Weighing the Impact of Agriculture on Human Society
Weighingthe Impact of Agriculture on Human SocietyOverviewIn this two-part lesson, students consider the impact of agriculture on human society.Projected Time: 1 hour and 40 minutes (two 50-minute parts)Implementation time will vary across classroom contexts.Discussion Questions: ●On-ramp:In the Neolithic period, do you think it was better for people to be farmers or hunter-gatherers? Which had more benefits? Would you have preferred to be a farmer or a forager if you lived in the Neolithic period, and why?●Central Historical Question (CHQ):Did the transition from foraging to sedentary agriculture help improve society and life for people?●Off-ramp:Why do you think most people in history have had the assumption that the transition to farming was a good thing? Do you think there is anything about the hunter-gatherer lifestyle that you think would be good for our world today?Preparation for Discussion Facilitation:●Establish classroom norms for discussion. If you've already established discussion norms this year, plan to revisit them briefly with your students. If you haven't yet set any norms for discussion, we suggest taking 5-10 minutes to ask students to brainstorm a list the class can agree to (e.g., active listening, sharing air-time, being respectful). Ask students, “What norms do you think we should have in class when we have discussions? How should we treat each other?” Give students a few moments to independently record their own thoughts, then solicit ideas from students. You could give each student a couple of sticky notes to write their ideas on and have them add them to a board in the front of the room, have them submit their ideas using a virtual poll, or just call on students to share their ideas aloud. Based on what studentsshare, generate a list of class norms for discussion. You may want to ask additional probing questions (e.g., how should we respond when someone has a different perspective than we do?).●Consider students’ social-emotional learning. When preparing for discussions, keep in mind that different topics can be sensitive for different students. As you plan, consider how you will support students’ social and emotional needs and address any misconceptions that could cause harm.●For further guidance and support facilitating discussion, see the Deeper Discussions PD Toolkit.Table of ContentsPart 1: Transition to Agriculture Source AnalysisPart 2: Central Historical Question Discussion
Weighing the Impact of Agriculture on Human Society1Part 1: Transition to Agriculture Source AnalysisStudents Will:●Describe key differences in lifestyle between foragers and early farmers in the Neolithic period and reflect on which lifestyle you would have preferred.●Analyze sources that present differing perspectives on the transition to agriculture. Materials: ●Source set: Weighing the Impact of Agriculture on Human Society(Google| Word)●Weighing the Impact of Agriculture on Human Society Worksheet:student version (Google| Word) and teacher version●Video: Early Humans (250,000 Years Before Present to 3000 BCE)Preparation: ●Plan how you will organize students into groups of four and into partners within those groups.Opener and On-Ramp Discussion: Would you rather be a farmer or forager? (~15 minutes)1.Tell students that from about 250,000 to 12,000 years ago, humans got their food from foraging and hunting. This was the Paleolithic era. Then, around 12,000 years ago, small groups of humans in a number of different places began domesticating plants and animals by actively selecting ones with traits that would help people, andthen growing or breeding those. For example, over thousands of years, humans turned wild grass into corn and wolves into dogs. This domestication led to a shift to farming during the Neolithic era, changing how humans lived in dramatic ways. 2.Pass out the Weighing the Impact of Agriculture worksheet and tell students that they are now going to watch a short video that discusses this transition. As they watch the video, students should take notes on what life was like in foraging communities compared to what life was like in early farming communities. After the video, they’ll discuss whether they would have wanted to be a forager or a farmer if they lived during this period of time.3.Play the video Early Humans (250,000 Years Before Present to 3000 BCE).4.Once the video is over, using the key in the teacher copy of the worksheet, elicit student responses on differences between life as a forager and life as an early farmer. a.Note: If students don’t bring it up, highlight that foragers lived in small groups of 20–50 people, moved around to find food, ate a varied diet, had lots of free time, and lived in more egalitarian communities where everyone shared resources. Early farming led to permanent settlements, larger populations, and the ability of some people to engage in specialized labor, which brought about new inventions, ideas, and opportunities. However, this also led to more illness and the development of hierarchies wheresome people had more wealth and power than others.
Weighing the Impact of Agriculture on Human Society25.Ask students: “In the Neolithic period, do you think it was better for people to be farmers or hunter-gatherers? Which had more benefits? Would you have preferred to be a farmer or a forager if you lived in the Neolithic period, and why? Give students a couple of minutes to add their thoughts to their worksheet before opening up the floor for a brief discussion of these on-ramp questions.a.Note: You may choose to have students move to one side of the classroom if they’d prefer to be a farmer and the other side if they’d prefer to be a forager, and then have them explain why they selected their position. As students listen to one another’s perspectives, they can move to the other side of the room if they change their mind. Sourcing Activity: Analyzing Secondary Sources about the Transition to Agriculture (~25 minutes)6.Tell students that today they will be collecting evidence by analyzing four secondary sources to prepare for an upcoming discussion on the Central Historical Question (CHQ): “Did the transition from foraging to sedentary agriculture help improve society and life for people?” As they gather evidence from the texts, they should think about areas such as changes in people’s health, access to resources, opportunities, safety, rights, and overall quality of life. They should also consider whether these changes were experienced equally, or if with the rise of agriculture the gains of some came at a significant cost to others.7.Explain how the upcoming discussion will work: At first, they’ll be assigned to argue one side or the other, and later they’ll share their own opinion. Those who are assigned to Team Farmer will argue the position that the transition from foraging to agriculture helped to improve society and life for people. Those who are assigned to Team Forager will argue the position that switching from foraging to agriculture did not improve society and made life for people worse. Before the discussion, they’ll be collecting evidence and reasoning to support their assigned position by analyzing four secondary sources. 8.Divide the class into groups of four, and within each group, assign two of the members to be “Team Farmer,” and two of the members to be “Team Forager.” 9.Pass out the source set and have students read the documents with their group partner (i.e., within each group of four, the Team Forager and Team Farmer partners will work together and fill out the source analysis table in their worksheet). Tell them they will fill out evidence for both sides, since that will help them anticipate the argument that the other team will make and think of counter-arguments. a.Note: You may want to model reading and filling out the worksheet for the first source, then have students complete the other three in pairs. Closer: Preparing Arguments (~10 minutes)10.Once they’ve finished reading and collecting evidence from the sources, have partners prepare their argument in the section of the worksheet titled “My Team’s Argument.”
Weighing the Impact of Agriculture on Human Society3Part 2: Central Historical Question DiscussionStudents Will:●Make a historical argument about whether the transition from foraging to sedentary agriculture helped improve society and life for humans using your interpretation of evidence from secondary sources.●Analyze historical assumptions about the transition to farming and reflect on aspects of hunter gatherer life that could be beneficial or relevant today.Materials: ●Source set: Weighing the Impact of Agriculture on Human Society (Google| Word)●Weighing the Impact of Agriculture on Human Society Worksheet: student version (Google| Word) and teacher versionPreparation:●Set up your classroom arrangement to support the discussion structure for groups of four students.●Review the student reflection exit ticket questions and decide which you will use.Opener: Preparing for the Discussion (~5 minutes)1.Remind students that today you’ll be having a discussion. Tell students that at the end of the lesson, they will have an opportunity to share their feedback on the lesson with you. You’ll use their feedback to improve future class discussions. 2.Have students take a seat in their groups of four that were assigned in the previous lesson and take out their worksheet and sources from the previous lesson. 3.Take a few minutes to review your classroom norms for discussion. 4.Ask students to identify one or two goals that they have for themselves during today’s discussion (e.g., bringing in evidence to support their points, being an active listener). Central Historical Question Discussion: Did the transition from foraging to sedentary agriculture help improve society and life for people? (~20 minutes)5.Tell students, “We are going to have a 20-minute discussion. During the discussion, I want you to engage deeply with the Central Historical Question, bring in evidence from the sources you’ve read and analyzed, bring in insights from your own background knowledge and life experiences, and really listen to the points that your classmates make and respond to them. We’ll be answering the Central Historical Question (CHQ): “Did the transition from foraging to sedentary agriculture help improve society and life for people?”
Weighing the Impact of Agriculture on Human Society46.(5 minutes) Within each group of four, Team Farmer partners present their argument (both students contributing), while the Team Forager partners record the other team’s argument in the section of their worksheet titled “The Other Team’s Argument.” Then, ask Team Forager to repeat back the argument to Team Farmer to make sure they understood them accurately.7.(5 minutes) Next, within each group of four, Team Forager partners present their argument (both partners contributing), while Team Farmer records the other team’s argument in their worksheet. Then, ask Team Farmer to repeat back the argument to Team Forager to make sure they understood them accurately.8.(10 minutes) Now, ask every student in the group to discuss their own opinions, regardless of which team they were originally assigned to. Rotate around the room and listen to the group discussions. Remember to prioritize student voice over teacher voice; however, if the discussion has trouble starting or sputters, consider using some of the suggested facilitation moves below to support students in deepening their discussion. ChallengePotential Teacher Facilitation Moves If studentsaren’t engaging deeply with the CHQ,you might try ...●Probe for elaboration: Can you say more to the group about that? And can you tell us more about where you’re coming from? ●Return to CHQ: Let’s come back to our Central Historical Question. Where are we with that? If studentsaren’t engaging with each other, you might try ...●Uptake student comment:I’m hoping a few of you can share your reactions or questions to the group about what [student] just shared about ...●Expose the discussion structure:I’m hearing [student A] say [this], and [student B] say [that]. Can we do a show of hands on which argument you agree with at this point? ... Can you discuss with each other to see if you can come to an agreement, or at least figure out where you disagree? If studentsaren’t engaging with the sources, you might try ...●Pressing for textual evidence:Where do you see evidence for that in the text? ●Marking text:Let’s bring our attention to [specific place in the text]. If studentsaren’t bringing in their knowledge from outside of the text,you might try ... ●Pressing for broader evidence: Are there things in your personal experience, or any knowledge from outside of the texts, that supports or challenges what we’ve discussed so far about [historical topic or question]? ●Exploring student perspective:We’ve been connecting to the text a lot, and that’s really important, but I also want to hear your actual thoughts about [historical topic or question].
Weighing the Impact of Agriculture on Human Society5Off-Ramp Discussion: Why assume farming is a good thing? (~5 minutes)9.The class comes together as a whole to discuss the following off-ramp questions: “Why do you think most people in history have had the assumption that the transition to farming was a good thing? Do you think there is anything about the hunter-gatherer lifestyle that you think would be good for our world today?”10.End the discussion by expressing appreciation for students for their participation. Activity: Independent Writing (~15 minutes)11.Tell students that now that they’ve had the opportunity to hear various arguments and discuss the evidence, they will write a paragraph sharing their own individual conclusion about the Central Historical Question. To build a strong argument, they should use evidence from as many sources as possible. Share this prompt:Write a paragraph responding to the following prompt. Make sure to support your claim with evidence from the sources you’ve analyzed: Did the transition from foraging to sedentary agriculture help improve society and life for people?Closer:Exit Ticket & Reflection (~5 minutes)12.Share the exit ticket questions you selected or adapted from the choices in the box on the next page, and have students take a few minutes to reflect and share their feedback on the discussion. Tell them: “As you answer the exit ticket questions, I want you to think back to the goals that you set for yourself during the discussion. Please be honest and thoughtful in your reflections, because your answers will help improve the way that I might teach this lesson in the future and the ways that I decide to facilitate future discussion lessons.”
Weighing the Impact of Agriculture on Human Society6CategoryPotential Exit Ticket QuestionsWe suggest that you either pre-select one question from each of the categories below, or have your students pick one from each category that they’d like to answer. Historical content●How did today’s discussion deepen or change your understanding of [historical topic]?●If you could go back in time and ask someone from history a question based on today's discussion, who would you talk to and what would you ask them? Discussion experience●How confident did you feel contributing to today’s discussion? What helped or held you back?●What was one perspective shared by a classmate that made you think differently about the topic? How did it change your thinking?●Overall, how do you think the discussion went? Why did it go well or not go well?Planning for the next discussion●What is one specific goal you have for improving your participation in future discussions?●What could we do as a class and what could I do as your teacher to make the discussion better next time?
Weighing the Impact of Agriculture on Human SocietyThe creation of these materials was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A220457 to Digital Promise. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute orthe U.S. Department of Education.This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0.