Human Evolution: One Step at a Time. Objectives

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TEACHER GUIDE Human Evolution: One Step at a Time 60-Minute Life Science Lesson Interactive Video Conferencing Grades: 6-12 Human Evolution: One Step at a Time Description Trace the development of

1 TEACHER GUIDE Human Evolution: One Step at a Time 60-Minute Life Science Lesson Interactive Video Conferencing Grades: 6-12 Human Evolution: One Step at a Time Description Trace the development of modern humans using information from fossil hominids as well as clues from living primates. Closel eamining casts of primate and fossil bones from our Museum research collections, students will "meet" their primate cousins and ancestors. The differences between primate groups will be eplored, as well as the characteristics that distinguish primates from other mammals. The human famil tree, including "Luc", will help students understand their place in human prehistor. Objectives Understand that the diversit of species is developed through gradual processes; eplore how humans fit into the scheme. Distinguish between the different primate groups: lemurs and Old World monkes; New World monkes; apes and hominids (humans). Describe how science and technolog have been used to identif various lines of evidence for human evolution, including molecular (DNA), skeletal (comparative anatom), embrological and behavioral traits. Ohio s Learning Standards Grade 6: Life Science- Cellular to Multicellular Living sstems at all levels of organization demonstrate the complementar nature of structure and function. Grade 8: Life Science- Species and Reproduction Diversit of species occurs through gradual processes over man generations. Fossil records provide evidence that changes have occurred in number and tpes of species. * We have presented this program to students in grades 6-12; our state educational requirements ma differ from those in Ohio. This lesson is easil adapted for various ages let our Scheduler know an specifics about our class and our educators will handle the rest! Produced and published b the Education Division 1 Wade Oval Dr., Universit Circle, Cleveland, OH /6/2017

2 Before Your Program & How To Set Up Your Room A kit of research-qualit bone casts will be sent to our school via UPS before our scheduled program. Make sure when scheduling that ou give us our name as well as the school address. We will eplain how to use the specimens in the kit during the IVC program. If ou have a small table in the front of our room, we can have student volunteers come up and demonstrate for the whole group. The last 3 pages of this document are outlines that match the bone casts in our kit. Print these pages out and have our students cut out the bones, keeping each pelvis with its matching leg bones. Our instructors will demonstrate use of these cutouts during our program. Vocabular adaptation - an anatomical structure, phsiological process or behavioral trait that facilitates an individual s survival in a given environment. bipedal - walking on two feet. DNA - Deoribonucleic Acid, a special code that dictates the placement of protein building blocks in all living cells. evolution - an cumulative change in the characteristics of populations of living things from generation to generation; change over time. femur - the thighbone. Foramen magnum (fo-ra'men mag'nem) - the large opening at the base of the skull through which the spinal cord passes. frugivore (froo'ji-vor) - an animal that primaril eats fruit. hominid - a member of the famil Hominidae (hom-in'i-da), which includes modern humans and their fossil relatives. olfactor lobe - the part of the brain that processes information about smell. pelvis - the hip bones. primates - the order of mammals which includes lemurs, monkes, apes and humans. sagittal crest - a thin ridge of bone on top the skull which anchors the temporal or jaw muscles. scavenger - feeds on carrion (dead animal flesh) or organic refuse (e.g. rotting vegetation). stereoscopic vision - the abilit to use both ees to view the same visual field, resulting in depth perception. Produced and published b the Education Division 1 Wade Oval Dr., Universit Circle, Cleveland, OH /6/2017

3 Etension Activities Interest in and learning about human ancestr can begin before our videoconference and continue after our Museum program. The following activities ma inspire our new Anthropologists: 1) One of the features that distinguish primates from other mammals is an opposable thumb on a five-digit hand. To illustrate the importance of this feature, students can tape their thumbs to their palms and then tr performing various activities: writing their names, ting and unting a string to a pole, ting their shoes, eating with a knife and fork, etc. 2) To highlight the importance of stereoscopic vision and the relationship it has to depth perception, ask students to sit at their desks, and draw a dot on a piece of paper. Then ask them to sit still with their ees closed for 2-3 minutes (this is reall hard!). At the end of the time interval, ask students to open one ee and tr to touch the dot. Chances are the will miss because the are viewing the field with onl one ee, and the cannot judge distances correctl. Discuss with students the importance of depth perception to our earl ancestors who lived in trees (traveling, catching insects for food). 3) Hominids are bipedal. Students can run races b knuckle-walking, the wa chimps and gorillas do. Net, tr the races again, but hold a lunch bo or basket in one hand. What are the advantages of bipedalism for carring objects? What kinds of skeletal changes were necessar to modif the quadrupedal bod to a bipedal one? 4) Ask students to look at a world map, and mark in the locations of fossil human ancestors, including earl Homo sapiens. Put the age of the fossil net to the dog. What does this sa about the geographic origins of humans? What climate zones did these earl ancestors evolve in? Are an patterns evident for the later migrations of humans across the continents? Online Resources for Teachers and Students Click the link below to find additional online resources for teachers and students. These websites are recommended b our Museum Educators and provide additional content information and some fun, interactive activities to share with our class. CMNH Educators regularl review these links for qualit. Web addresses often change so please notif us if an links have issues. Cleveland Museum of Natural Histor Produced and published b the Education Division 1 Wade Oval Dr., Universit Circle, Cleveland, OH /6/2017

4 1 Human Evolution Please cut out all bones along outer margins onl.

5 2 Human Evolution Please cut out all bones along outer margins onl.

6 3 Human Evolution Please cut out all bones along outer margins onl.

The Human Animal. The Human Timescale. Geological Timescale. Millions of Years. Periods Jurassic. Major events

The Human Animal. The Human Timescale. Geological Timescale. Millions of Years. Periods Jurassic. Major events The Human Animal The Human Timescale Geological Timescale Millions of Years Periods Permian Triassic Jurassic Cretaceous Tertiary Quat. Major events Dinosaurs Evolve and Expand Start of Age of Reptiles