1. Ch.1, L.1 Migration to the Americas
Learning Objectives:
Identify and evaluate ways in which the first people may have arrived to the Americas
Explain how agriculture influenced the development of culture.
Do Now:
Copy lesson 1 vocabulary words and definitions into notebook.

2. The Migration Begins
Pre-lecture demonstration and discussion. Questions to consider:
What do you see now?
Why is the spoon no longer submerged?
How does this resemble what happened during the Ice Age?

3. The Migration Begins
Humans lived in the Americas years before Columbus arrived, but where did they come from? How did they arrive and when?
Some archaeologists believe that many thousands of years ago, people traveled on a strip of land that connected Asia and the Americas.

4. How many possible migration routes does the map show?
What is the difference between the migration routes?

5. A Land Bridge Revealed
Throughout Earth’s history, the climate has changed. There were periods of extreme cold known as ice ages.
Today, scientists call this strip of land—or land bridge—Beringia. Beringia is covered by the Bering Strait. A strait is a narrow strip of water that connects two larger bodies of water.

6. Searching for Hunting Grounds
When a lot of people move from one area to another, it is called migration. Early Americans were nomads, people who moved from place to place
Read pg. 5 “Searching for Hunting Grounds” & pg.6 “Earth Warms” and complete the following chart:

7. Settlement: Learning to Farm
Searching for food meant trying new methods such as:
Catching fish and hunting smaller animals.
Gathering berries and grains.
Farming.
Planting a type of corn called maize, pumpkins, beans, and squash.

8. Settlement: Establishing Unique Cultures
Some people remained nomadic hunters, other began to settle down and built permanent shelters from clay, stone, or wood. They also made pottery and cloth.
Today, we sometimes find such artifacts where their villages once stood. Carbon dating is a scientific process that measures how much radioactive carbon an artifact contains to decide how old the artifact is.
Scientists can tell that farming changed people’s lives. As early Americans settled down, they began to share beliefs and ways of doing things. These shared traditions and behaviors are called cultures.