What is a land bridge? What is an ice age? What is migration?

Bell Ringer Notes/Discussion – Agriculture Outside word chart Atlas word chart

Beginnings of Agriculture The Big Idea The development of agriculture brought great changes to human society. The Main Ideas People began farming, which made getting food much easier. People began to settle down in towns and villages – they had permanent homes at last.

The time period when people’s lives began to change due to farming is called the Agricultural Revolution, or the Neolithic Revolution.

The Neolithic Period began about 10,000 years ago. The Ice Ages started to end and a warmer climate began. People began to domesticate or tame animals for human use. Animals provided meat, milk, and wool. They also carried goods and pulled carts. Women scattered seeds they had collected only to find that the seeds sprouted into crops. People realized they could grow their own food Before the Stone Age ended, humans started doing something that changed the way people lived – FARMING!

Agriculture is a fancy word that means FARMING People in the New Stone Age learned to make their own food instead of always hunting and gathering. Farming provided a much more reliable and dependable supply of food. FARMING IS BETTER THAN HUNTING AND GATHERING! They were able to begin living in permanent settlements instead of always moving around and looking for food.

Farmers learned how to make plants and animals more useful to humans. This is called domestication.

People learned they could plant seeds and grow their own crops. People learned to plant the biggest and sweetest crops for better food.

Sheep and goats were used for milk, food, and wool. Larger animals were used to help by carrying heavy loads and pulling large tools used in farming. Learning to use animals to help with farming increased people’s chances of surviving.

Farming meant that people usually had a surplus of food – having a surplus means that they had more than enough. People could now focus on other things besides just finding food. Specialization– People were able to “specialize” in other jobs besides farming. They could make tools, pottery, cloth, jewelry, etc. This is sometimes called the division of labor because people divided up the jobs. People gathered to perform religious ceremonies and built megaliths – huge stone monuments Created governments (systems of rules over a group of people)

A megalith monument begun in the Neolithic age and finished in the Bronze Age Located on the Salisbury Plain in England

The development of agriculture led to people settling down in one place. Why did farmers build permanent homes? They needed to stay close to their fields to water and care for the crops. They needed to watch the fields against wild animals or theft. Eventually, small farming communities grew into the first villages and towns.

Physical features are the natural characteristics of the land that we live on. Mountains, rivers, and deserts are examples of physical features. Certain physical features were necessary for the early human settlements. People needed to live near… Source of fresh water Most important! All of the first civilizations started near rivers! Fertile soil Dirt that is good for growing crops Mild/temperate climate Not TOO hot or TOO cold

Why is farming better than hunting and gathering? It creates a surplus (more than enough) of food. People have time to do other things besides look for food (specialization) Permanent settlements could be established (no more moving around all the time!) We’re not Romans, but we’re roaming…

We will be going outside to fill in word chart about places for agriculture. Once we come inside we will find places in the atlases where agriculture would flourish around the world. Cut and paste your word chart to page 11. On your word chart, you must tell me why! What makes the soil good? Why is the area easily defendable?