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Moving into New Environments

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Ch 1.1.4

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Learning Objective

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Students will be able to explain how between 70,000 and 10,000 yrs, Paleolithic people migrated out of Africa and settled around the world. (pp. 18-19)

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NG 1.4

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Guided Questions

What caused man to move east to Asia?

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How did man move into the Americas?

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What are megafauna? What are the names of three species common to this continent?

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What are suggested explanations for what happened to the megafauna?

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Moving into New Environments

Spread of Early Humans

  • Due to climate change, Paleolithic man migrated into Asia around 70,000 B.C.E.

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  • The region was warm and tropical with plenty of vegetation and animals for food.

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  • The migration continued across Asia, across the Pacific into Australia and around 30,000 B.C. they reached Siberia in eastern Asia.

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Moving into New Environments

Spread of Early Humans

  • The only continent left was the Americas. This migration occurred during the Ice Age.

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  • During the Ice Age, much of the water in the oceans became ice and the water level dropped 400 ft!

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  • This event created a land bridge that allowed animals and humans to cross from Asia into North America.

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Moving into New Environments

Spread of Early Humans

  • This land bridge was called Beringia.

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  • It connected Siberia with North America.

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  • This allowed a series of migrations between 20,000 and 15,000 years ago.

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Bering Land Bridge

The First Americans

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Moving into New Environments

Spread of Early Humans

  • Scientists believe that because of glacial melting around 12,000 years ago travelers went through Central America to South America.

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  • There is new evidence however that challenges this timing.

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  • The genes of some South American people suggests that early humans may have come from Australia 35,000 years ago!

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Quick Check

Can you . . .

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1. Explain what caused man to migrate to Asia. (slide 4)

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2. Explain how did early man move into the Americas.

(slides 5 and 10)

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Moving into New Environments

In Search of Food

  • As stated before, human migration was often for survival.

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  • To do this they followed the megafauna, which were large animals like the woolly mammoth, giant ground sloth and the saber-toothed tiger.

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  • The word megafauna means “large animals”.

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  • All of these animals were much larger than their present day cousins.

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Moving into New Environments

In Search of Food

  • The wooly mammoth related to our modern elephant was 9-11 feet tall and weighed up to six tons!

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  • Almost as big as the mammoth, the giant ground sloth weighed 5 tons and used its large claws to tear bark and leaves.

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  • The saber-toothed cat although smaller than a lion was almost 400 pounds heavier.

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Early Man vs Megafauna

Sabertooth Tiger

Mammoth

Giant Ground Sloth

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Based on what we now know, what is wrong with this picture?

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Moving into New Environments

In Search of Food

  • These megafauna became extinct about 11,000 years ago.

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  • The most plausible or probable explanation was that they were wiped out by overhunting or climate change when the Ice Age came to an end.

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Quick Check

Can you . . .

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1. Explain what megafauna are and name three specific

species that are mentioned in the text. (slide 13)

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2. Explain two possible explanations that may account for

the disappearance of the megafauna? (slide 18)

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Reflect, Reason and Respond

I want everyone to reflect, reason and respond to the following prompt by writing a proficient (or better) response to the following prompt- Walk me through mankind’s migration from central Africa to the Americas. Why were they forced to move? Where did they go? What challenges or obstacles did they face? How did they overcome them? What animals were part of this journey? Be sure to provide details and support for

your response.

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What do we now know?

• WE NOW KNOW that man began to migrate into Asia around 70,000 B.C.E.

• WE NOW KNOW that man’s journey across the Bering Strait arrival in the Americas coincided with the last Ice Age.

• WE NOW KNOW that man depended upon megafauna for his survival during the Ice Age

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