1. 8th Grade United States History
The First Americans
8th Grade United States History
Let’s learn about the Ice Age!!

2. Vocabulary Words to Know
Beringia
Nomads
Migration
Ice Age
Maize
Culture
Artifacts
Archaeology
Carbon Dating
Write each definition as we go through the lecture.

3. Where did the first Americans come from?
They came during the Ice Age around 20,000 years ago.
They traveled across Beringia (land bridge connecting Asia and North America).
Light Brown (then)=Land
Light Brown (now)=Water
They came from Siberia (Russia).

4. Beringia
They crossed over on a land bridge made of ice from Siberia to Alaska. This land bridge is called Beringia.

5. What were the reasons for coming to North America
They were following large game
Mammoths/Mastodons
Buffalo/Bison
Saber-Tooth Tigers
They came in a MIGRATION.- A large group of people moving from one place to another
They were Nomads -People who move from place to place without a stable home

6. This migration took centuries. They were nomads in search of food
This migration took centuries. They were nomads in search of food. They hunted bison and mammoths using stone tools

7. What happened at the end of Ice Age
About 15,000 years ago the earth’s temperature began to rise and the ice melted. Cut off the first Americans from Asia. The mammoth and other large animals began to die out.

8. What was the Ice Age? Sea levels were lowered.
Extremely cold temperatures on Earth.
Much of the oceans were frozen into ice sheets, or glaciers.
People and animals can move across the land, which was once covered by water.
Lower sea levels exposed large areas of the seabed (ground).

9. What was covered by ice? Representation of Europe during Ice Age
Green- land
Blue- water
White- ice/snow
Representation of North America during Ice Age
The “cloud” represents areas that were ice/snow during the Ice Age.

11. What did they do when the animals died out?…
1.Learn to fish
2.Hunt smaller game (deer, rabbits, squirrels, etc…)
3.Begin planting seeds

12. A New Way of Life
N/A’s in modern day Mexico discovered how to breed plants like corn around 8,000 B.C. – called maize
Population grew rapidly as a result
Pumpkins, beans, squash, tomatoes, and potatoes were all developed by N/A’s

13. STONE AXE

14. Ceramics & Textiles Ceramics- anything made of clay
Textiles- anything woven with fiber

15. FIRE Cooked food Dugout canoes Protection from animals
Light at night or in caves

16. Transportation N/A’s did not have horses until Europeans arrived,
they either walked or used canoes

17. Hunting Early N/A’s hunted large game like wooly mammoth.
Later, hunted deer, buffalo, and other smaller animals

18. BOW AND ARROW B and A-big improvement over spear
Skilled archer could hit targets from
over a thousand feet away
One person can carry dozens of
arrows

19. How do historians know so much?
They use carbon dating - measures the amount of carbon that remains in something. This can tell us the age of something.
They use artifacts, which are things left behind by early people.
They study archaeology, the study of ancient cultures.

20. Classwork/Homework;
Chapter 1 section 1
Complete reading check on page 18 and reading check on page 19.
Complete section assessment on page 19 #’s 2,3,5
Finish Textbook scavenger hunt for homework

21. Central and South American Peoples
Large civilizations began in South and Central America.
A. Olmec (12,000bc) Mexico
B Maya replaced the Olmec (400bc)
1. lived in Central America and Mexico
2. Society was ruled by religious leaders(theocracy)
3. Developed a calender and used hieroglyphics.

22. Central and South American peoples
C Aztec ( AD) Mexico
1. Capital was Tenochtitlan
2. Great warriors
D Inca (South America) 1200
1. Capital was Cuzco
2. Largest of the 3

23. North American Peoples
Civilizations in North America began 3,000 years ago. Evidence of the first NA in North America was in the Southwest.
The Hohokam- Arizona
B. The Anasazi (Utah, Colorado, Arizona,New Mexico) They built dwellings in the walls of steep cliffs

24. Pueblo Bonito- New Mexico

25. Mesa Verde - Colorado

26. Mound Builders Region extending from Great Lakes to Gulf of Mexico
Adena, Hopewell, Mississippians
Built earth mounds as burial chambers for important people and Chiefs
Largest earth mound is in Illinois called Cahokia
Local example is Lake Jackson Mounds built by the Appalachee

27. Cahokia

28. Regions of Native Americans
People of the North: Canada and Alaska
Inuit
People of the West: California and West Coast
Tlingit, haida, Chinook, Nez Perce, Pomo, Shoshone
People of the Southwest:
Hopi, Acoma, Zuni, Apache, Navajo
People of the Plains:
Dakota

29. People of the East and Southeast:
Iropuois, Cherokee,Mohawk, Creek, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Seminole
First People of Florida:
Timucua
Apalachee
Jeagas
Tequesta
Calusa
Tocobaga

31. Warm-up
Page Put your answers on a sheet of paper in your warm-up section of your notebook