LibGuides: Social Studies Elementary Reference Sets: Human Origins (SS 7)

Human Evolution

One Species, Living Worldwide
The billions of human beings living today all belong to one species: Homo sapiens. Explore the origins of modern humans in Africa and celebrate our species’ epic journey around the world. A video from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
Prehistoric Peoples
Detailed World Book overview article on Prehistoric Peoples. Use the Table of Contents (top left) to navigate through the article. It is helpful to refer to the interactive timelines (below) while reading this article.
Becoming Human - Timeline
Interactive timeline of human lineage from the Institute of Human Origins.
Human Evolution Timeline Interactive
Highly detailed interactive timeline from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Includes climate change and milestones in human development.
Becoming Human - Documentary and Interactive Exhibits
A video documentary from the Institute of Human Origins. Short video chapters trace the evolution of humans through a discussion of the evidence, anatomy, lineages and culture of humans.
Related interactive exhibits below the video support the documentary.
Human Characteristics - What Does it Mean to be Human?
Videos, articles and interactive exhibits from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Exhibits describe the evidence for human traits that emerged before humans began domesticating plants and animals.
Human Evolution Evidence
Videos, articles and interactive exhibits from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Includes exhibits on behaviour, fossils, genetics, time dating, the human family tree, and prehistoric sites.
Eight key questions about prehisoric peoples
Eight short World Book videos answer key questions from students about prehistoric peoples. Scroll through the media past the images, and choose the videos with questions as titles.
Origins - 13 Big Questions
The Bradshaw Foundation looks at key questions concerning the search for our earliest ancestors.

Early Humans

Learn all about our prehuman and human ancestors.

World Book articles

Ardipithecus - Australopithecus - Cave dwellers - Cro-Magnons - Denisovans - Heidelberg jaw - Homo erectus - Homo floresiensis - Homo habilis - Java fossils - Neandertals - Peking fossils - Swanscombe fossil - Paleo-Indians - Stone Age - Pleistocene Epoch - Evolution

Website

Exploring the Fossil Record - Origins
Learn about the fossil record of our ancestors. Presented by The Bradshaw Foundation.

Archeological Sites and Discoveries

Check out these prehistoric archeological sites and discoveries.

Nearly Human - Meet Homo Naledi
A Scholastic Science World article. Note: Click the red PDF icon to open the PDF version of the article.
National Geographic Investigates: Ancient Africa-Archeology Unlocks the Secrets of Africa's Past
Use Chapters 1 and 2 in this National Geographic book.

World Book articles

Archeology - Anthropology - Fossil

Altamira Cave - Chauvet Cave - Laetoli Fossil Site - Lascaux Cave - Nabta Playa - Olduvai Gorge - Rising Star Cave - Qafzeh Cave - Terra Amata Site - Cave paintings and drawings

Websites

The Chauvet Cave - Lascaux Cave

Dig Magazine articles

Note: Click the red PDF icon in the articles to open the PDF version of the article.

MIgration from Africa

The Spread of Settlement
A World Book article section.
Expanding World of Homo Erectus
For 4 million years early humans lived only in Africa. Then they expanded their range to new continents. A video from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
One Species, Living Worldwide
The billions of human beings living today all belong to one species: Homo sapiens. Explore the origins of modern humans in Africa and celebrate our species’ epic journey around the world. A video from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
Journey of Mankind
An interactive virtual global journey of modern man over the last 160,000 years. Presented by The Bradshaw Foundation.

The Rise of Agriculture

The Rise of Agriculture - Changes in Lifestyle - The End of Prehistoric Times
World Book article sections.
History [of Agriculture] - Origins of Agriculture - Centers of Domestication - The Transition to Farming - Ancient Civilizations
World Book article sections.
The Road to Tameness
This Science News article discusses research on the domestication of plants and animals by human beings.
Note: Click the red PDF icon to open the PDF version of the article. Higher reading level.

Curriculum Connections

Grade 7 Social Studies

Big Idea

Geographic conditions shaped the emergence of civilizations.

Content

Anthropological origins of humans (SS 7)
Organisms have evolved over time (SC 7)
The fossil record provides evidence for changes in biodiversity over geological time (SC 7)

Possible Inquiry Questions

Who are our early human ancestors?
How do we know about our early human ancestors?
How did humans come to populate all parts of the earth?
How does climate and geography affect survival?
How and why did humans switch from the hunter-gatherer lifestyle to an agricultural lifestyle?
What advantages did agriculture have over the hunter-gather way of life?
How did agriculture lead to the rise of civilization?