiple-choice questions and 1 written response question.

Vocabulary: intriguing • weathering • depict • engraving • infer 

Passage 5: The Neolithic Revolution (RL 3, 5, and 7)

This informational text describes how humans transitioned from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a sedentary lifestyle via the Neolithic Revolution. Students will learn about: 

· Why the Neolithic Revolution occurred over many generations 
· How human life changed after the Neolithic Revolution 
· The evidence that anthropologists study to learn about the Neolithic Revolution

Students will test their understanding by answering 9 multiple-choice questions and 1 written response question.

Vocabulary: revolution • Neolithic Revolution • nomad • sedentary • cultivate 

Passage 6: How Our People Tamed the Animals (RL 3, 5, and 7)

This historical fiction passage is told from the perspective of a neolithic grandfather. He tells the story of how his people domesticated animals. In it, students will learn about: 

· The transition from the Ice Age to the post-Ice Age period 
· The methods humans used to domesticate animals 
· The advantages of animal domestication

Students will test their understanding by answering 9 multiple-choice questions and 1 written response question.

Vocabulary: Ice Age • megafauna • domestication • recede • offspring