Paleolithic/Mesolithic/Neolithic - THE STONE AGE!

Neolithic Farming Village - Catal Huyuk!
 

 What signs show a group has entered the Neolithic Era?

1) Farming

2) Domestication of Animals

3) Settled in Villages

What important things happened during the

Mesolithic Era?

1) Warming climate ended the Ice Ages, producing a longer growing season

2) Glaciers melted and receded, leaving more fertile land available.

What signs show a group is part of the 

Paleolithic Era?

1) Hunters/Gatherers

2) Nomadic (following those herds as they migrate)

3) Using stone tools

Prehistory! For fun and facts.

History Teachers - Prehistory

 

Creating Paleolithic Art

 

Experiential Archaeology:

Creating Our Own Paleo Art
(All pictures can be downloaded from 8th Grade Announcements Page)

What can we learn from trying to replicate the experience of these artists?

1) How difficult is this process?

2) How long does it take? And what were they NOT doing when they were making this art?

3) What techniques work and which do not?

4) What materials work best?

5) How and where did they obtain their materials?

6) What bonding agents kept the paint on the rocks in Mrs. N.'s garden for 15 years?

7) Contemplating theories for why this was done

Paleolithic Cave Art

 

 SPELUNKING!

A Virtual Tour of 

Lascaux, Altamira, and Chavet Caves

With hard hats and passports we traveled to France and Spain where we ventured into these dark and dangerous caves to examine our first form of communication from ancient man!

Deep in dark and dangerous places....

 

Movie Suggestion: A unique visit to the Chauvet cave we have been studying!

Official Movie Trailer

I'm A Paleontologist!

 

Prehistory Unit - Bipedal Hominids

 

Tracing Fossil Finds: A Hominid Timeline, Exploritorium, https://annex.exploratorium.edu/evidence/lowbandwidth/INT_hominid_timeline.html, 13 September 2021.

Who Is Lucy? The Sydney Morning Herald, https://www.smh.com.au/technology/who-is-lucy-the-australopithecus-google-doodle-celebrates-early-human-ancestor-20151124-gl65ik.html, 13 September 2021.

LUCY - AUSTRALOPITHECUS AFARENSIS

WHAT DO WE THINK WE KNOW?

Use this interactive timeline to learn more!

What We Learned About Learning

                                                                                                                 

WHAT DID I LEARN ABOUT LEARNING?

1) I am responsible for my own learning.  My learning is not dependent on the teacher. They can make me memorize, but only I control whether I truly learn.

2) Everyone learns differently.  We all must learn to use our strengths and to compensate for our weaknesses. Our unique learning issues are not "STOP" signs, but "CURVE IN THE ROAD" signs.  We can still reach our dreams in our own way.

3) Curiosity is the key to education. If you don't allow yourself to be interested and enthusiastic your education will suffer.

4) Failure is not a bad thing.  The things I learn from my mistakes stick with me longest. First Attempt In Learning! Someday everyone will have a failure moment - your strength is in how you handle it.

5) There is no endpoint to learning – I will never “finish” learning, and there are some tasks which are not meant to be completed. We still learn from them.

6) Collaboration means everyone learns more.

7) There are things we – must do and things we want to do – and we can balance and accomplish both. Pushing and challenging us makes us stronger.

8) A true sense of accomplishment comes from mastering difficult things - doing the easy stuff does not give the same satisfaction and growth.

 GENIUS WITHOUT EDUCATION IS LIKE 

SILVER IN THE MINE. Benjamin Franklin       

           

WCS Eighth Grade is Inclusive!

 CLASSROOM

CLIMATE:

Celebrating our Differences

Never, ever apologize for:

-      Who you are

-      Where you come from

-      What you believe

-      How you look

-      Or how you learn

And you will be accepted and honored for the unique individual that you are.

   

First Days of School Scavenger Hunt

 

                                                                   

8th Grade Ancient History Scholars inspected the replica artifacts they found in the Ancient History Classroom.  

They scouted around the room to find at least three items they recognized. 

Using their technology, they used Google Images Search to explore the items they did not know about, but were curious about.  

They then taught their classmates what they learned about the artifacts and the civilizations which created them. 

And they were shocked at the promise that they will repeat this activity in May, and they will know all of the answers!

They recorded the sources for their information and began the first class bibliography (and figured out it's not hard)

They also wrote about what this experience taught them about LEARNING.