Foraging Simulation
STUDENT MATERIALSSTUDENT MATERIALSS-1FORAGING SIMULATIONWORLD HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 2.2 ACTIVITYPurposeThis simulation is meant to show the relationship between the availability of naturally occurring resources and the likelihood of successful existence as a forager (someone who gathers, hunts, and fishes for food). You’ll immediately grasp the potential difficulties of a hunting-foraging way of life. Looking ahead, this will also give you some helpful background to discuss the transition from foraging to agriculture.ProcessToday you will attempt to forage enough resources to survive. Your teacher will tell you the boundaries of the search area as well as the “resources” you will be looking for. You must find a total of three resources to “survive” the round. Of those three, you need to have at least one of each resource. After you have found these resources, you may keep looking or do what you like with the remaining time. Observe any difficulties you had finding resources. For example, what might account for differences in the amount of resources you and your classmates collected?During the second round, you will have less time to find at least as many resources as you did in the first round. Observe how the second round compared to the first. What factors made finding water and food more difficult the second time? In your wrap-up discussion with your class, your teacher will ask you to consider questions like these:• How might this simulation help you explain why some humans made the transition to agriculture?• How long could you survive in one spot only relying on foraging natural resources? • How does the number of people relying on the resources impact foraging? • What are the possible responses to increased pressure on natural resources?_________Note: This activity is based on From Foraging to Farming, an activity that appears on the National Agriculture in the Classroom website https://www.agclassroom.org/teacher/matrix/lessonplan.cfm?lpid=418