They will learn to: 
   -Save good wheat grain for replanting. 
   -Use water to grow more food.
   -Catch the slower fatter animals to herd.
   -Build fences to hold different types of animals.
   -Store food in a cool dry place.

Proper decision making will lead to more competent food collection and eventually specialization of jobs.  Cooperative communities and cities are a result of this specialization. 
 

Subject:  Social Studies
Topic: Creating civilizations
Grade Level:  6th
Student Lesson name and URL: http://ctap295.ctaponline.org/~youngj/student

Standards Addressed

Sixth Grade
World History and Geography:
Ancient Civilizations

6.1 Students describe what is known through archaeological studies of the early physical and cultural development of humankind from the Paleolithic era to the agricultural revolution.

    1.  Describe the hunter-gatherer societies, including the development of tools and the use of fire. 

    2  Identify the locations of human communities that populated the major regions of the world and describe how humans adapted to a variety of environments.

    3. Discus the climatic changes and human modifications of the physical environment that gave rise to the domestication of plants and animals and new sources of clothing and shelter.

Instructional Objectives

1.   Student will show an understanding of the decisions made by early man that lead to the evolution from hunter-gatherer to farmer-herder.

Introductory Activity
Students will read a story which introduces the character, “Andy the Neanderthal.”  This will correspond to Chapter 2 in the 6th grade Houghton-Mifflin social studies text.  Andy is a hunter-gatherer and is about to be the first of his kind to evolve to a Farmer-Herder.  He will be facing the problem of collecting, producing, maintaining and preserving food.
 

Enabling Activity(ies)

1.   Students will read a story “Andy” the neandrathal.  Andy eats the grain from the field near his tree.  The students will have to decide which grain to store for planting to get the most grain per plant.
2.  Students read a story about how the grain that Andy eats grows very well near the riverbank, which is narrow, and not well in the field which is spacious.  Students choose to splash water, carry water, our dig a canal to divert water.
3.   Students will decide which animals to catch and herd and how to contain them.
4.   Students will read a story about “Andy” and how he gets lucky because every now and then a group of slow animals come around and he eats well.  They have to decide to catch and keep the animals so they can make more.
5.   Andy has had to build a tall fence to keep the animals from eating his grain.  He is tired of keeping the animals he caught in his hut.  Student help him decide to build a short strong fence.

  Students will read about Andy’s food going bad when he leaves it in various places.  Students help Andy to store his food in a cool dry place.t

Culminating Activity
     Students will write a summary describing how they helped Andy to evolve.  This will include which grain they choose and why, how he watered the field, which animals he captured and how he kept them and how he stored his food.  This will be evaluated against a rubric.

Assessment
Insert your grading rubric for the culminating activity or a link to your rubric or test document file.
Results
After implementing your lesson (sometime between January & March), insert a chart of your pre-test, post-test, and culminating assessment data.

Web Resources & Supplementary Materials

Introductory Activity
List and link the web resources for this activity here. Also link supplementary materials such as PDF files and /or document files.

Enabling Activity
List and link the web resources for your learning activity(ies) here. Also link supplementary materials such as PDF files and /or document files.

Culminating Activity
Lascaux caves site
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/

Oliver Wendel Holmes Elementary
North Highlands, California
Jim Young    Smilnjimbo@aol.com
Last Revised: 07/21/2000 

Lascaux caves site
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/
Gifs and stuff
cool pictures