Nova Program Becoming Human Part III Last Human Standing

Nova Program: Becoming Human Part III: Last Human Standing. 1. How many millions of years ago did humans diverge from apes? 2. How many species of human ancestors have there been since our divergence from apes? 3. As recently as 50,000 years ago, there were ____________ different kinds of humans. 4. What species of Homo first migrated out and populated the Middle East? 5. What species of Homo was replaced in Europe by Homo sapiens? 6. Which ancestor pioneered what it means to be “human”? 7. When did Homo erectus first appear on the African plains? 8. Who was the first group who had bodies like ours, lived in social groups, and cared for each other? 9. What did Homo erectus eat? Did they use tools? 10. Who is Turkana boy? between ape and human 11. What did the wave of Homo that led to Indonesia give rise to? 12. How far back have the fossils of Homo erectus from China been dated? 13. What was the species that migrated into Europe and eventually gave rise to the Neanderthals? 14. How many years of human habitation are represented by the Atapuerca site? Why is this so important? 15. What is the artifact found in the “Pit of Bones” at Atapuerca and what does it represent (in addition to the obvious use as a tool)? 16. Why would the presence of this artifact (and its implications) be important to our understanding of human evolution and of Homo sapiens? 17. Members of Homo sapiens are most closely related to: 18. Compare these two species: H. neanderthalensis H. sapiens Brains Body 19. When was the first H. neanderthalensis fossil discovered? 20. Why are the teeth of children particularly helpful in providing information about extinct hominids? 21. How do the sizes of the following lobes of H. neanderthalensis’s brain compare to that of H. sapiens? Why would it matter? Frontal: Parietal: Temporal: their limited cognitive development 22. What did Neanderthals eat? What did they not eat (or not eat much)? 23. What specialized hunting tools did Neanderthals lack? What did this mean for how they could hunt? 24. When did Neanderthals vanish from the fossil record? 25. Skulls of Homo sapiens start to appear in the fossil record approximately __________________ years ago. 26. What was happening to the worldwide climate about 200,000 years ago? There were ice sheets in the northern part of the Earth and mega droughts around Africa. 27. If the forests and savannahs of Africa were no longer habitable, where did human ancestors have to seek refuge? Africa 28. While it is agreed that Homo sapiens experienced a population bottleneck, there is disagreement on the actual size of the remaining population. Some researchers argue for thousands, but others believe population dropped as low as ________________. 29. Systematic use of coastal resources indicate what changes in brain and thought processes? 30. Technology expanded from the simple hand axe to what type of tools? 31. The 1st evidence of decorative/symbolic art has been found at levels that date to ___________ years ago. 32. As the climate improved, Homo sapiens migrated where? 33. What evidence could provide support for the assimilation/interbreeding hypothesis? 34. What are some of the challenges involved in sequencing the Neanderthal genome? 35. Is the gene for speech and language development in H. neanderthalensis the same as the version in H. sapiens? 36. When scientists count up mutations to determine how long 2 species have been diversifying, they are applying a ________________________________. 37. How long ago was the common ancestor of H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens? Which species was it? 38. According to the NOVA program, is there any evidence of Neanderthal DNA in our genes? 39. What two stressors might have contributed to the extinction of Neanderthal? 40. How can archaeologists track the movement of Homo sapiens across Europe, Asia and Australia? 41. What is the “mysterious creation” unique to humans? Thought questions Current understanding of human evolution is not just based on bone fragments from Africa! As you watch the PBS video, pay attention to how different fields of study (particularly modern methods and technology) have helped inform what we know about human evolution. For each of the fields below, provide specific examples from the video of ways that knowledge/methods in that field contributed to or enhanced our understanding of human evolution. Traces of paint made of a red oak mineral was found in the South African coast. Designs were found as well. This helped us understand our knowledge of symbolism. video discusses when there were Climatology he extreme climate changes, such as ice sheets and drought, which help us understand why human ancestors migrated to different areas. Geology Art Archaeologists tracked movement of human across Europe, Asia, and Australia. This helped us understand our origins. Archaeology Genetics Brain measuring the differences between our brain and Science our ancestors brain like they measured the size Knowing that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens have a similar gene help us understand when humans began to develop speech and language skills. Physiology (hint: energy budgets) Molecular Chemistry Biology Analyzing the DNA of ancestors and the proteins found in their bones we can figure out their diets such as the teeth of the Homo neanderthal boy (study of non-human remains) The different tools helped us understand possible causes for extinction. Advanced tools for hunting allowed Neanderthals live longer, while Homo erectus struggled to live for a long time. 3D Imaging difference of the temporal and parietal in the video The password for the Becoming Human quiz is "turkana". the composition of tools found can help find how far back our ancestors lived looking at 3D images can help us fully understand our ancestors such as the teeth of the Neanderthal boy or the brain in the video