Unit 1: Steps to Civilization How did the world you see come to be the way it is?

What is civilization? How did Civilization begin? Civilization can be defined in many ways. At its simplest, civilization describes a large organized society that lasted a long time.

Steps to Civilization In this unit, we are going to examine the big steps that led towards civilizations coming into existence. Focus Question: Which was the most important step in getting Civilization started? Step 1: Development of Humans.

Step 1: The Origin of Humans: How did we come to be? There are many hypotheses about how humans came to be and how they advanced to the level we are today. There are two widely held hypotheses about the origin of humans: Creationism & Evolution

Human evolution is a scientific theory that explains the origin and development of the human species. According to theories of evolution, simple forms of life changed gradually, over many generations, into more complex forms of life.

Evolution (cont…) Scientists believe that human-like beings first populated the earth about four million years ago. Many believe that humans developed from simpler, ape-like species. Although many scientists may disagree on various aspects of ancient life, most believe the theory of evolution because it is based on scientific observation of evidence.

Creationism Creationism is the belief that the universe and everything in it was created by a divine being. Many people have faith that this is true. Many see no conflict between this belief and the processes of evolution described by science. They believe that God created the processes of evolution along with everything else. Virtually every culture on earth has a creation story that explains the creation of the earth, the plants and animals, and of human beings.

Step 1: Development of Humans Scientists have found evidence of six different groups of humans. According to the theory of evolution, each of these species of humans developed into the next group. For early humans, the earth was much like a deserted island. It offered the materials of nature, but nothing else. People survived by finding ways to use these materials to meet their need for food, shelter, and clothing. In your first major assignment you will be learning about the evolution of the human species and how they met their basic needs to survive.