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Unit I:Early Humans and

SocietiesChapter 1

Uncovering the Past

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Chapter 1: Uncovering the Past Essential Question:How do historians and geographers study the past in order to learn more about the present?

People of the ancient world did remarkable things. Among their great feats was building huge temples, inventing writing, and discovering the planets.Every step that we take in our world is based on the ideas from long ago. We are who we are because of the past!

Unit I: Early Humans and Societies

Section 1: Studying History

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What is History?History is the study of the past, people who

study history are called historians.

To understand history, historians study clues and evidence.Historians will study how the earliest people gathered or hunted for food. They would study how they made stone tools, grow food, and raise animals.

Historians are people that try to learn what life is like for individuals long ago in places around the world.

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Historians would want to know the problems that early people faced. How did they solve these problems? What were these solutions?

Historians would be interested in how early people led their lives?

Where did they work?How did they fight?How did they trade?How did they farm?What did they do in their free time?

In other words, historians study the past to understand people’s culture.

Culture is the knowledge, beliefs, customs, and values of a group of people.

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What is Archaeology? Archeology is the study of the past based on what people have left behind.

Archaeologists, or people who practice archeology, explore places where people once lived, worked, or fought.

The things people left in these places may include jewelry, dishes, or weapons. They range from stone tools to huge buildings.

Archeologists examine the objects they find to learn what they can tell about the past. In many cases, the objects left behind are the only clues we have to know how they lived.

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Understanding through History-Knowing YourselfHere is another reason why people study history. Understanding the past helps us to understand the world today.

History can provide us with a guide to making better decisions in the future.

History teaches us about the experiences we have been through as a people.

History shapes our identity and teaches us the values that we share. Values are ideas that people hold dear and try to live by.

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Understanding through History-Knowing Others

History can teach you about yourself. Without your own personal history you would have an identity.

History teaches us about the experiences we have been through as a people.

History shapes our identity and teaches us values that we share.

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Knowing Others

History teaches us about other cultures that are unlike your own. You learn about other peoples, where they lived, and what is important to them.

History teaches us how cultures are the same and different. It helps us understand why people think the way they do and about the struggles they have faced. You also learn how these struggles have affected the way people view themselves and others. In other words, different cultures have different stories to tell about their ancestor’s contributions.

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Learning about the stories of others helps teach promote tolerance.

Tolerance is the respect and understanding the viewpoints of other peoples.

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Knowing your WorldHistory can provide you with a better understanding of where you live. History lets you know you are part of a culture that interacts with the rest of the world.

History encourages you to ask important questions or essential questions. It promotes good decision making skills. Did you ever hear the saying, if we do not learn the past, history will repeat itself?

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Using CluesWe must rely on a number of sources to learn history. To learn about the first humans we study fossil remains.A fossil is a part or imprint of something that was once alive.

Bones and footprints would be examples of fossils.

All humans learned to make things, in doing so they accidentally created more sources of information for us.

Artifacts are objects created by early humans

Artifacts include coins, arrowheads, tools, toys, and pottery.

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Sources of InformationHistorical sources are two types.

A primary source is an account of an event created by someone who took part in or witnessed the event.

Treaties, letters, diaries, laws, court documents, and royal commands are primary sources.

A secondary source is information gathered by someone who did not take part in or witness the event.

Examples include history textbooks, journal articles, and encyclopedias. The textbook we use in class is a secondary source.

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Section 2: Studying GeographyHistorians need to be able to explain the

question, “Where did it happen?” In order to do this they must understand geography.

Geography is the study of earth’s physical and cultural features.

These features include mountains, rivers, people, cities, and countries.

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Physical Geography

Physical geography is the study of the earth’s land and features. People that work in this field are called geographers.

Geographers study landforms, the natural features on a lands surface.

Mountains, valleys, plains, and other such places are landforms.

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Physical geographers also study climate, the pattern of weather conditions in a certain area over a long period of time.

Climate is not the same as weather. Weather is the conditions at a specific time and place.

Climate affects the features of a region. For example, it affects plant life. Plants can not grow on a desert region. Climate also affects landforms, constant wind can wear down a mountain.

Landforms and climate are part of a places environment.The environment includes all living and non living things that affect life in an area.

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Human GeographyHuman geography is the study of people and the places where they live.

Human geography asks questions such as: What kind of work do people do? How do they get their food? What are their homes like?

Human geography also deals with how the environment affects people. For example, how do people who live near rivers protect themselves from floods? How do people who live in deserts survive? What diseases spread easily in some environments?

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Studying LocationLocation is the exact description where something is.

Geographers try to understand how differences in places can lead to differences in how people live.

These differences may be evidenced in the homes that people build or in the tools that they use.To study various locations geographers study maps. Some maps show physical features or landscapes. Other maps might display physical boundaries or borders.

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Learning About Regions

To study geography, a geographer must study regions.

A region is an area with one or more features that make it different from surrounding areas.

These regions might be physical, such as forests and grasslands. There might also be differences in climate. For example, a desert.

Physical barriers, such as mountains and rivers form a region’s boundaries.

Human features can also define regions. One area may contain farms and another region might be a

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Geography and History- Geography Affects Resources

By studying geography we can piece together a great deal of information about ancient cultures.In early civilizations people could only live where they could enough food and water.

Early people settled in places rich in resources.

Resources are materials found in the earth that people need and value.

All through history, people have used a variety of resources to meet their basic needs.

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In early times, essential resources included water, animals, fertile land, and stones for tools.

Over time, people learned to use other resources, including metals such as copper, gold, and iron.

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Geography Shapes Cultures

Geography influenced the early development of cultures. For example, early people developed vastly different cultures because of their environment. People that lived near rivers learned to fish and make boats. People that lived near forests learned to make their home out of wood. Some people even developed religious beliefs based on the place they lived in. For example, the ancient Egyptians believed the god Hapi controlled the Nile River.Some graphic features could protect areas from an invasion. A region surrounded by mountains or deserts, for example, was hard for attackers to reach.

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People in areas with many natural resources could use their resources to get rich. They could build glorious cities and powerful armies.

Geography Influences History

Features like rivers made trade easier. Many societies became rich by trading with other peoples.

On the other hand, geography could also cause problems. Floods, for example, have killed millions of people. Lack of rainfall has brought deadly food shortages. Bad storms have wrecked ships, and with them, the hopes of conquerors.

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The relationship between geography is not been one-sided. For centuries people have influenced their environments in positive and negative ways. People have planted millions of trees. They have also created lakes in deserts. But people have also created wastelands where forests once grew.