Tuesday, January 8 th

1. Tuesday, January 8th Bell-Ringer: Please turn in your exit slip from yesterday and signed student info sheet to the homework bin. Next, pick up a handout from the front table and find your assigned seat. Working with your shoulder partner, observe and analyze the document on the sheet. Make a list of everything the object “tells you” on your own sheet of paper. You will have 5 minutes to analyze the document before presenting your findings.

2. Daily Agenda: • Bell-Ringer: SOAPS Analysis Activity • WoD: skeptic • Vocab Development: Study Stack.com • Discussion: When does history begin? (Creation Myths) • Introduction to Cornell Notes (“Big History”) Essential Question: What is the evidence that explains the earliest history or humans and the planet? What are the theories to interpret this evidence? Homework: Finish Cornell Notes on reading packet, answer 4 Key Concept questions, and return signed Student Info. Sheets.

3. skeptic: A person who doubts; a skeptic asks questions and lacks faith. In the movie Men in Black, Edwards was originally a SKEPTIC who did not believe that aliens were actually living in New York City. In Bruce Almighty, Bruce was originally a SKEPTIC who did not believe that the man he met was really God. And in the movie Superbad, Seth was originally a SKEPTIC who did not believe that Fogell’s fake ID, with the name “McLovin” from Hawaii, would work. “Read-Aloud” Day 2, Period 1

4. skeptic: A person who doubts; a skeptic asks questions and lacks faith. • The following sentence stems require you to integrate the meaning of SKEPTICinto a context to explain a situation. Complete each sentence using a context that correlates with the meaning of SKEPTIC. • My father, being the SKEPTIC he is, refuses to believe… “IDEA COMPLETIONS” Day 2, Period 2

5. answer • The following sentence stems require you to integrate the meaning of SKEPTICinto a context to explain a situation. Complete each sentence using a context that correlates with the meaning of SKEPTIC. • My father, being the SKEPTIC he is, refuses to believe…that our house is haunted, though there is no explanation for the doors opening and closing on their own, or for the water faucets turning every which-way. “IDEA COMPLETIONS” Day 2, Period 2

6. Reaching Conclusions: • How did you go about analyzing the document? • What is the difference between observations and inferences? • Which of these is history based on? • How can historians be sure that their inferences are logical and correct? • What problems could historians run into as they try to make conclusions about the past?

7. A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift (1729) “It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin doors, crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags and importuning every passenger for an alms…therefore, whoever could find out a fair, cheap, and easy method of making these children sound, useful members of the commonwealth, would deserve so well of the public as to have his statue set up to recognize him as the savior of the nation…I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled ... A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends; and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter…Those who are more thrifty (as I must confess the times require) may flay the carcass; the skin of which artificially dressed will make admirable gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen…The poorer tenants will have something valuable of their own, which may help them to pay their landlord's rent, their corn and cattle being already seized, and money a thing unknown…I can think of no one objection, that will possibly be raised against this proposal, unless it should be urged, that the number of people will be thereby much lessened in the kingdom.”

8. Introducing SOAPS • Historians work to reach valid, logical, and reliable conclusions about the past. • History cannot be proven, only supported. • What ends up in textbooks is not 100% true, but rather generally accepted truths based on supporting evidence. • To find the most accurate and consistent truth, historians must look at all their evidence and consider who created it, why it was created, who it was created for, and what they can derive from it. • A simple acronym for this process is SOAPS: Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose, and So What?

9. Let’s Give It A Try: • Each member of your group will select a different letter to focus on – SOAP. • Take two minutes to analyze the document with regard to that topic. • After each person shares their findings, as a group discuss the historical value of the document. • Ask yourself: “Now that I know what it says, how can I as a historian use it? How can it help me? What does it really reveal?

11. Speaker • Who do you think created or published this document? • Serial Number, National Crest, Hammer and Sickle, etc. • What bias might they have about the topic of this document? • Happy farmers, lots of technology, serene backdrops, etc.

12. Occasion • When was the document written, printed, or published? • Automobiles, power lines, machine gun, etc. • Under what circumstance was the document created? • Size, material, writing in two languages, etc.

13. Audience • For whom was the document created? • Persuasive imagery, second language, etc.

14. Purpose • Why was the document created? • Medium of Exchange, method of propaganda, etc.

15. Significance • What does it mean? • Illustrates govt.’s desired view of their country, seek economic interaction, etc. • How would it be received? • Persuasive depiction of cultural values, political views, etc. • How could it be useful? • Illustrates presence of communism, importance of modernization, influence of Buddhism, connections with the West, etc.

16. Significance: The Piltdown Man The Piltdown Man was a hoax in which bone fragments were presented as the fossilized remains of a previously unknown early human. These fragments consisted of parts of a skull and jawbone, said to have been collected in 1912 from a gravel pit at Piltdown, East Sussex, England. The significance of the specimen remained the subject of controversy until it was exposed in 1953 as a forgery, consisting of the lower jawbone of an orangutan deliberately combined with the skull of a fully developed modern human.

17. Vocabulary Development Please log on to your computer and visit the following website: Studystack.com

18. So, where do we start? When (and how) does human history begin?

19. Directions: Silent read the slip of paper to yourself. The paper explains the beginnings of human history. On the back of the slip, take a few minutes to write (in complete sentences) a reflection on why you choose to accept or reject the explanation. Be prepared to share and explain your response.

20. Creation Myths • What is the purpose of a creation myth? • Defines the moral principles of a society • Guides their dealings with nature and the supernatural • Explains human social systems and daily life • What can creation myths tell us about the people who created them?

21. Creation Myths • If creation myths must be taken on faith, then what happens when science begins providing physical evidence that challenges the basis of those myths?

22. The Tough Questions… So if we can’t answer the question of how human life began beyond a doubt, maybe we should simply start with what a human is?

23. Is this a human? • Hominid  primate family; appeared about 7 mya • All hominids are warm-blooded, furry, four limbed mammals • Share 98% of DNA with apes

24. Hominids vs. Primates • Unlike other primates all hominids: • Are Bipedal • Are capable of abstract thought, profound emotions, and fine motor movements • Have a larynx capable of speech

25. How did Hominids become Humans? • During the Pleistocene Epoch (Ice Age), certain genetic changes in hominids enhanced survival • Skin color, for example, would darken in some environments to lessen sun damage, or became more pale to allow more Vitamin D absorption • Most changes were behavioral rather than physical (I.e., manipulating fire, making better weapons, changing diet, etc.)

26. Putting it all in context… • When looking at a timeline of “human” history, we are reminded of the need to view history from a “Big History” perspective.

27. Cornell Note-Taking: Cornell Notes were founded by a professor from Cornell University when he observed the struggles of even top students in his course. He concluded that even the smart students did not understand how to study. The notes have a specific format featuring 4 main components: an Essential Question, detailed notes, reflective commentary, and a summary. More important than the format is the fact that the notes represent a PROCESS of note-taking. Each section should be done sequentially to ensure long-term understanding.

28. Homework: Read Chapter 1 of This Fleeting World and begin taking Cornell Notes. Tonight you are responsible for the Essential Question, Right-Column Notes, and detailed answers to any 4 of the 9 reading questions.