pre history

Scientists believe the earth was formed

4.5 – 4.6 billion years ago

Oxygen levels rose 2.5 billion years ago

Animals begin to move from sea to land

› Spiders & Scorpions

› Amphibians

Pangaea

› Single Continent

Reptiles begin to appear and take over› Temperature extremes in interior of Pangaea

› Reptiles adapted to dry conditions and grow large

Largest Extinction› 95% of marine species and 70% of land

animals were wiped out

› Climate change caused by global warming and cooling

volcanic activity altered ocean currents

Dinosaurs

› 240 million years ago

Triassic Period

Pangaea Breaks up

Small Furry animals come from therapsid

mammal-like reptiles

› Stayed small until dinosaurs died out

Dinosaurs dominate

› Jurassic Period

Birds


› Reptile-like with feathers

Dinosaurs go extinct


› Global cooling

› Massive meteorite

Mammals grow and rapidly change

› Now that dinosaurs are gone

› Cats, dogs, skunks, horses, elephants,

primates, rodents

Ice Age

› Distinctive animals

Wooly mammoth, wooly rhinos, extinct arctic

fox, polar bears

“Lucy”


› Basic human traits

Stand up

Small

Homo Habilis


› “handy man”

› Stone tools

› Africa

Homo Erectus

› “upright man”

› 1.5 million years ago

› First hunters

› Began populating the world

Homo Sapiens

› “wise man”

› 500,000 years ago

› Stone-tipped spears, bone needles, bone fish hooks

› Sewed clothes from skins, boots

› Buried dead in ceremony

“Moderns” and Cro-Magnon

› “homo sapien sapiens”

› Bows and arrows

› Huts with hearth for fire

› Jewelry

› Cave art

› Statues

› Tools

Turn to Page 2 in your

Ancient World book and

read the “We Love Lucy”

article. Write out 3

questions you might ask

about this article.

Footprints

› Discovered in 1976

by scientists in

Tanzania

Preserved in Stone

› Showed evidence

of upright walking

humans as early as

3.5 million years ago

First Family

› Fossils found together

› 13 individuals

› Lived in a group

› 3.2 million years old

Cave Paintings

› Discovered in France

› Depictions date back to 15000 years ago

Fire

› Discovered 500,000

years ago

› Rubbed 2 sticks

together/striking

stones together for

sparks

› Enabled people to

live in cold climates

Wheel & Axle

› Earliest known

wheel dates back

to 3500 BCE

› Found in

Mesopotamia

Writing

› 3000 BCE

› Sumerian Cuneiform

and Egyptian

Hieroglyphics

generally

considered world’s

first writing systems

› History begins to be

written down

Would you rather read a

book with pictures or a

book without pictures?

Explain your answer. (3

sentence minimum)

What meanings can we

draw from cave

paintings? Why did Pre-

Historic people use

drawings to present these

meanings?

Name a historical event

that happened during your

life that you can remember

exactly where you were at

and what you were doing

when it happened.

pre history

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