Curated OER
Apes To Man
Students study primates and their evolution history. In this role play instructional activity students view a video on evolution then demonstrate how primates walked and other observations they noticed in the film.
Curated OER
Left and Right Brains
Pupils research the part of the brain known as the corpus callosum. The part of the brain that connects the left and right brain, students investigate its functions and how data passes from one side to another.
Curated OER
Archaeology as a Career
Fourth graders read about archaeology as a career. They develop a list of questions they would like to ask an archaeologist and then actually interview an archaeologist on the future of archaeology as a career.
Curated OER
Chromosome Fusion
Students see how patterns can reveal events of the past, thereby merging elements of both experimental and historical science.
Other
Institute of Human Origins: Becoming Human
Multimedia-rich guide for anyone making their way through a study of human origin. Find information and analysis about the fossil record, comparative anatomy, theories, and the cultural adaptations of humans and their ancestors. With an...
Indiana University
Ensi: Comparison of Human: Chimpanzee Chromosomes Lesson
This is a great lesson plan that combines Karoytypes and evolution. Students will recognize that the chromosomes of chimpanzees and humans are remarkably similar, then correlate that to their evolutionary relationship.
PBS
Pbs: Leakey Family Discovers Human Ancestors
The PBS site covers the Leakey family and their discoveries in Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. This information was part of a PBS exploration of human evolution.
Other
Cartage: Discovery of Early Hominids
This comprehensive essay provides a brief history of the Australopithecines an in depth discussion of the discovery of the early fossils, and a look at the ancestors of the Australopithecines.
PBS
Pbs News Hour Extra: Scientists Discover Oldest Human Ancestor
Scientists have recently published their research into fossil bones from Ethiopia that they say came from an ancestor common to both humans and chimpanzees. They have named the ancestor Ardipithecus ramidus. In the articles and video,...
University of California
Uc Berkeley: Ethiopian Fossils From 6 Million Year Old Hominid
In this article from 2004, UC Berkeley reports that additional fossils have been found from the 2001 discovery of Ardipithecus kadabba. This find holds great importance because it is suggested that it may represent the first species...
Science Struck
Science Struck: Lucy: The First Hominid Skeleton
Read about the archaeologists who discovered the first Hominid skeleton and other ancestors of humans.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Answers to Exploration Questions: Human Evolution
On this site, find answers to the exploration activity on human evolution. Questions discuss both physical traits of hominid as well as DNA evidence.
The Field Museum
Field Museum: Exhibits: Evolving Planet: Hominids
In this effective exhibit, you will examine hominid evolution, view pictures of our ancient ancestors, and delve into three trends in hominid evolution that brought humankind into the modern era. A video is also provided where you will...
Other
Washington State University: Hominid Species Timeline
This complete resource contains a chronological chart that shows the main hominid species and their approximate relationships in time. A description of each hominid is included as well.
Scientific American
Scientific American: Oldest Member of the Human Family
This article, published by Scientific American (July 11, 2002), highlights the discovery of a nearly complete skull of the oldest and most primitive member of the human family known yet. This fossil, found in central Africa, contains a...
American Academy of Achievement
Academy of Achievement: Lee R. Berger, ph.d.
A biography of Lee Berger, a paleoanthropologist who made critical discoveries about our human ancestry during his explorations in Southern Africa. As he talks of his discoveries, you can feel his palpable excitement. Includes a profile,...
Talk Origins Archive
Talk Origins: The Hominid Species
Talk Origins gives a broad description of the types of Hominid species, and then gives a description of each species. Includes the specific characteristics of each, and explains the differences between the species.
PBS
Pbs Teachers:how Did Humans Evolve?
Explore paleoanthropology by going on a virtual "dig" to answer questions about famous fossil finds. Explain how alternate hominid family trees result from different interpretations of the same fossil evidence.
Discovery Education
Discovery Education: Apes to Man
This lesson plan explores the primates in the African savannas that were the first animals to walk erect (bipedalism), which is a milestone in human evolution.
Talk Origins Archive
Talk Origins: Fossil Hominids: Richard Leakey
Biography of Richard Leakey that deals with his paleontological work and his efforts to preserve African wildlife.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Riddle of the Bones
At the online companion Web site of "Evolution," the seven-episode series on PBS, piece together clues to how one of our early ancestors looked as you examine images from four significant fossil finds of Australopithecus afarensis.
Archaeological Institute of America
Early Homo Erectus Tools in China
An article which describes a fossil site in eastern China where evidence has been found that Home erectus may have been active in eastern China some 400,000 years earlier than scientists believed. The authors also summarize the debate...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Laetoli Trackways Diagram
View a diagram of the hominid footprints that archaeologist Mary Leakey's team found at Laetoli in Tanzania.
Scientific American
The Strange Case of the Minnesota Iceman
The modern-day corpse of a human-like hominid, preserved in a block of ice, encountered by researchers in the 1960s. Surely the zoological discovery of the century!