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Instructor Note: This book presents an Old Earth viewpoint that assumes evolution in the first three chapters. Instructors who wish to avoid or delay this instruction may wish to start with Chapter 4.

Early people did not know what time meant. They kept no records of birthdays or wedding anniversaries or the hour of death. They had no idea of days or weeks or even years. But in a general way people kept track of the seasons for they had noticed 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 eaten and that summer ended when sudden gusts of wind swept the leaves from the trees and a number of animals were getting ready for the long hibernal sleep.

But now, something unusual and rather frightening had happened. Something was the matter with the weather. The warm days of summer had come very late. The fruits had not ripened. The tops of the mountains which used to be covered with grass now lay deeply hidden underneath a heavy burden of snow.

Then, one morning, a number of wild people, different from the other creatures who lived in that neighborhood, came wandering down from the region of the high peaks. They looked lean and appeared to be starving. They uttered sounds which no one could understand. They seemed to say that they were hungry. There was not food enough for both the old inhabitants and the newcomers. When they tried to stay more than a few days there was a terrible battle with claw-like hands and feet and whole families were killed. The others fled back to their mountain slopes and died in the next blizzard.

But the people in the forest were greatly frightened. All the time the days grew shorter and the nights grew colder than they ought to have been.

Finally, in a gap between two high hills, there appeared a tiny speck of greenish ice. Rapidly it increased in size. A gigantic glacier came sliding downhill. Huge stones were being pushed into the valley. With the noise of a dozen thunderstorms torrents of ice and mud and blocks of granite suddenly tumbled among the people of the forest and killed them while they slept. Century old trees were crushed into kindling wood. And then it began to snow.

It snowed for months and months. All the plants died and the animals fled in search of the southern sun. People hoisted their young upon their backs and followed them. But they could not travel as fast as the wilder creatures and were forced to choose between quick thinking or quick dying. They seem to have preferred the former for they have managed to survive the terrible glacial periods which upon four different occasions threatened to kill every human being on the face of the earth.

In the first place it was necessary that people clothe themselves lest they freeze to death. People learned how to dig holes and cover them with branches and leaves and in these traps they caught bears and hyenas, which they then killed with heavy stones and whose skins they used as coats for themselves and their families.

Next came the housing problem. This was simple. Many animals were in the habit of sleeping in dark caves. People now followed their example, drove the animals out of their warm homes and claimed them for their own.

Even so, the climate was too severe for most people and the old and the young died at a terrible rate. Then a genius bethought of the use of fire. Once, while out hunting, they had been caught in a forest fire. They remembered that they had been almost roasted to death by the flames. Thus far fire had been an enemy. Now it became a friend. A dead tree was dragged into the cave and lighted by means of smoldering branches from a burning wood. This turned the cave into a cozy little room.

And then one evening a dead chicken fell into the fire. It was not rescued until it had been well roasted. People discovered that meat tasted better when cooked and then and there discarded one of the old habits which they had shared with the other animals and began to prepare their food.

In this way thousands of years passed. Only the people with the cleverest brains survived. They had to struggle day and night against cold and hunger. They were forced to invent tools. They learned how to sharpen stones into axes and how to make hammers. They were obliged to put up large stores of food for the endless days of the winter and they found that clay could be made into bowls and jars and hardened in the rays of the sun. And so the glacial period, which had threatened to destroy the human race, became its greatest teacher because it forced people to use their brains.

Directions

Study the lesson for one week.

Over the week:

  • Read and/or listen to the story.
  • Review the synopsis.
  • Study the vocabulary terms.
  • Complete the enrichment activities.
  • Answer the review questions.

Synopsis

When an ice age arrived, life became even harder for prehistoric humans. Different groups of people migrated to avoid the cold, causing fighting over scarce food. Glaciers encroached upon the lands, and snow fell. The colder climate spurred innovation. People clothed themselves with animal skins, began sheltering in caves, and began to use fire for heat and cooking. People created tools and containers for storing food.

Vocabulary

Ice Age: A period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence of polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers.
Glaciers: A large body of ice which flows under its own mass, usually downhill.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Narrate the Lesson

  • After you read or listen to the lesson, narrate the events aloud using your own words.

Activity 2: 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 3: Complete Copywork, Narration, and Dictation   

Click the crayon above. Complete page 9 of 'World History Copywork, Narration, Dictation, and Art for Third Grade.'

Activity 4: Draw a Comic Strip Showing the Encroachment of Glaciers   

Click the crayon above. Read the below instructions and complete page 10 of 'World History Copywork, Narration, Dictation, and Art for Third Grade.'

Use pencils, crayons, pastels, or markers and the following descriptions from the chapter to draw frames of a comic showing the coming of the glaciers.

  • Finally, in a gap between two high hills, there appeared a tiny speck of greenish ice. Rapidly it increased in size.
  • A gigantic glacier came sliding downhill. Huge stones were being pushed into the valley.
  • With the noise of a dozen thunderstorms torrents of ice and mud and blocks of granite suddenly tumbled among the people of the forest and killed them while they slept.
  • Century-old trees were crushed into kindling wood.
  • And then it began to snow.

Review

Question 1

What type of age arrived, making life harder for humans?
1 / 3

Answer 1

The ice age made life harder for humans.
1 / 3

Question 2

How did the ice age make life harder for humans?
2 / 3

Answer 2

The ice age brought cold and food scarcity and caused migration, resulting in the clashing of groups of people.
2 / 3

Question 3

How did the ice age help humanity advance?
3 / 3

Answer 3

The ice age helped humanity advance by driving humans to clothe themselves with animal skins, shelter in caves, create tools and storage containers, and use fire for heat and cooking.
3 / 3

  1. What type of age arrived, making life harder for humans? The ice age made life harder for humans.
  2. How did the ice age make life harder for humans? The ice age brought cold and food scarcity and caused migration, resulting in the clashing of groups of people.
  3. How did the ice age help humanity advance? The ice age helped humanity advance by driving humans to clothe themselves with animal skins, shelter in caves, create tools and storage containers, and use fire for heat and cooking.

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