Quiz Day!

Assessing Human Migration, Surviving the Ice Age, and the Birth of Farming  Today you will be taking a quiz testing your understanding of key concepts we've studied recently, which include human migration, surviving the Ice Age, and the birth of farming. The quiz can be found here. I will read be reading all questions and answer sets aloud before providing you time to work on the quiz independently. Most of the quiz is multiple choice, however there are also two short response questions. For the short response questions, explain your ideas as completely as possible so I'm clear about what exactly you know and understand. When you are done with the quiz, click the 'submit' button. If you finish early and time permits, you may consider doing the activities listed below.

Academic Business Time Due to the fact that there are various assignments that we have been working on that are due tomorrow, I would like to give you some structured time if needed today to work on them. They include

1. Early Agriculture - Cognitive Content Dictionary
2. Early Agriculture - Cause and Effect
3. Costs and Benefits of Farming
   

Each of these assignments can be found in your Social Studies Google Classroom and are due and must be 'turned in' by tomorrow, Friday, September 11.

Independent Literacy Time  If you have completed and 'turned in' each of the assignments above, you may use this time to do any of the following: take an Accelerated Reader quiz, make a Digital Reading Log entry, read a Newsela article, or read from your A.R. book. 

Homework  Complete and 'turn in' all assignments from the past week by tomorrow, Friday, September 11, which include: Early Agriculture - Cognitive Content Dictionary, Early Agriculture - Cause and Effect, and Costs and Benefits of Farming.  

Examining Agricultural Tools and Reviewing for Quiz

Life at the Time: Tilling the Soil  Students: How might you plant a garden without using any tools?  It would be pretty difficult, wouldn't it. Therefore, can you understand why even early on using tools for farming was so important?  

Let's read the introductory paragraph from the passage below. Now take a moment and carefully study the images and accompanying captions in order.

Who probably made the tools show in the pictures? 

How might a toolmaker have been paid for the work? 

Look at how the toolmakers improved designs as time passed. Which sickle do you think would have been most efficient? 

Now imagine that you are farmer in the ancient Middle East and you have used one of the more advanced metal sickles for the first time. Discuss with the members of your group all the various benefits of using a metal sickle. In what what ways will it help you produce more food crops?   

Reviewing for Quiz: Three Videos  We are going to have a quiz tomorrow on the following topics we've studied recently: human migration, surviving the Ice Age, and the development of farming. But before we do, we are going to watch excerpts of three short videos to help you review the content and important ideas. You may use the document From Human Migration to the Development of Farming - Video Notes, which can be found in your Social Studies Google Classroom, to take notes if your choose.

Homework  Study for your quiz on 'human migration, surviving the Ice Age, and the development of farming,' which you will be taking tomorrow, September 10.

The Costs and Benefits of Farming

Writing Warm-Up  A cost is something that has a negative effect. A benefit, on the other hand, is something that has a good effect or is a positive. What do you think the costs (the negatives) and benefits (the positives) of farming are going to turn out to be? Share your ideas here.   

The Costs and Benefits of Farming: Reading and Note-Taking Activity  Today in small groups you are going to read an excerpt and study a diagram from your text regarding the costs and benefits of farming. As you read, you will take notes on the Costs and Benefits of Farming using the document of the same name in your Social Studies folders. The text passage and diagram are featured below (but can also be found on pg. 35 of your Social Studies textbook). Towards the end of the period, each member of your group must be prepared to share at least one farming cost and/or one benefit they learned during the course of their study. The Cost and Benefits of Farming assignment will be due Friday, September 11.  

Video: The Agricultural Revolution  Now let's watch as our friends at Crash Course hilariously explain the importance of the Agricultural Revolution.  

Homework  Complete the assignment Costs and Benefits of Farming, which will be due Friday, September 11, in addition to the assignments Early Agriculture - Cognitive Content Dictionary and Identify Main Ideas (Ice Age Hunter-Gatherers) from last week.

How the Agricultural Revolution Changed the Way People Lived

Cause and Effect Mini-Lesson  Before you can begin to understand the relationship between events related to the Agricultural Revolution you may need to a refresher on the nature of 'Cause and Effect.' Cause is what makes something happens. Effect is what happens as a result. To see 'Cause and Effect' in action, check out the video below. 

Early Agriculture: Guided Reading and Cause and Effect Activity  Today we will read about how the Agricultural Revolution changed the way people lived. The Early Agriculture - Reading Selection can be found in your Social Studies Google Classroom, as well as here. As we read, you will make note of the relationship between key events related to the birth of agriculture and early farming using the Early Agriculture - Cause and Effect document, which can be found in your Social Studies Google Classroom.

Homework  Complete the Early Agriculture - Cause and Effect activity, which is due Friday, September 11. 

Early Agriculture (Day 2)

Early Agriculture: Vocabulary Study (Continued)  Let's complete our Early Agriculture - Cognitive Content Dictionary assignment today. Remember, you can find it in your Social Studies Google Classroom, along with the excerpt from our Social Studies textbook, which we will use to help us understand the lesson's key words and concepts.  

Video Excerpt: "The Story of All of Us"  Let's continue to develop our understanding of human migration and early agriculture by watching an excerpt of the program "The Story of All of Us." Take notes on what you observe, learn, and what questions you may have, using the document The Story of All of Us - Video Notes, which can be found in your Social Studies Google Classroom. 

 

Homework  (1.) Complete your Early Agriculture - Cognitive Content Dictionary, which is due next Friday, September 11. (2.) Complete and 'turn in' assignments, which are due tomorrow, September 4, which include: Populating the Earth - Cognitive Content Dictionary, Populating the Earth - Questions, and Identifying Main Ideas (Ice Age Hunter-Gatherers). 

Early Agriculture

Writing Warm-Up  Why do you think many of our early human ancestors abandoned (left behind) the hunter-gatherer lifestyle to become farmers? What advantages (positives) do you think farming might have over hunting and gathering? Share your ideas here.  

Early Agriculture: Vocabulary Study  Today we are going to be studying the key vocabulary related to 'Early Agriculture' using the assignment Early Agriculture - Cognitive Content Dictionary located in your Social Studies Google Classroom. We will be using an excerpt from our Social Studies textbook, also located in your Social Studies Google Classroom, to help us understand the lesson's key words and concepts.  

Homework  Complete the assignment Early Agriculture - Cognitive Content Dictionary by next Friday, September 11.

Identifying Main Ideas and Exploring Human Migration

Analysis Skill: Identify Main Ideas  Almost all written nonfiction text, including your history textbook, consists of main ideas. There may be one main idea or multiple ideas. Learning to identify the main idea or ideas of a passage will help you understand what you have read. Today we will read the passage below and work together to identify its main ideas. You can find the assignment Identify Main Ideas (Ice Age Hunter-Gatherers) in your Social Studies Google Classroom. This assignment will be due on Friday, September 4. 

Journey of Humankind: Interactive Map  Today we are going to go on a virtual global journey of modern humans over the last 160,000 years. This interactive map "will show for the first time the interaction between migration and climate over this period." Press "play" and watch your ancestors begin their migration out of Africa to the furthest reaches of the globe. Read their stories along the way. Observe the changes in climate that they are forced to confront. Make note of when and how your ancestors first set foot in the American. Enjoy!