Building Blocks of Prehistory:
Chapter of “My Story of the World”
Goal: Retell the story of where humans first “began,” how they
survived, and how changes in weather affected how early
humans lived.
Read both texts twice: once for meaning; and a second time to
write meaningful sentences.
Read pages 30-35; 38-41 in Our World. Read pages 4-9 in A
Little History of the World:
Africa:
Great Rift Valley:
Prehistoric:
Stone Age:
Paleolithic:
Hunter-Gatherer:
Prey:
Stone tools:
Ice Age:
Neanderthal:
Bronze Age:
Write a mini-chapter on prehistory made up two to five paragraphs.
Follow the Goal at the top.
Name: ______________
Date: _______________
Fill-in-the-Blank “Ladder” for Mini-Chapter on Prehistory for “My
Story of History”
Directions: Use this worksheet to help you get used to the process of
researching and writing your own mini-chapter.
First, read through the below fill-in-the-blank mini-chapter.
Second, read pages 5 through 9 in A Little History of the World, and
read pages 30 through 35, and pages 38 through 41 in Our World.
Third, use the same pages in both books to write sentences with/about
the assigned words. These are sentences that are: a) related to the
subject b) use information from the books c) satisfy the goal of the
mini-chapter.
Last, use information from the fill-in-the-blank sentences to construct
your own mini-chapter. Use all or none of the fill-in-the-blank
sentences. Add your own. Just make sure that it makes sense.
Goal: Retell the story of where humans first “began,” how they
survived, and how changes in weather affected how early humans
lived.
Sentences:
According to scientists, human beings started living in Africa about 2
million years ago. The old human bones found in Africa were found
in an area in Tanzania called the Great Rift Valley. Prehistory is the
time that comes before people, when there were no written language
and dates. The period of prehistory is called the Stone Age, because
during this time people found and used sticks and stones in order to
make or invent tools.
The Old Stone Age is also the Paleothic. This time period lasted
from about to 70,000 years ago to about 12,000 years ago. Prehistoric
humans were called hunter- gathers, because they gathered plants and
vegetables and because they hunted animals. The animals hunted by
hunter-gatherers is called their eland. These animals were important,
because they allowed early humans to survive.
Stone tools were made by a process called flaking, during which
prehistoric hunters hit pieces of stone to give them a sharp edge.
Life during the Ice Age was hard for prehistoric people,
because of climatic changes. The temperature was cold; the winters
were longer; and snow was in mountaintops and valleys.
Some human ancestors before modern humans were named
Neanderthals , because their bones have been discovered in the
Neander valley in Germany. They had thick ridges above the
eyebrows.
About 6,000 years ago, people discovered that could use mix
different types of metal to make tools and weapons and armor and
jewelry.