Topic: Prehistory

Target group

5th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

I. Ancient civilizations. Pupil:

1. compares the nomadic lifestyle with the settled and explains the effects of the Neolithic revolution.

General aim of education

Students get acquainted with the history of human evolution and the living conditions of the first people.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• to explain how human evolution of human took place and where it started;

• to describe how the theory of evolution was created and who its author is;

• to characterize how the first people lived;

• to tell about the first inventions and achievements of humankind;

• to explain what the Neolithic revolution was;

• to define the significance of the Neolithic revolution for the history of humankind;

• to talk about the oldest human settlements and buildings.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk;

  • lecture.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Introduction

1. The teacher states the subject of the lesson, explains the aim of the lesson and together with students determines the success criteria to be achieved.

2. The teacher writes down the word: PREHISTORY. Then he asks the students to write down all their associations with it. In the next step, the teacher presents the chronology of prehistory in the form of a timeline. It should be displayed / drawn on the board and be visible throughout the entire lesson.

Realization

1. The teacher, starting the lesson, explains that the evolution of humans and the origin of hominids was not recognized until the 19th century. The creation and development of this scientific concept was made by Charles Darwin, questioning the theory of creationism. He found that life on Earth is the result of the evolution of species, not of a single act. Students get acquainted with the interactive illustration and execute ** Task 1 **. Next, they describe the evolution of the pre‑humans (** Task 2 **) and means of settling conducted by the humans (** Task 3 **). The teacher marks each of the mentioned dates on the timeline.

2. The teacher, explaining to the students the path of human evolution, lists the most important achievements of humanity of this period (the ability to start fire, the first tools, etc. – ** Task 4 **). Then he asks the students the question: Under what conditions did the first people live, what they did, where they lived, etc., and begins the discussion. Asking the questions, the teacher remembers that they are to be formulated as the key questions. Students watch the film (**Task 5 **) and answer the question.

3. The teacher shows the timeline from the e‑textbook „Rewolucja neolityczna” fragment and puts this event on the timeline from the beginning of the lesson. Referring to the way of life and achievements of prehistoric people, the teacher asks the students what was the biggest problem of such a lifestyle. Students should answer: limited food that ran out quickly.

4. The teacher introduces the notion of the Neolithic Revolution and explains its meaning. Then he asks the students why it begun on the lands known as the Fertile Crescent. Students carry out ** Exercise 1 **, listing elements related to the Neolithic revolution. Then, referring to the sedentary lifestyle, explains the formation of the first compact clusters of people and cities and lists them: Jericho, Catal Huyuk, Byblos. Students get acquainted with the interactive illustration in ** Task 6 ** and perform the exercise.

5. While working on the exercises, students use a set of cards in three colors: green, yellow and red. Using to the cards, they signal to the teacher if they have difficulties in carrying out the orders (green color – I'm doing great, yellow - I have doubts, red - I'm asking for help).

Summary

1. In conclusion, the teacher asks the students to look at the timeline filled out throughout the lesson. He emphasizes that prehistory is not included in historical periods, and its duration is the longest. Then he asks the students to list the greatest achievements of this period.

2. At the end, he asks the students the question: What do you think could end the prehistory and start antiquity? If he they not get the answer, he tells the students that it is about the invention of writing, and explains its groundbreaking meaning.

3. Students on the basis of knowledge gained during the lesson perform ** Exercise 2 **.

4. The teacher assesses the students' work during the lesson, taking into account their input and commitment. For this purpose, he may prepare a self‑assessment questionnaire.

Homework

1. The teacher tasks willing students with homework: Look on the Internet for examples of prehistoric art. What images dominate it? What do you think led people to the first works of art?.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Prehistory

Prehistory is the longest period in history. Its duration as a period in the history of humankind is starts from the moment of appearance of hominids (the Hominidae) in Africa about 2.5 million years ago, and ends with the invention of writing in the early 4th millennium B.C. During this period, a complicated process of human evolution took place, the last stage of which was the appearance of Homo sapiens sapiens, the human. The creator of the theory of evolution is considered to be the British naturalist Charles Darwin, who in his work On the Origin of Species described the transformations taking place in the world of animals adapting to environmental changes. The early humans led nomadic lives and lived in groups of enough numbers to take care of their safety and find food together. By means of trials and errors, they learned about the world around them and gained the necessary experience to survive. Over time, they learned to make a fire, hunt animals or build shelters. A great breakthrough in the history of humankind was the ability to produce and improve tools, such as hand axes, i.e. primitive knives fitted to the hands, and the art of lighting fire, thanks to which predators could be driven away and more nutritious food could be prepared. Primitive people have also left traces of art – which can be found in more than a hundred caves all over Spain and France. About 14 thousand years ago, the climate started to warm up after the Ice Age, known as Pleistocene. During the Ice Age, most of the large mammals died out, and there was a clear change – the large plains of the Northern Hemisphere, freed from ice, were covered by lush vegetation. Humans had to adapt to the changes taking place around them – they started to live a sedentary lifestyle, cultivate the land and breed animals. It took place about 8 thousand years B.C. in the area of the so‑called Fertile Crescent, starting a ground‑breaking stage of the development in the history of humankind. Neolithic revolution, which was the name given to these changes in history, caused the communities, which so far had been leading a hunter‑gatherer lifestyle, to settle in convenient and fertile areas, giving rise to the first urban centres. One of the first and best preserved Neolithic settlements to this day is Catal Huyuk, in the territory of today's Turkey, the origins of which are estimated at about 8‑10 thousand years.