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The First People
Essential Question: How did human’s way of living change as they interacted and
adapted?
The Big Idea: Prehistoric people learned how to adapt to their environment, to make
simple tools, to make fire, and to use language.
Vocabulary:
Read the chapter and define the following terms:
Prehistory, p. 28
the time before writing existed- rely on archaeologists and anthropologists
Hominid, p. 28
an early ancestor of humans- prehistoric humans
Ancestor, p. 28
a relative who lived in the past
Tool, p. 30
is any handheld object that has been modified to help a person accomplish a task
Paleolithic Era, p. 31
the first part of the Stone Age, also knowns as the Old Stone Age. It lasted until about
10,000 years ago. During this time people used stone tools
Society, p. 33
is a community of people who share a common culture
Hunter-Gatherers, p. 33
the early people of the stone age who hunt animals and gather wild plants, seeds, fruits, and
nuts to survive
Reading Check Questions
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1. Drawing Inferences - What can ancient bones tell us about human ancestors? (p.
29)
● Discoveries of ancient bones give us information about early humans and
their ancestors- can tell general size and how they walked
2. Contrasting How was Homo erectus different from Homo habilis? (p. 30-31)
● homo habilis- name means “handy man”, used simple stone tools for
chopping and scraping, brain was ½ the size of modern humans, appeared
in Africa about 2.4 mya
● homo erectus- name means “upright man”, appeared in Africa about 2-1.5
mya, used tools like the hand ax, could control fire, migrated out of Africa
to Asia and Europe
3. Summarizing How did tools improve during the Old Stone Age? (p. 31)
● over time people learned to make better tools- for example the developed
the hand ax, learned to attach wooden handles to tools, invented the spear
(meant people could hunt larger animals- deer, horses, bison, and
mammoths)
4. What was one possible reason for the development of language? (p. 33-34)
● possibly to make hunting easier, others think it was developed as a
way to form relationships, others think language made it easier to
resolve issues like how to distribute food
Section Assessment
1. a. Identify Who found the bones of Lucy?
● Donald johanson
b. Explain Why do historians need archaeologists and anthropologists to study
prehistory?
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because we cannot rely on written records since they did not exist- need
archaeologists and anthropologists to make observations and inferences about
the past in order to “construct” our understanding of history
2. a. Recall What is the scientific name for modern humans?
homo sapiens (sapiens)
b. Make Inferences What might have been one advantage of walking completely
upright?
taller, easier to hunt, easier to walk (homo erectus)
3. a. Recall What kind of tools did people use during the Paleolithic Era?
stone tools, for example the developed the hand ax, learned to attach wooden
handles to tools, invented the spear (meant people could hunt larger animalsdeer, horses, bison, and mammoths)
b. Design Design a stone and wood tool you could use to help you with your chores.
Describe your tool in a sentence or two.
answers will vary
4. a. Define What is a hunter-gatherer?
the early people of the stone age who hunt animals and gather wild plants, seeds, fruits,
and nuts to survive
b. Rank In your opinion, what was the most important change brought by the
development of language?
answers will vary
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5. Listing Stone Age Achievements: Look back through this section and make a list of
important Stone Age achievements.
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simple stone tools
more advanced tools such as hand axe and spear
hunting improved
paintings on cave walls= art
forms of communication