Unit #2 Reflecton

Prehistory + Early Humans.

Describe how you prepared/studied for the unit test.
            I prepared for the test by first re-reading all the chapters each night. After Mrs. Moore showed us the “cheat sheet” I tried practicing making cheat sheets for the test. I reaserched on about early humans on a site called: http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-neanderthalensis. This really helped me learn about the features on early humans. This website had a great interactive time like that helped me understand when specific early humans lived. After researching I created a chart that explained the differences of the early humans. When I was studying for the test, the chart gave a few extra facts about the early hominids. A few days before the test I started combining the cheat sheet and the word study, I was trying to see what I remembered from studying the words. Most of the time I quizzed myself. The day before the test my sister quizzed on the word study.     
Do you think your studying strategies were effective – why/why not?
            I think that my studying strategies were effective, I really felt like the cheat sheet practice really helped me the most. I like the fact that I can walk into the test and put everything down on paper and really see what I know. In the past I would go into a test with a lot of knowledge about the subject, but because of test anxiety I would slowly forget what I knew.
How will you prepare next time?
             The first test we had I focused too much on the word study, this test I might have studied to much of the facts and not enough on the word study.  I think next time I should do more of working on the cheat sheet and on the word study, making an equal balance.
What was the most surprising thing you learned about during this unit?
            I think that the most surprising thing that I learned about this unit is Lucy. I thought that it was extremely amazing how scientists and archaeologists could find footsteps 83 feet underground that were about 3,000,000 years old!
If we had more time to spend on Prehistory + Humans- what would you want to learn more about?
            I would defiantly like to learn more about the Leakys and Lucy! I thought it was very interesting topic and I would love to learn more about it! I would like to learn how they found the footsteps of Leotoli, and how they determined to dig.

Blaise's Wordle

Who were the hobbits?

Who were the hobbits?

In a cave called Lingua Bua paleontologists discovered something miraculous. They found a new type of early ancestor, only as tall as a 4 year old this hominid lived in the wild island of Flores in Indonesia. Our tiny ancestors were discovered by a Peter Brown and Michael Moorwood from Australia they named it the Homo Floresiensis after the island it was found in. Even though the appearance of the Flores people are primitive, they only 12,000 years ago, to many scientists and archaeologists this is a strange fact. Other scientists believe that the discovery of the Flores people could change the way we look at the evolution of humans. However, this subject is very debatable; many scientists think that Homo Floresiensis are not a new type of species, just a smaller version of the Homo erectus.  On the other hand, Island dwarfing could be the reason why these people are so small. As the research went on, archaeologists found different tools around where the hobbits were unearthed. This states that having a small brain and figure does not effect on the way they could make things, such as tools. Considering the fact that these hobbits could make tools, survive on an island, and live a long time, this suggests that having a small brain doesn’t mean that they couldn’t do all of these things.  This is a big clue to our puzzle piece to history and finding out how humans evolved.

Why were tool-making and language important for the development of human culture?

Why were tool-making and language important for the development of human culture?

Language is a very helpful thing; it helps us get across many different types of complicated emotions and feelings. When our ancestors changed, archaeologists noticed that the Homo Habilis had a brain big enough to learn and speak a language. The problem is that language unfortunately does not leave any artifacts or fossils, so archaeologists are still not sure when language was introduced, but they have a pretty good idea. Language is a very important part of the development of human culture, not only back then but also now. If we didn’t have language, life would be a big game of charades, trying to guess what the other person is feeling or thinking. Language helped us take what we had and out it to use. Without some form of language, humans would have had a hard time trying to maintain complex culture. This is because the knowledge in which the previous culture learned and understood would not have been fully transmitted to the next generation.

Tool-making was an extremely important part of the development of human culture. Making simple tools doesn’t need a complex language. However, making more advanced tools could have lead to the start of verbal communication. Archaeologists know about when tools started coming about, but what they don’t know is that if tools were the start of some sort of communication between humans. There are many theories about why language was started; many archaeologists think that it could have been the invention of tools that brought a small form of communication. Others think it could have been the migration and spread across the world, could have been the trigger that started communication and language. So the big question is, was the invention of tools the big start of communication or language which helped with our ancestor’s survival?

Why did our early ancestors walk on two feet?

    Why did early humans begin to walk on two feet?

Did you know that out of the 4,000 mammals on earth right now humans are the only ones who can consistently walk on two feet? Walking on two feet or being bipedal (bi meaning two in Latin, and pedal meaning foot also in Latin) is not a new thing; scientists and archaeologists say that early hominids have been walking on two feet for about 3,000,000 years! Some scientists say that hominids could have been bipedal 6,000,000 years ago but that information is not supported enough to be a fact. There are many theories that attempt to explain why humans are bipedal. Here are some theories why early humans began to walk on two feet.

Hands Up

Compared to many animals we are not very fast creatures. Our early ancestor’s goal was to stay alive, and to do this they had to feed and protect themselves. Many scientists including Darwin think we evolved to walk on two legs so our hands can be free in order to carry things such as food or weapons. This theory is very logical, but scientists have their doubts. The reason why this theory may not be true is because the stone artifacts found only date to about 2.6 million years ago. Hominids started walking on two feet about 3,000,000 years ago; the stone artifacts were invented a long time after hominids became bipedal. However that doesn’t mean that our early ancestors didn’t use their hands to gather and carry food around.

Looking Over

                About 5,000,000 years ago Africa endured a major change; it used to be covered with lush green trees and vegetation. As time went on the forest decreased and changed to what it is now a hot dry savanna (well in most parts of Africa). As this hot sensation arrived animals began to move around, and in order for our early ancestors to survive they had to follow the animals. Scientists also think that early hominids were bipedal because it was easier to see their surroundings.Scientists have created a theory that states that in order to be able follow and navigate where they were, they had to stand and look over the tall savanna grass. Now this theory is very debatable just like all the theories are, this theory is also very logical however archaeologists and scientists do not have enough proof to support this theory. Now many scientists believe that early hominids became bipedal because of the fact it was just more efficient that walking on all fours. Walking on two legs was a faster form of transportation when following a herd of animals through a hot dry climate.

Conclusion

                To conclude my blog post there are many theories why early humans began to walk on two feet. Scientists have not found enough proof or support to each theory. Even if one theory makes a lot of since and there is some proof about it, scientists have to make sure that it has enough proof to support the theory in order for it to become a fact. Bipedalism will be a very debatable topic until we find a very good supporting theory of why early humans began to walk on two feet. But walk we did, and that my friends, made all the difference.

Taming Fire- Humanities Blog Post

How does the use of fire demonstrate prehistoric people's ability to adapt to their environment?

             When we think of fire, we think of a hot and dangerous substance. I always will remember my mom saying to me “Blaise, be careful, that fire is very hot!” When we read this article by Mary Beth Cox, it made me wonder how fire started and who had the idea of playing with it. The remains of the hearth and burned charcoal helped scientists figure out the time when fire was “discovered.”  When scientists discovered that early humans played with fire, this demonstrated that early humans were able to study a natural phenomenon and put it to good use. Fire, when put in a hearth was a very useful tool. This provided light, warmth and a good meal. The discovery of fire could have led to the start of oral tradition and language. The warmth of the fire could have been the key of survival when the early ancestors migrated to colder places when they were following their food source. Fire was a key ingredient in the survival for early humans, it played a big part in their lives, and without our early ancestors we might not be here. So I would like to thank the man or woman whose curiosity inspired them to experiment with fire.

   

End of Unit Reflection

What did you learn?
 In Humanites this quarter I learned a lot of really interesting things. I learned about Historical Evidence and the Kinds of Sources and how archaeologists Evaluate Sources. I learned some really cool words like Dendrochronology and Stratigraphy. I learned about different kinds of movement like Cyclic movement and Periodic movement. I learned about how archaeologists learn form a dig and how they piece things together. When we did our little excavation in the High School, I learned about the steps of excavation. I learned about the Mystery of the Stonehenge and the Leakeys at Olduvai Gorge. All of the little things that I learned all added up to the Guiding Questions of the unit which really helped me understand everything on the test. 
What did you find most interesting? 
 Learning about the Leakeys was the most interesting for me, I thought it was awesome that they found such an amazing discovery. How long they searched and how they persevered for many years until they found what they were looking for amazed me.



What learning skills did you use and how?
In Humanities we did a lot of writing, for the Stonehenge Ancient mystery we wrote and essay, our notebooks required a lot of writing also. Communication is essential in Humanities, how else are you going to debate whether your theory is right?  For the Stonehenge Ancient Mystery we did researched a whole bunch about the different theories. Humanities requires analysis and interpretation, we did this by answering our Journal questions. How can learning about the past help us to understand the problems of today? That is an example of a question that we had to really think about when answering. Study skills is an important one, we use a notebook for studying for the test. That way we can keep the knowledge that we have learned from Ms. Moore's class.

What did you learn about yourself?
  I have learned that a lot of color and highlighting in a notebook makes it look really messy. I have learned to write neater and take time on my on my notes. When taking a test to not only go back and look at your answers, but to also look for any problems that you forgot to do. I have learned that Google DOCS is a great way to keep sites for bibliography.

Hi there!

Hi there! My name is Blaise and this blog is for my 7th grade Humanities class.