Instructor Note: This book presents an Old Earth viewpoint that assumes evolution in the first three chapters. For instructors who wish to avoid or delay this instruction, you may wish to start with Chapter 4.
Something was the matter with the weather.
Early man did not know what "time" meant.
He kept no records of birthdays and wedding-anniversaries or the hour of death.
He had no idea of days or weeks or years.
When the sun arose in the morning, he did not say "Behold another day." He said, "It is Light," and he used the rays of the early sun to gather food for his family.
When it grew dark, he returned to his wife and children, gave them part of the day's catch (some berries and a few birds), stuffed himself full of raw meat, and went to sleep.
In a very general way, he kept track of the seasons. Long experience had taught him that the cold winter was invariably followed by the mild spring--that spring grew into the hot summer when fruits ripened and the wild ears of corn were ready to be plucked and eaten. The summer ended when gusts of wind swept the leaves from the trees and when a number of animals crept into their holes to make ready for the long hibernal sleep.
It had always been that way. Early man accepted these useful changes of cold and warm but asked no questions. He lived, and that was enough to satisfy him.
Suddenly, however, something happened that worried him greatly.
The warm days of summer had come very late. The fruits had not ripened at all. The tops of the mountains which used to be covered with grass lay deeply hidden under a heavy burden of snow.
Then one morning, quite a number of wild people, different from the other inhabitants of his valley, had approached from the region of the high peaks.
They muttered sounds which no one could understand. They looked lean and appeared to be starving. Hunger and cold seemed to have driven them from their former homes.
There was not enough food in the valley for both the old inhabitants and the newcomers. When they tried to stay more than a few days, there was a terrible fight and whole families were killed. The others fled into the woods and were not seen again.
For a long time, nothing occurred of any importance.
But all the while, the days grew shorter and the nights were colder than they ought to have been.
Finally, in a gap between the two high hills, there appeared a tiny speck of greenish ice. It increased in size as the years went by. Very slowly, a gigantic glacier was sliding down the slopes of the mountain ridge. Huge stones were being pushed into the valley. With the noise of a dozen thunderstorms, they suddenly tumbled among the frightened people and killed them while they slept. Century-old trees were crushed into kindling wood by the high walls of ice that knew of no mercy to either man or beast.
At last, it began to snow.
It snowed for months and months and months.
All the plants died. The animals fled in search of the southern sun. The valley became uninhabitable. Man hoisted his children upon his back, took the few pieces of stone which he had used as a weapon, and went forth to find a new home.
Why the world should have grown cold at that particular moment, we do not know. We cannot even guess at the cause.
The gradual lowering of the temperature, however, made a great difference to humanity.
For a time, it looked as if everyone would die. But in the end, this period of suffering forced the survivors to sharpen their wits lest they perish, too.
Placed before the choice of hard thinking or quick dying, the same brain that had first turned a stone into a hatchet now solved difficulties which had never faced the older generations.
In the first place, there was the question of clothing. It had grown much too cold to do without some sort of artificial covering. Bears and bison and other animals who live in northern regions are protected against snow and ice by a heavy coat of fur. Man possessed no such coat. His skin was very delicate and he suffered greatly.
He solved his problem in a very simple fashion. He dug a hole, and he covered it with branches and leaves and a little grass. A bear came by and fell into this artificial cave. Man waited until the creature was weak from lack of food and then killed him with many blows of a big stone. With a sharp piece of flint, he cut the fur of the animal's back. Then he dried it in the sparse rays of the sun, put it around his own shoulders, and enjoyed the same warmth that had formerly kept the bear happy and comfortable.
Then there was the housing problem. Many animals were in the habit of sleeping in a dark cave. Man followed their example and searched until he found an empty grotto. He shared it with bats and all sorts of creeping insects, but this he did not mind. His new home kept him warm and that was enough.
Often, during a thunderstorm a tree had been hit by lightning. Sometimes the entire forest had been set on fire. Man had seen these forest-fires. When he had come too near, he had been driven away by the heat. He now remembered that fire gave warmth.
Thus far, fire had been an enemy.
Now it became a friend.
A dead tree, dragged into a cave and lighted by means of smoldering branches from a burning forest filled the room with unusual but very pleasant heat.
Perhaps you will laugh. All these things seem so very simple. They are very simple to us because someone, ages and ages ago, was clever enough to think of them. But the first cave that was made comfortable by the fire of an old log attracted more attention than the first house that ever was lighted by electricity.
When at last, an especially brilliant fellow hit upon the idea of throwing raw meat into the hot ashes before eating it, he added something to the sum total of human knowledge which made the cave-man feel that the height of civilization had been reached.
Nowadays, when we hear of another marvelous invention, we are very proud.
"What more," we ask, "can the human brain accomplish?"
And we smile contentedly, for we live in the most remarkable of all ages, and no one has ever performed such miracles as our engineers and our chemists.
Forty thousand years ago, when the world was on the point of freezing to death, an unkempt and unwashed cave-man, pulling the feathers out of a half-dead chicken with the help of his brown fingers and his big white teeth--throwing the feathers and the bones upon the same floor that served him and his family as a bed, felt just as happy and just as proud when he was taught how the hot cinders of a fire would change raw meat into a delicious meal.
"What a wonderful age," he would exclaim. He would lie down amidst the decaying skeletons of the animals which had served him as his dinner, and he would dream of his own perfection while bats, as large as small dogs, flew restlessly through the cave and while rats, as big as small cats, rummaged among the left overs.
Quite often the cave gave way to the pressure of the surrounding rock. Then man was hurled amidst the bones of his own victims.
Thousands of years later, the anthropologist comes along with his little spade and his wheelbarrow.
He digs and he digs and at last he uncovers this age-old tragedy and makes it possible for me to tell you all about it.
The second chapter moves into the Stone Age, which the fossil record indicates began approximately 3.4 million years ago. During this time, humankind faced new perils, including ice ages, massive encroaching glaciers, far colder weather, plants dying, and animal migration to warmer locations. The ice ages led to suffering and death, but the cold spurred humans to invent the first clothing out of bear skins, seek shelter in caves, harness fire to keep warm and cook food, and to migrate to warmer locales.
Vocabulary
Prehistoric: Relating to or denoting the period before written records. Stone Age: Age of humanity in which stone tools were created and used. It began around 3.4 million years ago and ended between 8700 BCE and 2000 BCE with the manufacturing of metal. Before Common Era (BCE): A global standard referring to the time before Common Era (CE). BCE is equivalent to BC (before Christ). 100 BCE is the same as 100 BC. Common Era (CE): A global standard referring to the Common Era (CE). CE is equivalent to AD (anno Domini - after the birth of the Christian figure of Jesus). 2017 CE is the same as 2017 AD. Ice Age: A glacial episode during a past geological period. Glacier: A slowly moving mass or river of ice formed by the accumulation and compaction of snow on mountains or near the poles. Archaeology: The study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains.
Enrichment
Activity 1: Narrate the Chapter
After you listen to the chapter, narrate the chapter aloud using your own words.
Activity 2: Draw the Habitats of the People of the Stone Age
Click the crayon above. Complete page 6 of 'Second Grade World History Coloring Pages, Copywork, and Writing.'
Use pencils, crayons, pastels, or markers to draw the places that Stone Age people lived.
Hollow Trees
Between Large Rocks
Within Caves
Activity 3: Act Out the Chapter
Gather as many of the following props as you wish to act out the story:
Couch or other furniture - for a hollow tree
Rock - for stone tools
Blanket - for branches and leaves to cover your bear trap
Large stuffed animal - for the bear
Coat - for bear skin
Table or other furniture - for a cave
Stick or wooden spoon - for your burning branch
Small stuffed animal - to cook in the fire
Instructors - after gathering the props, read the following to the children and help them act out each line.
Imagine you are a primitive human during the Stone Age. Glaciers creep down from the mountains. For the first time, the weather turns cold and snowy.
Communicate using grunts and moans. Primitive humans still do not speak words or write.
Brr! It is so cold. You are trying to sleep in an old hollow tree (couch). The old hollow tree (couch) isn't keeping you warm enough anymore. You must clothe yourself, find warmer shelter, and locate a source of heat to survive.
First, make some clothing. Dig a hole with your stone tools (rock), and cover the hole with branches and leaves (blanket). Wait until a bear (Large stuffed animal) falls into the hole. When the bear gets weak, use your stone tools (rock) to kill and skin the bear. Clothe yourself in the warm bear fur (coat).
Next, hunt for a cave (under a table) to stay in. Watch out for bears and bats in the cave!
You see a tree on fire after a lightning strike. Pull off a burning branch (stick or wooden spoon) and bring it back to your cave.
Next, hunt for something to eat. Catch a small animal (small stuffed animal) to eat and bring it back to your cave (under a table). Cook the meat over your burning branch (stick or wooden spoon).
Activity 4: Examine the Cave Bear
Study the replica of a cave bear skeleton.
Study the artist's reconstruction of a cave bear. Imagine prehistoric man having to defend himself from the cave bear's sharp teeth and claws without modern tools or weapons.
Activity 5: Complete Coloring Pages, Copywork, and Writing
Click the crayon above. Complete pages 7-8 of 'Second Grade World History Coloring Pages, Copywork, and Writing.'
Activity 6: Create a Timeline
Create a timeline for the history events studied this chapter.
Get a large piece of paper and label it 'Early Stone Age' at the top in big letters.
Add a dot halfway down and at the far left of the paper and label it, '3.4 Million Years Ago - Humankind Begins to Use Stone Tools.'
Add a dot halfway down and at the far right of the paper and label it, '11,500 Years Ago - The Last Ice Age Ends.'
Connect the dots with a long line that spans the width of the paper.
Decorate your timeline with pictures of people, places, and things mentioned in the chapter such as glaciers, snow, plants dying, animals and people migrating, bears, bear traps, cave people dressed in bear skins, lightning storms, trees on fire, caves, fires in caves, cave people cooking meat, and cave people using stone tools.
Hang your chapter 2 timeline directly to the right of your chapter 1 timeline. Make sure there is enough room to the right to expand your timeline with an additional sheet of paper.
Review
Question 1
Why is this age called the 'Stone Age?'
1 / 6
Answer 1
During this age, humans began using stones as tools.
1 / 6
Question 2
Why did the weather grow colder during the Stone Age?
2 / 6
Answer 2
The Stone Age spanned multiple ice ages. During ice ages, the weather turned colder and snowy and glaciers descended.
2 / 6
Question 3
What happened to the plants, animals, and humans during the ice ages?
3 / 6
Answer 3
Many plants, animals, and humans died. The animals migrated to warmer lands and the humans followed.
3 / 6
Question 4
How did humans survive the colder weather?
4 / 6
Answer 4
To survive the cold weather, humans began wearing bear skins, moved into caves, harnessed fire to stay warm, and migrated to warmer lands.
4 / 6
Question 5
How did these early humans catch bears?
5 / 6
Answer 5
Humans dug holes and covered the holes with branches and leaves. Bears would fall into the holes and become trapped.
5 / 6
Question 6
Which events mark the beginning and ending of this chapter?
6 / 6
Answer 6
The chapter starts at the beginning of the Stone Age around 3.4 million years ago and ends with the last ice age approximately 11,500 years ago.
Why is this age called the 'Stone Age?'
During this age, humans began using stones as tools.
Why did the weather grow colder during the Stone Age?
The Stone Age spanned multiple ice ages. During ice ages, the weather turned colder and snowy and glaciers descended.
What happened to the plants, animals, and humans during the ice ages?
Many plants, animals, and humans died. The animals migrated to warmer lands and the humans followed.
How did humans survive the colder weather?
To survive the cold weather, humans began wearing bear skins, moved into caves, harnessed fire to stay warm, and migrated to warmer lands.
How did these early humans catch bears?
Humans dug holes and covered the holes with branches and leaves. Bears would fall into the holes and become trapped.
Which events mark the beginning and ending of this chapter?
The chapter starts at the beginning of the Stone Age around 3.4 million years ago and ends with the last ice age approximately 11,500 years ago.
Ancient Man
Ancient Man
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