The Earliest Humans
Theme 1 : Evolution of Mankind (My Watch Tower Social Studies)
Time to Camp - Exercises
A. Choose the correct answers and fill the OMR box.
1. __________ could stand erect and walk with a straight back.
a. Homo habilis. [ ]
b. Homo sapiens. [ ]
c. Homo pithecus. [ ]
d. Homo erectus. [✓]
2. Neanderthals appeared about _________ years ago.
a. 150,000 [ ]
b. 155,000 [ ]
c. 300,000 [✓]
d. 250,000 [ ]
3. Humans learnt to domesticate animals during the _________ Period.
a. Palaeolithic. [ ]
b. Neolithic. [ ]
c. Chalcolithic. [ ]
d. Mesolithic. [✓]
4. _________ are the only species of humans surviving till this date on Earth.
a. Homo erectus. [ ]
b. Neanderthals. [ ]
c. Homo habilis. [ ]
d. Homo sapiens. [✓]
5. Early humans were ________ as they has no permanent home.
a. chaotic. [ ]
b. sporadic. [ ]
c. hectic. [ ]
d. nomadic. [✓]
B. Fill in the blanks.
1. Anthropologists believe that human beings evolved from hominins.
2. The Mesolithic or the Middle Stone Period saw a gradual change in weather conditions as the ice sheets began to melt and grasslands emerged.
3. Cave art mainly include paintings of animals such as bison, deer and bears.
4. During the Neolithic Period, early humans gradually began to settle down as they learns how to grow crops.
5. As the early humans depended on hunting and gathering for their survival, they came to be known as hunter-gatherers.
C. State whether true or false.
1. Homo habilis were also called 'wise man' due to their well-developed brains. [F]
2. Early humans learnt to grow crops in the Mesolithic Period. [F]
3. Stone and wood were used to make tools during the Stone Age. [T]
4. First evidences of early humans can be traced back to the continent of Asia. [F]
5. Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh is a well-known Stone Age site in India. [T]
D. Answer these questions.
1. How did the Stone Age get its name?
= The early humans made the first crude tools using wood and stone, as these were the most abundantly available resources. They made stone tools by hitting one stone with another, to make the edges sharper. Tools with sharp edges were used for scraping, digging and cutting. When early humans learnt to hunt animals in groups, they also began to use animal bones to make tools. As most tools were made of stone, this period came to be known as the Stone Age.
2. What are hominins? Differentiate between Homo habilis, Homo erectus and Homo sapiens.
= Hominins were ancestors of early humans who emerged approximately 200,000 years ago. Over the years, different species of hominins went through a number of transformations to evolve into the modern human beings.
Homo habilis lived in groups and hunted together. They used stones and wood to make weapons for cutting, chopping, digging and hunting animals. They had bigger brains than Southern apes, smaller teeth and almost human-like foot and hand bones.
Homo erectus could stand erect and walk with a straight back they came to be termed as the 'upright man'. They used better tools and had much bigger brain than Homo habilis.
Homo sapiens are the only species of humans surviving till this date on Earth. They learnt to make and use better tools and weapons. They are also called the 'thinking man'.
3. Differentiate between the tools of Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic Ages.
= In Palaeolithic Age, the early men used tools made of stones, bones and wood. Hand axes with sharp edges were the most common tools.
In Mesolithic Age, smaller, sharper tools that could be fitted to arrows and spears were common during the Mesolithic Period.
In Neolithic Age, more polished and sharper tools of varied sizes were common during this period.
4. What type of shelters did early humans live in?
= Early humans lived in trees and cave shelter. The shelters protected them from extreme weather conditions and the threat of wild animals.
5. When did the early humans learn to domesticate animals and grow crops?
= In Mesolithic Period, ice sheets began to melt and grasslands emerged. Early humans learnt to domesticate animals for different purposes.
Picture Study
Look at the picture and answer the questions.
1. What are the people in the picture doing?
= The people in the picture are hunting an elephant.
2. What kind of tools and weapons are they using?
= They are using weapons made of wood and stone.
3. Why did the early humans carry out this type of activity in groups?
= The early humans carried out his type of activity in groups so that the animal can not attack them. As wild animals have more physical force than humans.