Download Early Humans

Name: KEY
Period:
Date:
World History – Mrs. Schenck
Where do we come from?
Evolution:__SMART change over time_____________________
**Evolution gives us one possible answer to the
question: “Where did all life come from?”
Answer: a common ancestor
“Evolution is a theory about the origin of adaptation,
complexity, and diversity among Earth’s living creatures.”
Theory: “…an explanatory statement that fits the
evidence.” (evidence in fossils, DNA, etc.)
- National Geographic, November 2004
1. Who was Charles Darwin?
 He came up with the theory of evolution and wrote about it in his
book The Origin of Species in 1859.
 Now tell me about his background….
Darwin was an English naturalist who took a voyage on the HSM
Beagle, off the coast of South America (Galapagos Islands), and
kept records and fossils of what he saw.
 Darwin thought that all living things were________related____________.
2. How does evolution really work?
 Evolution works through natural selection.
We also call this “survival of the ________fittest___________”!
a. animals in a group have different traits/characteristics
b. traits are passed on to their children
c. eventually too many animals compete for food and resources
d. animals with the best traits survive and pass on those traits to their children
 Give an example of how natural selection creates new species.
a. animals in a group have different traits/characteristics:
some bears have white fur and other brown fur (genetic mutations in DNA
cause the differences)
b. traits are passed on to their children:
bears have babies with either brown or white fur
c. eventually too many animals compete for food and resources:
bears complete for seals to eat
d. animals with the best traits survive and pass on those traits to their children
the bears that are best at getting food (white fur) survive and pass on their trait
to their children, bears with brown fur eventually die off
*depends on the environment* (in the Arctic, bunnies with white fur
will survive but not if they lived in the forest)
3. Did humans evolve? YES
 Evidence supports that we share a __common___ ___ancestor___
with apes. It is not correct to say humans evolved from apes.
However, it is appropriate to say we may have shared a common
ancestor with apes. You are RELATED.
Explain the statement above:
…
Just like you and a cousin share
grandparents, 5 MILLION years
ago humans may have shared a
common ancestor with apes, but
then each branch of the family
evolved separately.
 What evidence do we have to support this?
Fossils, DNA (chimp and human DNA is 98% identical)
 What advantageous traits did early humans pass on to later humans
and us?
bipedalism, opposable thumbs, larger brains, voice box, etc.
4. CHANGE – Why study our humans ancestors?
 What “understandings” do we hope to gain?
(where we came from, what makes us “human”, how early people
developed, the beginnings of history, etc.)
 What “sources” should we use?
(fossils, artifacts, secondary sources, etc.)