Name:
Date:
Becoming Human Viewers Guide
Please read the following sections and answer all questions. Video can be seen at.
www.becominghuman.org.
A. Things to know before you see the video:
Glossary
paleoanthropology (n) the branch of anthropology concerned with fossil hominids
Hadar (n) An archeological site in East Africa founded in 1968
australophithecus afarensis (n) an extinct hominid which lived between 3.9 and 2.9 millions
years ago; Lucy was this type of hominid
Meioscene Age (n) Miocene period: the fourth epoch of the world when the
Himalayas and Alps were forming and there was diversification
in primates; 23.3 to 5.3 millions years ago
Laeotoli Footprints (n) Discovered by Mary Leaky in Tanzania, early human
footprints
Bipedalism (n) word used to describe an animal who uses two legs to walk
Aboriginal (adj) word used to describe people, animals or plants native to an
area for a very long time before any colonists arrived
Terms
Donald Johanson A paleontologist who found the australophithecus afarensis
hominid known as Lucy
Hominid A primate- humans and their ancestors can be described as
a hominid
Lucy Name for hominid found in the Afar region by Donald Johanson
Mary Leakey Premiere archeologist, discovered very important artifacts
Turkana Boy Name of a nearly complete skeleton of a hominid boy
found in Kenya
Homo Erectus An ancestor of humans; a primate who “stood up”
Homo neanderthalensisA now extinct species of humans who lived in Europe between
120,000-350,000 years ago with a receding forehead and
prominent brow ridges
Homo sapiens a primate species to which humans belong
Koonalda A limestone cave located in South Australia where Rock Art was
founded in the 1950’s.
Timeline
4000 million years ago First signs of life appear according to scientists
3.7 million years ago Footprints found in Kenya serve as strong evidence for the
beginnings of bipedalism
3 million years ago Lucy the fossil died in the modern-day Afar region of Ethiopia
1.8 million years ago Homo erectus evolves in Africa
19,000 years ago Koonalda Cave Art is believed to have have been created
1954 Koonalda Cave Art is rediscovered in South Australia
1974 Lucy is discovered by Don Johanson
B. Things to note while you see the video:
1. Why is northern Ethiopia such a good place for fossil hunting?
2. What is so significant about Lucy? What does she tell us about human origins?
3. What was the environment of Hadar like 3.2 million years ago?
4. What do many of the bones found at Hadar tell us about the way hominids lived and
died?
5. What changes took place in Africa during the Meioscene Age (6 million years ago)
that led to the development of hominids?
6. What are the Laeotoli footprints and what do they tell us about hominids?
7. Why is bipedalism as an anatomical (or bodily) adaptation so important?
8. Which two anatomical features distinguish h. erectus from a. afarensis?
9. How did bigger bodies and bigger brains affect the behavior of h. erectus?
10. Which physical features identified Neanderthals as human? Which physical features
separated Neanderthals from modern humans?
11. What was found on the walls of the caves in Koonalda and why are they significant?
What do they tell us about the evolution of human beings?
C. Things to think about after you’ve seen the video:
Interpreting what you heard - quotes:
Read the three quotes and answer the following questions using the quotes, images and
the notes you have taken as evidence.
1. “She was the ape that stood up.”
2. “Hominds such as Lucy serve as a touchstone for discussing human origins.”
3. “In some ways, homo erectus was the evolutionary parent of our own species.”
1. Which physical characteristics make human beings human? List them. Why is this
list an incomplete definition of what makes human being uniquely human?
1. “These engravings are simple yet they represent the profound change in the way our
ancestors viewed their world. They mark the birth of their ability to understand abstract
concepts, both about their world and about themselves. This was the dawn of
consciousness.”
2. “When you look at the rock art it was painted by the hands and the emotions and the
mind of the artist that created it. To witness what the ancestors left behind is an
incredible gift.”
2. The scholars in the film argue that the emergence of culture is what truly makes human
beings uniquely human. Do you agree? Why or why not? Use the quotes listed above and
the information you acquired from the film to answer this question in a persuasive
paragraph?
Big idea question:
While Don Johanson tells a compelling story about the evolution of human beings,
why is the human record so incomplete? What types of evidence could bridge these
gaps? Do you think this type of evidence actually exists? Why or why not? Write a
Persuasive Paragraph in which you cite specific evidence from the documentary to
support your argument.