Human Evolution Exploratory Activity
Part I: Walking on Two Feet
1. Watch the Finding Lucy video.
2. Read the articles Origins of Bipedalism and How Bipedalism Arose. Answer the following:
 What hypotheses do scientists give for the evolution of bipedalism?
 What anatomical changes were necessary for bipedalism to evolve?
 What cultural changes did bipedalism cause?
 How do recent fossil findings support the idea that bipedalism evolved long before large brains?
Part II: Fossil Findings
1. Visit the Riddle of the Bones Web activity. In this activity you are going to be paleoanthropologists.
2. There are four dig sites in the Riddle of the Bones activity: Lucy, Hadar Skull, First Family, and Laetoli Footprints.
3. Review the evidence at your assigned site and answer the following questions INDIVDUALLY:
 What kind of creature made this fossil?
 When did this animal live?
 What did it look like alive?
 How did it move?
 When was it found and by whom?
4. Discuss the individual answers from each team member. As a team, write a summary of your findings in a
paragraph. Be prepared to discuss your findings with the class.
Part III: Hominid Evolution
1. Watch the Evolving Ideas: Did Humans Evolve? video as an introduction to the following activity.
2. Visit the Origins of Humankind Web activity. Answer the following questions.
 Look at the family tree: Why are some of the branches labeled with question marks? Find another family tree
on the Web or in your textbook. Note any differences. Why might the two trees be different?
 Look at the species gallery: What observations can you make about the changing shape of the hominid
skull?
 Look at the timeline: When was the first hominid fossil found? Why is this earliest hominid controversial?
(You may need to look for online articles to answer this question.)
 Why do some scientists consider Homo neanderthalensis to be part of the species Homo sapiens?
 When did bipedalism evolve? Which species was the first early bipedal hominid? What specific evidence
supports bipedalism in early hominids? Which early hominid fossils provide the strongest evidence of
bipedalism?
 When did the first evidence of tool use appear? In what species?
 Which was the first hominid to leave evidence of culture? What clues did hominids leave behind that
reflected their cognitive abilities?
 What cultural adaptations allowed Homo erectus to expand beyond tropical and subtropical environments
into the cooler climate of the temperate zones? Which hominids coexisted in time? Why and how do you
think this was possible?
3. Be prepared to discuss your answer with the class.
Part IV: Hominid Migration
1. Discoveries of fossil hominids around the world have helped scientists to determine not only the likely place of
origin for the human species, but also a migration path throughout the world. For this assignment, you will map this
distribution.
2. As a team, plot your data points on a small world map using the assigned color. When asked, be prepared to add
your data to the class world map using colored push pins that match the colored pencils. Check off the fossils on
your data sheets as each pin is placed, to prevent repeats.
3. Analyze the distribution of fossils on the world map and answer the questions on Hominid Migration Discussion
Questions worksheet. Be prepared to discuss your answers.
4. Refer to the class map as you think about and answer the following questions:
 Which human species overlap in time and, possibly, place?
 What biological adaptations would you expect to find in modern human populations in different parts of the
world?
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