1. The Agricultural Revolution
WORLD HISTORY READERS
Level 2-④
The Agricultural Revolution

2. How did people find food before farming began?
Hunting and Gathering
How did people find food before farming began?
For thousands of years, humans ate what we could find or kill. We ate plants, nuts, and berries in the forest. We killed and ate animals. We were hunters and gatherers.
Hunting and gathering was hard work and dangerous.
Humans needed a more reliable system where there would be food all the time.

3. Forming Societies How did the first farms change the way people lived?
Over time, people learned how to plant crops such as corn and wheat, and how to keep animals on a farm. Because of this, they did not need to spend so much time hunting animals or gathering food from the forests. Humans could live together to form groups in villages and towns.
What was good and bad about this?
It was good because people ate better and got healthier.
It was bad because the work was hard and people could not grow a lot of food.

4. What changed about farming after that?
Large Farms
What changed about farming after that?
A large wheat farm, Australia
A sheep farm, UK
Gradually, rich farmers bought out small, family-run farms. They made the small farms into very large farms so they could grow food more effectively. This meant they needed fewer people to grow their food.
A tobacco farm, USA

5. What happened when a farmer grew more than his family could eat?
More Free Time
What happened when a farmer grew more than his family could eat?
As farms became larger and grew more food, farmers could sell much of what they grew in towns and markets. People didn’t have to work so hard to grow crops. This meant people had more free time to work on other things, or they could move to towns and cities to look for work. This led to the Industrial Revolution.
What else happened?
A potato crop
New foods such as rice and potatoes were introduced.

6. The Industrial Revolution
What was the Industrial Revolution?
It was when we learned to make machines that could do work for us.
How did the Industrial Revolution change farming?
During the Industrial Revolution, people made machines to plow the fields.
What else happened during the Industrial Revolution?
People made machines to build roads.
People also moved water from rivers to farmland so we could grow more crops.
People made machines to drop seeds. It was faster and easier than planting seeds by hand.

7. The Agricultural Revolution
What changed during the Agricultural Revolution?
Farmers built stone walls to close in their farms.
Farm machines allowed the farmers to make better food faster and more efficiently.
Farmers used new ideas for moving crops from one field to another. This put important nutrients back into the soil. It kept the soil rich and productive.
Where did the Agricultural Revolution begin?
The United Kingdom

8. New Techniques and Chemicals
How did agricultural techniques change in the 20th century?
In the 20th century, new techniques and chemicals such as fertilizers allowed scientists and farmers to work together to create better crops with a high yield, or output.
They also sprayed fields with pesticides to kill insects that ate the crops.
Excess fertilizers and pesticides poison rivers. They can cause diseases in or kill fish and other animals. Over time, they lead to poor quality land and caused food production to go down.
What problems result from these techniques?

9. Why do some people not like GMOs?
GMO Foods
What are GMOs, and why do people use or grow them?
GMOs are genetically modified organisms used to grow our food. By using GMOs, some scientists say they are trying to improve on what nature has been doing for millions of years.
Why do some people not like GMOs?
Many scientists argue that GMOs are unhealthy. They harm people and animals.
They also harm the environment.
These scientists think that organically grown food is best. Smart farming practices that are free of GMOs and other chemicals can produce plenty of food for the world.

10. Vocabulary berry n. hunter n.
a small fruit that grows on particular plants and trees
hunter n.
a person who looks for wild animals to kill and eat

11. Vocabulary insect n. nutrition n. a bug; a small animal with six legs
the substances our bodies need to live that we get from eating food

12. Vocabulary
plow v.
to dig, break up, and turn over the earth usually before planting a crop
poison v.
to kill things with chemicals

13. Vocabulary season n. wheat n. a time of year such as summer or winter
a cereal crop we grow to make flour