Human Evolution – Early Human Diets

Description

• Title: Human Evolution – Early Human Diets
• Air Date: March 27, 2014
• Series: Smithsonian Science How webcasts, which are designed to connect natural history science and research to upper-elementary and middle-school students.

This video features Dr. Briana Pobiner, an Anthropologist at the National Museum of Natural History. Join her in the discovery of fossil evidence of some of the earliest humans on Earth. Share her excitement about holding an animal bone that was handled by an early human more than 1 million years ago. Consider what you can learn about early humans from cut marks on ancient animal bones. Contemplate the significance of the evolution of meat-eating in humans. See how Briana is helping us better understand the lives of our 1.5-million-year-old ancestors.

Teaching Resources

Early Human Evolution and Culture

National Middle School Standards

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

Life Science

MS-LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

• MS-LS1-4: Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.

MS-LS4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

• MS-LS4-1: Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past.
• MS-LS4-2: Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships.

National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies (NCSS)

People, Places, and Environments

• The study of people, places, and environments enables us to understand the relationship between human populations and the physical world.
• During their studies, learners develop an understanding of spatial perspectives, and examine changes in the relationship between peoples, places and environments.