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 1-9 in A Little History of the World. Read pages
30-35; 38-41 in Our 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: Shane Mason
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 African 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 writing, when there were no written records
and dates. The period of prehistory is called the Stone Age, because
during this time people sharpened and flaked sticks and stones in
order to make or invent knifes.
The Old Stone Age is also Pal eolithic. This time period lasted
from about70,000 to about 12,000 years ago. Prehistoric humans were
called historians, because they gathered plants and vegetables and
because they hunted animals. The animals hunted by huntergatherers is called their prey. These animals were important, because
they allowed early humans to survive.
Stone tools were made by a process called during which prehistoric
hunters hit objects against 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 terrible; and snow was deep.
Some human ancestors before modern humans were named
kneader, because their bones have been discovered in the kneader
valley in Germany. They had a thick, low forehead.
About6,ooo years ago, people discovered that could use mix
different types of metal to make tools and weapons and armor and
jewelry.