The First Americans: Chapter 1 Lesson 1 Migration to the Americas

How do we study the past? Archaeologists are scientists who study ancient peoples. They have used artifacts (objects left behind)and other evidence that supports a theory about the origins of some of the first people to arrive in the Americas. The evidence indicates that some ancient people crossed a strip of land that once linked Asia and the Americas about 20,000 years ago. Scientists use a process called carbon dating to measure the age of various artifacts. Video

What is a Native American? Terms: Native: a person born in a specific area. American: Belonging to the Americas

Who came to the Americas, and when? Europeans came to the Americas around 1492CE. Native Americans crossed the land bridge from Asia into the Americas 20,000 years ago. Vocab word: migrate/ migration – movement of people from one area to another Why do you think these Native people migrated?

Ice Age The Ice Age, which began about 100,000 years ago, caused a lot of the water from the oceans to freeze into glaciers (sheets of ice). This made the oceans lower, exposing the land bridge, known as Beringia, running from Siberia to what is now Alaska. This area now lies beneath the Bering Strait (a strait is a narrow body of water that connects two larger ones)

What is a Land Bridge?

Land Bridge A large number of people crossed this land bridge and spread out across the Americas in search of food. Around 15,000 years ago, the ice age began to end. Over several thousand years, the glaciers melted and oceans levels rose. The rising oceans covered the land bridge.

Nomads Early Americans were referred to nomads (people who moved from place to place to find food). Around 10,000 years ago, people in what is now Mexico began farming crops such as maize (type of corn), pumpkins, beans, and squash. Farming offered a stable source of food, which meant people did not have to move constantly.

Why do people migrate? Where do you migrate to? Why do you migrate to those places? Why do you think Native Americans came to America?

Hunting The first Americans were hunters They hunted huge mammals, including bison, mastodons and mammoths Mammoth: extinct; extremely large and could feed a group for months Bison(also called buffalo) Mastodon: also extinct

Change from hunting to farming Agriculture – the science or practice of farming Poll: What is easier, hunting or farming?

Farming overtakes hunting SOME (not all) groups of Native Americans began to farm. Farming was much easier and more reliable than hunting. They planted seeds and waited for crops to grow. They had to stay in one place to wait for their crops, so those who farmed became sedentary rather than nomadic.

Farming’s effects Population increases due to increased amount of food and health Because people weren’t using as much time hunting food they had time to do other things like develop governments, religions, technology and new ideas. Because of this, GROUPS THAT FARMED TENDED TO BECOME THE MOST ADVANCED, whereas those who hunted tended to be less advanced (in terms of technology, political system, social organization.)

Culture Each group, or tribe, of Native Americans had its own culture (shared traditions and behaviors). What type of cultures do you have? Do they differ in different settings (example: home, school, activities) How might the culture of a group that farms differ from a group that hunts? Think/pair/share

Closure Write three examples of a nomad Come up with three reasons why someone would move from place to place. Why is farming better than hunting? Why benefits did farmers have that hunters did not?