Topic 3
AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION
HUNTER-GATHERS AND EARLY FARMERS
Survival & Settlement
Unit 1, Topic 3 - Curriculum Guide
TABLE OF contents
Topic 3 Overview....................................................................................................................................................................................................1
Unit 1, Topic 3 - Goal, GLE's & Description..........................................................................................................................................................2
Ancillary Content
Essential Content
Homework: Prior Knowledge - What Did You Learn in Topic 2?.......................................................................................................................3
Lesson Activity: Vocabulary Words.....................................................................................................................................................................4
Lesson Activity: Interpreting Graphical Data....................................................................................................................................................5
Compelling Questions
How Do I Read a Graph - Explanation
Graph Showing Historical Data
Lesson Activity: Completing the Graphic Organizer........................................................................................................................................6
Connection to Background Knowledge..............................................................................................................................................................7
What is Background Knowledge - Explanation
Stone Age Migration Path....................................................................................................................................................................................8
Map of Migration - Path of Early Humans
Lesson Activity: Homework - Map Skills Questions........................................................................................................................................9
Let's Talk, What Does "Neolithic" mean?.........................................................................................................................................................10
Lesson Activity - Videos - Neolithic Revolution...............................................................................................................................................11
Lesson Activity - Reading Assignment and Graphic Organizer .....................................................................................................................12
Article 1 - The Positive Effects of Agriculture..........................................................................................................................................13
Article 2 - The Neolithic Revolution..........................................................................................................................................................14
Article 3 - Hunters to Herders: Ancient Civilization Made Rapid Switch.............................................................................................15
Vocabulary
Pictures of Domesticated Animals
Lesson Activity: World Population Growth......................................................................................................................................................16
Graph of World Population Growth
Homework - Read the Passages & Answer the Questions in the Notebook...............................................................................................17
Unit 1, Topic 3 Developing a Claim
Lesson Activity: The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race...............................................................................................18
Lesson Activity: Pros and Cons..................................................................................................................................................................19
Lesson Activity: Stating Your Claim.................................................................................................................................................................20
Summative Performance Task.........................................................................................................................................................................21
Unit 1, Topic 3 - Overview
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Topic 3 Description: In our last Topic, we covered the transition of early humans from mostly hunting and gathering in the Paleolithic Period to the Agricultural Revolution in the Neolithic Period. We also learned how people lived before farming. Students will be able to identify changes in technology and climate that made farming possible. Students will explore how people lived in early agricultural settlements. Students will be expected to demonstrate their understanding by writing an extended response answering the following question: How did farming change the way people live?
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Unit 1 Description: The most important lesson for students to learn in this unit and all units, after this one, is the survival or downfall of civilizations. Civilizations is the underlying theme of Ancient History. Where did we, as humans, come from, how did we get here, how did our ancestors survive and thrive in ancient times. We will investigate how scientists explore and research the past and how geography and climate play a major role in where humans settle. Students will develop an understanding of the hunter-gatherer societies of the Paleolithic Age and how their inventions led to the development of permanent settlements and the foundations for civilization. Primary and secondary sources will be used to analyze how hunter-gatherers used these tools to help them in their daily lives.
Unit 1, Topic 3 - Goal, GLE's and Description
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Topic 3: Goal
In completing this task, students meet the expectations for social studies GLE's 6.1.1, 6.2.1, 6.3.4, 6.4.1-3. They also meet the expectations for ELA/Literacy Standards: SL.6.4-6, WHST.6.2a-f, WHST.6.4-5.
Formative Performance Task: Students will write a paragraph describing early agricultural societies (Neolithic Age) and comparing them to characteristics of Paleolithic people.
Summative Assessment: For students to write a multi-paragraph essay to answer the Topic Claim, "How did farming change the way people live?" Have students use the Social Studies Extended Response Rubric to help guide their writing. Note: Customize the Content portion of the rubric for this assessment. Use the Claims portion of the rubric as written. Use the Social Studies Extended Response Rubric to grade this assessment.
Topics (GLEs) for this unit & pacing: Approximately 4 Weeks
Topic 3: Approximately 7 class periods
Connections to the Unit Claim
Students will learn about how early human societies were transformed by the Agricultural Revolution in order to develop and support a claim explaining how environmental changes impact human life and settlement.
To Explore These Key Questions
What role did agriculture play in the development of permanent civilizations?
How did humans live before the Neolithic period?
How did environmental changes and new technologies affect the development of agriculture?
What were the characteristics of early agricultural societies?
Was the development of agriculture ultimately positive or negative for early human civilizations?
Students will successfully complete each standard in Topic 3. (This means you will complete the following lists of things) GLE’s are listed below:
Essential Content
6.2.1 Analyze the relationship between geographical features and early settlement patterns using maps and globes.
Use maps and globes to compare geographical features, early human migration routes, and areas of settlement to draw conclusions about the relationship between settlement patterns and geographical features.
6.2.2 Examine how the achievements of early humans led to the development of civilization.
Identify the characteristics of civilizations (large population centers, monumental architecture and unique art, writing and record keeping, complex institutions, specialization/complex division of labor, and social classes/structures).
Describe the life of early humans (organization in social groups, obtaining food, diet, dangers and difficulties of everyday life).
Explain how the lives of early humans were affected by their achievements (mastery over fire, development of spoken language, invention and use of tools and technology, development of agriculture and domestication, religious beliefs and rituals, artistic expression).
Analyze the importance of the Neolithic/Agricultural Revolution (the wide-scale transition from nomadic, hunting and gathering to a settled, agrarian life) to the development of civilization.
Explain how the Neolithic era/agricultural revolution changed society (permanent settlements, social classes, animal domestication, new technology, social equality and gender roles).
Explain the benefits and drawbacks of a society based on hunting and one based on farming.
Compare and contrast hunter-gatherer and agricultural societies, including the benefits and drawbacks of each.
Explain the benefits and drawbacks of domesticating animals, and how animal domestication impacted society. 5 Social Studies Companion Document 6th Grade
Describe early settlements such as Catalhoyuk or Jarmo, and their characteristics (settlement dwellings, use of mounds, relationships between dwellings and society, and the achievements of settled societies using farming, tools, religion, and social structure). Explain how these early settlements begin to reflect the characteristics of a civilization.
6.3.4 Determine world migration patterns and population trends by interpreting maps, charts, and graphs.
Use maps, charts, and graphs to analyze trends in climate and population, and draw conclusions about ways climate affected early humans.
Use maps to determine the migration patterns of early humans from Africa to other continents, including migration across the Bering land bridge.
Ancillary Content
6.1.1 Produce clear and coherent writing for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences by completing the following tasks:
Conducting historical research
Evaluating a broad variety of primary and secondary sources
Comparing and contrasting varied points of view
Determining the meaning of words and phrases from historical texts
Using technology to research, produce, or publish a written product
6.1.3 Analyze information in primary and secondary sources to address document-based questions
Describe the work and contribution to historical study of archaeologists, geologists, and climatologists.
Analyze artifacts and secondary sources from the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic, Stone Age-Old/New Stone Age, Bronze Age to answer questions about the achievements of early humans.
View artifacts and explain what they reveal about the activities of early humans.
6.1.4 Identify and compare measurements of time in order to understand historical chronology.
Compare/contrast measurements of time including years, decades, centuries, millenniums, time periods, eras, and events.
Examine timelines of key Unit 1 content recognizing measurements of time, sequencing, chronology, location, distance, and duration.
Define terms related to measurements of time and chronology (B.C.E./B.C., C.E./A.D., circa or c., prehistoric/prehistory).
Homework: What Did You Learn in Topic 2?
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Directions for Homework: Before we start the new topic, take a minute to write about what you have learned so far. Use complete sentences in your writing. Try to fill these pages with the new knowledge you have gained. Celebrating YOU!
Lesson Activity: Vocabulary Words
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DIRECTIONS:
Go to your NOTEBOOK to define your vocabulary words. These words will be discussed during this topic.
Lesson Activity: Interpreting Graphical Data
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Compelling Questions: What role did agriculture play in the development of permanent civilizations? Was the development of agriculture ultimately positive or negative for early human civilizations?
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In the previous task, we learned how early humans were impacted by their climate and how they adapted to their environment. We will continue examining how environmental changes impacted people moving forward. Although scientists and archaeologists are still debating the extent to which climate changes contributed to the development of agriculture, it is important to understand that agriculture started during a period of increasing temperatures as we learned in our last Topic. The chart uses the average global temperature today as a baseline to make comparisons to other points in history.
Examine the data in the Graph showing historical temperature data since 18,000 BCE. Answer the Question in your NOTEBOOK. Question: What trends in temperature do you see across time?
DIRECTIONS:
Go to your NOTEBOOK to answer the question on this page about the following graph.
How Do I Read a Graph?
Read below to understand how to read the graph. Once you know how to read a graph, you can answer the questions.
First, let's look at the TITLE, what does it say. The TITLE tells us WHAT we will see in the graph. Next, look at the numbers at the BOTTOM of the graph, they indicate the YEAR in thousands. (The years are on the HORIZONTAL AXIS) So, 18 means 18,000 years; 12 is 12,000 years; 6 is 6,000 years; all the way to the year 0. Zero starts the Common Era (CE) Era. All years before CE are Before the Common Era (BCE). Next, look at the numbers to the LEFT of the graph, these numbers indicate the change in temperatures in "degrees Celsius." (These numbers are on the VERTICAL AXIS) Notice the numbers written -4 and -2, these are negative numbers and are located below the "0." The -2 means 2 degrees below 0. In simple terms, this means it is really COLD. The numbers above "0," means the temperatures are rising and getting a little warmer. Now, is 1 degree above "0," warm? No, No it is not, but as the numbers go up it is getting warmer. You are now ready to interpret (read) the graph, so look at the wavy line in the middle of the graph with the numbers on the side and bottom.
Lesson Activity:
Directions: Open your NOTEBOOK and answer the following question:
The Neolithic period started roughly 10 thousand years ago, at the end of the last ice age. According to this graph, how did the climate change during that time? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
The chart shows temperature change over the past 18,000 years. The horizontal axis indicates the years before the present (B.P.). The vertical axis shows changes in temperature from the current average global temperature.
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Go to your NOTEBOOK to answer the question.
Lesson Activity: Completing the Graphic Organizer
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Directions: Open your NOTEBOOK to complete this Agricultural Revolution Graphic Organizer. First, think about the articles you read in Topic 2 about the Neolithic Era of the Stone Age. People were starting to grow crops. Read the topics and fill in the chart in your NOTEBOOK. I will provide an example in your notebook for you. We will be talking about the pros and cons as we discuss the Agricultural Revolution. Right now there are no right or wrong answers, just what you think.
Pros: Means that there were positive things, good things about the topic. Can you think of anything positive for the first column entitled "PROS"?
Cons: Means that there were negative things, not good things about the topic. Can you think of anything negative for the second column entitled "CONS"?
Connection to Background Knowledge
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What is Background Knowledge? Well, it is information that you have already learned. In one of the last Lesson Activities that we did in Topic 2 we created a Timeline of the Paleolithic Era, Mesolithic Era, and Neolithic Era of the Stone Age. If you need to look at the article again, to answer the following question, go to page 28 of Unit 1, Topic 2. Question: What was the environment like in the last period of the Stone Age? Answer the question in your NOTEBOOK.
Stone Age Migration Paths
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NOTE: Wait, How Do I read this map? Well, no worries, look below. I have explained everything for you. You can now determine where people lived and to where they moved, starting with Africa.
OK, you have examined the Migration Maps above. Do you understand it? Do you still need help? Let's watch this video to see if it helps you to understand what you are looking at on the maps. After you watch the video and you still don't get it, ask your teacher.
While you watch this video, look at where the arrow starts and how it moves around the world. Does it look like your map? You have two different sources here to help you understand the information. Have fun!
Migration video.mp4Lesson Activity: Homework - Map Skills Questions
Homework - answer the questions in Notebook
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Look at the 2 maps above and answer the following questions: Please NOTE: The maps are the same, however, one is used to explain how to read the map. The second map is clear of the explanation boxes so that you may see everything clearly.
In looking at the map and the dates, from where were the first humans? HINT: I would look at both maps very carefully.
Look at the "Map Legend" and tell me how most humans moved across the world. HINT: How did they travel?
Name the place to which the first humans migrated. HINT: Look at the years.
Name the second place to which the first humans migrated.
Name the third and fourth place to which the first humans migrated.
Which two continents were the last to be populated?
Why is it important to use the "Legend" on a map?
Go to your NOTEBOOK and answer the questions on this page.
Let's talk. What does "Neolithic" mean?
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Let's talk. What does "Neolithic" mean? As humans settled in various locations on the globe, they revolted against their neolithic lives in favor of a new way of living. What does "REVOLT" mean? Let's use context clues to figure it out. Read the sentence again. I see, revolted against, that means they did not like something. Then I see, favor of a new way of living, that means they liked something else better. They wanted to leave their hunter-gatherer lives for a better way of life by settling down in one place and growing crops.
Here is the definition: the last part of the Stone Age, when ground or polished stone weapons and implements were the main tools used by hunter-gatherers. Neolithic, also called New Stone Age, final stage of cultural evolution or technological development among prehistoric humans. It was characterized by stone tools shaped by polishing or grinding, dependence on domesticated plants or animals, settlement in permanent villages, and the appearance of such crafts as pottery and weaving. The Neolithic followed the Paleolithic Period, or age of chipped-stone tools, and preceded the Bronze Age, or early period of metal tools.
Lesson Activities: Videos - Neolithic Revolution
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Neolithic Times - 5 Things You Should Know - History for Kids-WBrkYxf4798.mp45 Important Facts You Need to Know About the Neolithic Age. Watch the video.
How many can you write in your NOTEBOOK?
You will need to get out your NOTEBOOK in order to practice your note taking skills. Write down what you think is important information. I'll leave a few hints for you under the video.
Watch the videos about the Neolithic Revolution, then you will read several articles about this time in history.
Make sure you watch the video
The Neolithic Revolution [HotW #2].mp4Lesson Activity: Reading Assignment & Graphic Organizer
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Directions: Read each of the texts below. As you read the texts you will annotate the document using the strategies below if you have a paper copy.
Circle the words you do not know.
Underline the main idea.
Place a question mark by any part of the passage that seems unclear.
Put a +/- by important details/evidence that demonstrates a pro or a con of agriculture.
NO PAPER COPY - COMPUTER ONLY
You will go to your NOTEBOOK after you finish reading the three (3) passages that follow. You will find a Graphic Organizer with questions about the passages. Complete the organizer when you finish reading. Refer to the passages as needed.
Article 1 - The Positive Effects of Agriculture
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Neolithic Revolution Secondary Sources
Neolithic Revolution: Where Did Agriculture Come From?
Mankind has fed themselves as hunter-gatherers for 99% of our time on earth. Why did they suddenly put down their spears and pick up the hoe?
Archaeologists agree that several factors coincided to make agriculture possible around 8,500 BCE. Wild cereals were already part of the diet of nomadic hunter-gatherers, but around 10,000 years ago climate change increased the extent of these fields of native grain in the Fertile Crescent. At about the same time, humans began to develop tools necessary to take full advantage of the wild grains --- they created sickles, baskets, mortars and pestles; they figured out how to roast grains so that they wouldn't sprout during storage; and they developed underground storage pits. Suddenly, a family could gather enough seeds to feed itself for a year during the three week ripening season of the wild wheat. Why did these early wheat-eaters turn into farmers?
The switch from gathering this abundant wild wheat to growing it seems to come down to one factor --- overpopulation. At the same time that wild wheat was expanding in the Fertile Crescent, large wild game was becoming much less numerous. Why is that? Well it was either because of climate change, humans became better hunters, growth of population, or some combination of these three factors. Whatever the reason, hunting was no longer really working for humans, so wheat became more and more important in their diets.
It seemed sensible to settle down near the important wheat fields, and this change in turn dismantled the factors that had previously kept the population in check. As nomads, women had been limited to the number of children they had because the first child had to be old enough to walk by itself before having another baby. The mother could only carry one child at a time during the frequent moves. Once humans started to settle in one place, families were able to have more children, more frequently than before.
Wheat fields suddenly became insufficient to feed the growing population, agriculture was the clear solution. By clearing new ground outside the natural wheat fields, humans were able to plant wild wheat seeds and harvest crops from a larger area. Agriculture was born.
The Positive Effects of Agriculture
The results of the Neolithic Revolution were striking. On the positive side, a farmer was able to grow more food than he needed to feed his family, so for the first time in human history we saw specialization. Agricultural societies were able to support leaders, artists, craftsmen, priests, scribes, and soldiers, none of whom had to worry much about where their food came from.
They also had time to create new tools and technologies. The first example of writing sprang up in the Fertile Crescent, probably as a method of recording information about ownership and production of land. In fact, you can follow the trail of agriculture all the way to present, tracing the domestication of wheat, maize (corn), and rice forward to most of humanity's most striking accomplishments.
Agriculture basically created civilization, as we know it. In fact, using anthropologists' definition of civilization, farming was a prerequisite for civilization in every part of the world.
Example of Ancient Writing, possibly Written by Scribes.
Open your NOTEBOOK so that you can answer the following questions:
Questions to Consider:
If there was one statement that is the most important in the passage, what would it be? Write the statement that you feel is the most important and then justify your answer. (That Means: if it is important then tell me why)
What were the positive things that happened because of agriculture?
Vocabulary
Specialization: The practice of mastering a skill so that they could focus on creating one thing really well instead of having to be really good at everything. Specialization of Jobs: Humans were now growing crops for food so they could settle in one place. Now that they are staying in one place, not everyone has to hunt for food. They can now look to do other jobs.
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Scribes: Usually elders who documented historical events and were record-keepers. An example of this would be writing down the amount of grain they grew and sold on a tablet, much like the one on this page.
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Domestication: The process of taming animals, usually for human use and food.
Wild Wheat Growing on the Side of a Mountain.
Wheat Planted in a Field.
Stone tools being used to crush the grain.
Article 2 - The Neolithic Revolution
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The Neolithic Revolution
The Neolithic Revolution was a fundamental change in the way people lived. The shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture led to permanent settlements, the establishment of social classes, and the eventual rise of civilizations. The Neolithic Revolution is a major turning point in human history.
Great Discoveries
About 10,000 BCE, humans began to cultivate crops and domesticate certain animals. This was a change from the system of hunting and gathering that had sustained humans from earliest times. As a result, permanent settlements were established. Neolithic villages continued to divide work between men and women. However, women's status declined as men took the lead in in most areas of these early societies.
Villages were usually run by a Council of Elders composed of the heads of the village's various families. Some of these villages may have had a chief elder as single leader. When resources became scarce, warfare among villages increased. During war, some men gained stature as great warriors. This usually transferred over to village life with these warriors becoming the leaders in society. Early social class divisions developed as a result. A person's social class was usually determined by the work they did, such as that of a farmer, craftsman, priest, and warrior. Depending on the society, priests and warriors were usually at the top, with farmers and craftsman at the bottom.
New technologies developed in response to the need for better tools and weapons to go along with the new way of living. Neolithic farmers created a simple calendar to keep track of planting and harvesting. They also developed simple metal tools such as plows, to help with their work. Some groups even may have used animals to pull these plows, again making work easier. Metal weapons were developed as villages needed to protect their valuable resources.
Effects
The Neolithic Revolution changed the way humans lived. The use of agriculture allowed humans to develop permanent settlements, social classes, and new technologies. Some of these early groups settled in the fertile valleys of the Nile, Tigris-Euphrates, Yellow, and Indus Rivers. This resulted in the rise of the great civilizations in Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, and India.
Open your NOTEBOOK so that you can answer the following questions:
Questions to Consider:
What was the impact of agriculture on humans?
Did it create more opportunities for equality amongst gender roles?
What is the Neolithic Revolution? How did it drastically alter how we became farmers instead of hunters-gatherers?
Article 3 - Hunters to Herders: Ancient Civilization Made Rapid Switch
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Hunters to Herders: Ancient Civilization Made Rapid Switch
By: Charles Q. Choi
Introduction
Bones unearthed from an ancient mound in Turkey suggest that humans there shifted their diet from hunting to herding over just a few centuries, findings that shed light on the dawn of agriculture, scientists say. Agriculture began in the Neolithic, or New Stone Age, about 11,500 years ago. Once nomadic groups of people settled down and began farming and herding, fundamentally changing human society and how people related to nature.
Domestication of Specific Animals
The research team...discovered the people of the oldest levels of the site originally ate a broad diet of meat from creatures that populated the plains and meadows along the Melendiz River. This included diverse small animals, such as hares, fish, turtles, hedgehogs and partridges, as well as larger prey such as deer, boars, horse, goats, sheep, extinct wild oxen known as aurochs, and the onager, also known as the Asian wild donkey.They all provide some type of food source or multiple food sources for settled groups, which helped humans to become healthier. However, while these animals provided a good food source, ultimately domesticated animals helped to spread disease, which is a bad thing for humans. The animals provided additional sources of food, increasing the amount of available food in supply to a settled community.
However, by 8200 B.C., the meat in the diet shifted overwhelmingly to sheep and goats. These animals once made up less than half of all skeletal remains at the site, but gradually increased to 85 to 90 percent of these bones, with sheep bones outnumbering goat remains by a factor of three or more. Young male sheep and goats were selectively killed, probably for their meat, leaving females and some males to breed more livestock. They all provide some type of food source or multiple food sources for settled groups.
Moreover, analysis of dung in the mound revealed that plant-eating animals were held captive inside the settlement, probably in between buildings. Altogether, these findings suggest the people in this area shifted from hunting to herding in just a few centuries.
Pictures of Domesticated Animals
These are Aurochs (Megafauna)
They look like cows and belong to the cow or oxen family. They were extremely large animals. The aurochs, also known as urus or ure, is an extinct species of large wild cattle that inhabited Asia, Europe, and North Africa. It is the ancestor of domestic cattle. The species survived in Europe until 1627, when the last recorded aurochs died in the Jaktorów Forest, Poland. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At the Lascaux Cave in France, a large bull was drawn over earlier paintings of wild cattle more than 10,000 years ago. Scientists are using ancient depictions like these to re-create the animals. (Credit: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)
Inscribed on rocks along the riverbanks in Portugal’s Côa Valley are figures of wild horses and aurochs — the common ancestor to all domestic cattle breeds — drawn by Paleolithic hunters tens of thousands of years ago. Archaeologists scrambled to protect these petroglyphs in the 1990s, as the Portuguese government planned to flood the valley behind a giant dam. Within four years, Côa was listed as a United Nations World Heritage Site, ensuring that this record of prehistoric megafauna would survive. All that was missing was the wildlife itself.
Keats, Jonathon. “Return of the Aurochs.” Discover Magazine, Discover Magazine, 22 Apr. 2020, www.discovermagazine.com/planet- earth/return-of-the-aurochs.
WOW, that is a BIG COW!!!!
Vocabulary
Domestication: the process of taming an animal and keeping it as a pet or on a farm. Domestication of animals lies at the heart of human civilization.
Petroglyphs: A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art.
Megafauna: the megafauna comprises the large or giant animals of an area, habitat, or geological period.
Domesticated Asian Wild Donkey
Wild Asian Donkey, native to the deserts of Syria, Iran, Pakistan, India, Israel and Tibet.
Domesticated Partridges
Partridge, any of many small game birds native to the Old World and belonging to the family Phasianidae (order Galliformes). They are larger than quails, with stronger bills and feet.
Domesticated Ancient Rabbit
An ancient Roman fresco of a rabbit and four figs originally from Herculaneum.Photography The Naples National Archeological Museum via Wikimedia Commons
“A Brief History of Domesticated Rabbits.” Modern Farmer, 18 Oct. 2018, modernfarmer.com/2017/03/brief-history- domesticated-rabbits/.
Shifts in Lifestyle and Culture
The cultivation of grain may have played a major role in the move from hunting to herding, said lead study author Mary Stiner, an archaeologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
"If people become more sedentary to take advantage of grains, they have a tendency to eat what's nearby, and the best and largest kinds of game will get targeted first," Stiner told Live Science. "Eventually, people will have to travel farther afield to get large animals. The alternative is to raise animals yourself."
In future studies, the researchers would like to examine the consequences of holding animals captive in the settlement for people.
"What advantages and problems did that bring?" Stiner said. "Did their nutrition and health improve? Did they suffer diseases that came from the livestock? How did the people reorganize their labor to make sure the animals were fed? What kinds of structural modifications were made within the site to protect and constrain these animals?"
You will answer the following questions in your NOTEBOOK as well as the Graphic Organizer
Questions to Answer:
1. How did domesticating animals help us to become healthier?
2. What is significant about the kinds of animals that were domesticated?
3. How did these new diets help with the establishment of communities?
Voabulary
sedentary: not moving; still; staying in one place. tendency: default position; most likely to.
Lesson Activity 1: World Population Growth
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Definition of Trend: A trend line (also called the line of best fit) is a line we add to a graph to show the general direction in which points seem to be going. Think of a "trend" as a pattern in math. Whatever shape you see on a graph or among a group of data points is a trend.
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Use your NOTEBOOK to record your answer to the question below as well as the question under the graph.
Look at the population growth from the year 12,000 BCE to 1,000 BCE.
Homework - Read the passages and answer the questions in Notebook
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Directions: Complete this Homework in your NOTEBOOK.
Lesson Activity 2: The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race
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The Big Question: "Is farming better than hunting?"
You will complete a task in your NOTEBOOK after you read the passage.
To further develop your claim, you will complete a close-read of a complex text, and it is up to you to determine if the benefits of agriculture outweigh the drawbacks (negative aspects of agriculture).
You will now read, "The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race." GO TO NOTEBOOK NOW or You may read the larger version of this article. It follows the 2 pages of questions.
The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race
Enlarged for Reading
Archaeology[1] is demolishing [one of our most sacred beliefs]: that human history over the past million years has been a long tale of progress. In particular, recent discoveries suggest that the adoption of agriculture, supposedly our most decisive step toward a better life, was in many ways a catastrophe[2] from which we have never recovered. With agriculture came the gross social and sexual inequality, the disease and despotism[3], that curse our existence.
At first, the evidence against this interpretation will strike [twenty-first] century Americans as irrefutable[1]. We're better off in almost every respect than people of the Middle Ages, who in turn had it easier than cavemen, who in turn were better off than apes. Just count our advantages. We enjoy the most abundant[2] and varied foods, the best tools and material goods, some of the longest and healthiest lives, in history. Most of us are safe from starvation and predators. We get our energy from oil and machines, not from our sweat. [Who] among us would trade his life for that of a medieval peasant, a caveman, or an ape?
For most of our history we supported ourselves by hunting and gathering: we hunted wild animals and foraged for wild plants. It's a life that philosophers have traditionally regarded as nasty, brutish, and short. Since no food is grown and little is stored, there is (in this view) no respite[1] from the struggle that starts anew each day to find wild foods and avoid starving. Our escape from this misery was facilitated only 10,000 years ago, when in different parts of the world people began to domesticate plants and animals. The agricultural revolution spread until today it's nearly universal and few tribes of hunter-gatherers survive.
Why did almost all our hunter-gatherer ancestors adopt agriculture? Agriculture is an efficient way to get more food for less work. Planted crops yield far more tons per acre than roots and berries…Since crops can be stored, and since it takes less time to pick food from a garden than to find it in the wild, agriculture gave us free time that hunter-gatherers never had. Thus it was agriculture that enabled us to construct complex buildings and compose [great music].
respite (n): break, rest
irrefutable (adjective): undeniable; beyond argument as a result of clear evidence
abundant (adj.): plentiful
Archaeology (noun): The study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts.
Despotism (n): the exercise of absolute power, often in a cruel and oppressive manner
Catastrophe (n): an awful event oftentimes involving the loss of human life. Example below.
The Kalahari is a huge swath of semi-arid savannah that includes much of southern Africa. The bushmen are the people who make their home there as hunters and gatherers
enamel (n): The glassy coating of bones or teeth
Paleopathology is the study of ancient diseases
degenerative (adj.) steadily getting worse. See the example below of a healthy disc and then look at the degenerative disc. It is much smaller, right? It is wearing away.
Are modern-day hunter-gatherers really worse off than farmers? Scattered throughout the world, several dozen groups of so-called primitive people, like the Kalahari bushmen[1], continue to support themselves that way. It turns out that these people have plenty of leisure time, sleep a good deal, and work less hard than their farming neighbors. For instance, the average time devoted each week to obtaining food is only 12 to 19 hours for one group of Bushmen, 14 hours or less for the Hadza nomads of Tanzania. One Bushman, when asked why he hadn't emulated neighboring tribes by adopting agriculture, replied, "Why should we, when there are so many mongongo nuts in the world?"
While farmers concentrate on high-carbohydrate crops like rice and potatoes, the mix of wild plants and animals in the diets of surviving hunter-gatherers provides more protein and a better balance of other nutrients. In one study, the Bushmen's average daily food intake (during a month when food was plentiful) was 2,140 calories and 93 grams of protein, considerably greater than the recommended daily allowance for people of their size. It's almost inconceivable that Bushmen, who eat 75 or so wild plants, could die of starvation the way hundreds of thousands of Irish farmers and their families did during the potato famine of the 1840s…
One straightforward example of what paleopathologists[1] have learned from skeletons concerns historical changes in height. Skeletons from Greece and Turkey show that the average height of hunger-gatherers toward the end of the ice ages was a generous 5' 9'' for men, 5' 5'' for women. With the adoption of agriculture, height crashed, and by 3000 B. C. had reached a low of only 5' 3'' for men, 5' for women. By classical times heights were very slowly on the rise again, but modern Greeks and Turks have still not regained the average height of their distant ancestors.
Another example of paleopathology at work is the study of Indian skeletons from burial mounds in the Illinois and Ohio River valleys… Compared to the hunter-gatherers who preceded them, the farmers had a nearly 50 per cent increase in enamel[1] defects indicative of malnutrition, a fourfold increase in iron-deficiency anemia, a threefold rise in bone lesions reflecting infectious disease in general, and an increase in degenerative[2] conditions of the spine, probably reflecting a lot of hard physical labor. "Life expectancy at birth in the pre-agricultural community was about twenty-six years," says Armelagos, "but in the post-agricultural community it was nineteen years. So these episodes of nutritional stress and infectious disease were seriously affecting their ability to survive."
The evidence suggests that the Indians at Dickson Mounds[1], like many other primitive peoples, took up farming not by choice but from necessity in order to feed their constantly growing numbers. "I don't think most hunter-gatherers farmed until they had to, and when they switched to farming they traded quality for quantity," says Mark Cohen of the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, co-editor of one of the seminal books in the field, Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture. Hunter-gatherers practiced the most successful and longest-lasting lifestyle in human history. In contrast, we're still struggling with the mess into which agriculture has tumbled us, and it's unclear whether we can solve it…
[1] Dickson Mounds is a Native American settlement site and burial mound complex located in Illinois. It is a large burial complex containing at least two cemeteries, ten superimposed burial mounds, and a platform mound. Dickson Mounds site was founded by 800 CE and was in use until after 1250 CE. The site is named in honor of Don Dickson, who began excavating it in 1927 and opened a private museum that formerly operated on the site.
Paleopathology is the study of ancient diseases
Unit 1, Topic 3 - DEVELOPING A CLAIM
Lesson Activity 3: Pros & Cons
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Now that you have read all 3 articles, I would like for you to remind yourselves of the answers you gave when we talked about the "PROS" and the "CONS" of Agriculture. You may go back in your NOTEBOOK and look for what you put. Use those answers and compare them to the ones mentioned in the above passages. You will write 3 sentences describing the following:
A pro/con of agriculture you brainstormed, back on Page 6, that was supported by evidence from the text you recently read. This means: look at the answers you originally put in your graphic organizer, were any of your answers supported in the text?
A pro/con of agriculture that was refuted (means contradicted) by the text you recently read. This means: were any of your answers contradicted to what you recently read?
A pro/con of agriculture that was not mentioned and you are still curious about. This means: did you put anything in your graphic organizer that the article did not mention and you are still curious about?
Lesson Activity 4: Stating Your Claim
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Here are some questions that may help you in stating your claim. Go to your NOTEBOOK.
Is farming better than hunting? Why?
What about this article was most surprising?
Does the author make a good case for how the development of agriculture harms our survival and existence?
Ultimately, do you agree with Jared Diamond or not? Why or why not?
Once you finish this task, write a paragraph stating your claim and support your answer using facts from the passages in this Topic.
HINT: So, you will start your paragraph out with one of two choices as shown below:
Farming was better than hunting because .....
Farming was not better than hunting because ......
When you pick one, you are stating a claim, this is what you believe; now support it with evidence.
State your claim about Farming. Was it a good thing or was it a bad thing? Go to your NOTEBOOK.
Summative Performance Task
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Your final task for Topic 3 is:
Based on everything you have learned in this topic and your knowledge of social studies, write an extended response in which you answer the following questions: HOW DID FARMING CHANGE THE WAY PEOPLE LIVED? Was the development of agriculture ultimately positive or negative for early human civilizations? Justify your claim with evidence from your sources.
