Starter: 8-26-09 1.) What is History? Honors Classes: Write a paragraph in which you tell what exactly history is in your opinion. Also tell when it (history) started and what artifacts can be used to understand history. General Classes: Write 1-2 sentences which explain what you think history is and when it started. Make a list of things that can tell us about the past. 2.) Approximately how old do think the Earth is?

History is…

History is…. by definition History is everything that has occurred within the universe since its formation. It includes EVERYTHING within the scope of the human experience and many occurrences before humanities existence. History is NOT about “old dead men”. This said we are going to be primarily concerned with the course of Human history and we will begin with the origins of humans and human like animals.

Searching for History Before we take notes today, I would like you to divide into pairs and get a resource textbook from the bookshelf in back left (my right) of the classroom. We will complete 3 activities before moving into our notes. You should read pages 19-22 and answer the following: Copy the Questions (activity 1) 1.) What is the significance of artifacts in relation to history? What do they do? 2.) What methods have scientists utilized to determine the age of artifacts? 3.) List some examples of Artifacts

Artifact Examples

First Steps Utilizing a partner and using pages 21&22, please construct a timeline that places the four hominids in the correct sequence of origination. (Activity 2) General Class – make sure that you put the name of the hominid, the years that it lived and draw a picture to represent the hominid. Honors – You must create a timeline that has ALL of the criteria of which the General Class must complete and you must additionally add a paragraph below which summarizes the timeline.

Vocabulary Utilizing pages 19-25 in the resource textbook, and with the help of a partner, complete the assigned amount of vocabulary below: Chapter 1, Section 1 BOLD – BLUE and Black. AFTER YOU AND YOUR PARTNER HAVE FINISHED, PLEASE RETURN THE RESOURCE TEXTBOOK TO ITS ASSIGNED LOCATION IN THE BACK OF THE ROOM.

NOTES Ch. 1 Historians, and students of history rely mostly on written records to understand what the past was like. However there is very little left from the earliest age that we will study in this class. The earliest portion of history is known as Prehistory – which is the time before written records. This period in the history of humans lasts from approximately 3 million years ago until approximately 12,000 years ago. The two periods in prehistory are known as the Paleolithic and Neolithic. The Paleolithic is the oldest of the two time periods in prehistory and it is a combination of 2 Greek roots. Paleo – means old and lithic means stone, hence Paleolithic means “old stone” age.

Notes Cont… Ch. 1 During the Paleolithic period a group of similar creatures came into existence, and we call them hominids. Hominids are “human like creatures which walk upright”. There are four major hominid species that have been discovered. The oldest of the hominids is known as Australopithecus or “southern apes”. Australopithecus was the first of the hominids to stand upright, but probably only did so for very limited times. (3.5-3 million years ago) The second hominid to be discovered is called Homo Erectus. Homo Erectus lived approximately 1.5 million years ago. Homo Erectus was the first Hominid to leave Africa. This was due to the fact that H. erectus was the first of the hominids to use fire and to develop more complex stone tools.

Notes Cont… Ch.1 Homo Erectus means – “erect human being” however H. Erectus is also often referred to as the handy man because of the fact that the species made so many tools. The third of the hominids to be discovered was called Neanderthal, or Homo Sapien. Homo Sapien means “wise human”. Neanderthals were very about the size of your average person today, however they were much stronger. Neanderthals get there name from the place were the were first discovered which was the Neander valley in eastern Germany. Neanderthals were probably the first hominids to practice religion and have complex social groups. We know that they were the first to bury their dead. Neanderthals lived approximately 100,000 to 30,000 years ago.

Notes… Ch. 1 The last of the Hominids to be discovered, and consequently the youngest of the hominid species is Homo Sapien Sapien or “doubly wise Human”. Homo Sapien Sapiens are also referred to as Cro-Magnon man. You should remember that Cro-Magnon man is US. We are Cro-Magnon or Homo-Sapien Sapien and evidence suggests that Homo Sapien Sapien have existed for at least the last 200,000 years. By 30,000 years ago, our ancestors had replaced Neanderthals as Neanderthals began to die out. Why did Neanderthals die out? The reasons are unclear and therefore not definite, however it was probably due to: a.) competition for food sources with Homo Sapien Sapien/Cro-Magnon. b.) Technological inferiority

Notes… Life in the Paleolithic The Paleolithic or “old stone age” covers a period from 2.5 million years ago until almost the end of the last ice age. Paleolithic life was based on a “hunter gather” lifestyle in which the primary food source was game animals – i.e. (deer, bison, mammoth), however they also gathered wild nuts such as acorns, walnuts, and chest nuts. Their diet was further enhanced by gathering wild berries and fruits. Paleolithic peoples (Cro-Magnons) learned to survive by creating tools such as Clovis points to hunt large animals like Mammoth as well as more refined tools such as the atlatl – or spear thrower. Paleolithic peoples learned to use materials such as flint, and obsidian to make their more complex tools. Fire was also a useful tool in this period and was created by striking flint with iron bearing rocks. This was due to the “Ice Ages” in which ½ of the earth was covered in ice.