Panorama-How Did We Get Here, Anyway?
Why this unit?....
Have humans always been here on earth? Will we always be here? These are questions of central and enduring interest and importance. Human history is set on the stage of Planet Earth. We cannot understand our own history as a species during the time that we have been on earth without understanding the long-term physical and natural setting in which human history has taken place. It is a setting that all people share regardless of the differences between us that we so often emphasize.
Human evolution has occurred over a huge span of time when compared to the lifetime of any individual. Yet the time it has taken us to evolve into Homo sapiens, a species distinct from our predecessors and from other animals, is only the blink of an eye compared to the scale of astronomical and geological change. Understanding the vast scales of time within which Homo sapiens arose is critical to appreciating how little time it has taken us to develop into the most influential species in our planet’s history. Big Eras Two through Nine encompass the entire history of Homo sapiens – yet, together those eras cover only 1/6500 of 1% of the time span of Big Era One, the period before our species appeared on earth!
Unit Objectives:
Upon completing this unit, students will be able to:
1. Construct a simple timeline incorporating important events in the history of the universe, the earth, and human evolution.
2. Explain the length of a human life compared to the time since humans first appeared on earth to the time since the universe, the sun, the earth, and life on earth came into existence.
3. List dates of important events in the evolution of the universe, the earth, life on earth, and the human species and describe the relative lengths of time between these dates.
4. Identify the important physical differences that distinguish humans from other organisms.
5. Identify the important cultural differences that distinguish humans from other organisms, notably from ancestral hominids.
Have humans always been here on earth? Will we always be here? These are questions of central and enduring interest and importance. Human history is set on the stage of Planet Earth. We cannot understand our own history as a species during the time that we have been on earth without understanding the long-term physical and natural setting in which human history has taken place. It is a setting that all people share regardless of the differences between us that we so often emphasize.
Human evolution has occurred over a huge span of time when compared to the lifetime of any individual. Yet the time it has taken us to evolve into Homo sapiens, a species distinct from our predecessors and from other animals, is only the blink of an eye compared to the scale of astronomical and geological change. Understanding the vast scales of time within which Homo sapiens arose is critical to appreciating how little time it has taken us to develop into the most influential species in our planet’s history. Big Eras Two through Nine encompass the entire history of Homo sapiens – yet, together those eras cover only 1/6500 of 1% of the time span of Big Era One, the period before our species appeared on earth!
Unit Objectives:
Upon completing this unit, students will be able to:
1. Construct a simple timeline incorporating important events in the history of the universe, the earth, and human evolution.
2. Explain the length of a human life compared to the time since humans first appeared on earth to the time since the universe, the sun, the earth, and life on earth came into existence.
3. List dates of important events in the evolution of the universe, the earth, life on earth, and the human species and describe the relative lengths of time between these dates.
4. Identify the important physical differences that distinguish humans from other organisms.
5. Identify the important cultural differences that distinguish humans from other organisms, notably from ancestral hominids.