In Era 2, humans learned to share ideas and produce tools. They spread around the world. A shift to farming allowed for bigger populations. But was it a good idea?

Our early ancestors made amazing breakthroughs in thought and tool-use, populated much of the world, and learned to farm.

In this era, humans began to build communities, create language networks (the smallest kind of human network), and produce and distribute goods. How did this happen?

Where did agriculture begin? You’re just starting this era, so you may not know. That’s ok! Make a prediction on a blank map—you’ll have a chance to revise later in this era.

It’s time to explore the Era 2 Problem. Remember: you’ll have a chance to return to this worksheet at the end of the era when you have more evidence!

More personalized vocab, this time for Era 2. Students will add to it throughout the era.

Back to the full class word wall, this time for Era 2 vocabulary.

This vocab guide provides a summary of the key vocabulary for the unit.

Vocab cards for each of the key words in this era.

Learning to read and evaluate charts is an important skill. This guide will be a useful reference as you encounter different charts in this course.

This activity introduces students to the Three Close Reads for Data tool by providing step-by-step instructions as they read the first Data Exploration on population.

There are a lot of humans living on the planet today. But for most of our history, our population was much smaller. Demography provides one window into our shared history.

How do we decide who to believe? Who can we consider “authority?” And what does Taylor Swift have to do with understanding human migration?

Humans are the only species that use language to share and store knowledge. This skill has driven human growth for over 100,000 years, allowing us to populate Earth.

History isn’t all war and trade routes. Humans have made art from the beginning of our existence and history depends on the creativity of our paleolithic ancestors.

How can art help us better understand early humans? Students will use OPTIC analysis to examine art created by our ancient ancestors.

We often take time for granted, especially as it relates to history. This article will help you to understand and use the connection between chronology and history.

Ancestral Puebloans left behind hundreds of thousands of petroglyphs. These rock carvings communicate ceremonial, practical, and astronomical knowledge.

There is a lot we don’t know about early human history. Evaluate different theories about when humans arrived in the Americas.

Foraging was easy and convenient when resources were plentiful but what happens as those resources become harder to find?

In the last 12,000 years, humans developed farming, complex societies, and writing. But what did they do for the first 238,000 years of existence?

In their quest to survive, Paleolithic humans joined together, leading to the beginnings of what we today call “culture.”

Our ancestors shared ideas and experiences through language networks. These were the first human networks, and they still connect us and affect who we are today.

Early forms of language had far fewer words than we do today. How does a limited vocabulary impact communication?

We talk a lot about testing claims in this course, but you also need to learn how to make claims. Oh, and don’t forget the evidence!

In this final vocab activity of the era, students move beyond simply defining words to applying them, therefore solidify their understanding and use of the words in context.

This vocab guide provides a summary of the key vocabulary for the unit.

Vocab cards for each of the key words in this era.

Even something seemingly as simple as a cheeseburger is a result of the Agricultural Revolution. But was it a positive change, and can we even call it a “revolution?”

The Neolithic Age seems like a long time ago. Surely life was different then? Explore the similarities and differences in this introduction to the Comparison Tool.

A peasant named Khunanup set out to trade his goods, but his passage was blocked by an official who stole his belongings, leading Khunanup to appeal to the Pharaoh.

Because humans first emerged as foragers in Africa, Africans perfected foraging for a long time before they started farming.

Pieces of pottery that pre-date farming have been discovered in a cave called Xianrendong, challenging a theory that many historians have believed to be universally true.

It’s difficult to write something when you’re not sure what you’re being asked to do! This is the first in a series of activities in which you’ll practice analyzing prompts.

Pick a side! Farming or foraging? Use your marketing skills to defend your choice.

Students are first introduced to CCOT by evaluating how farms have changed over time. They use the frames to help guide their analysis of continuities and changes.

How has your understanding changed since the beginning of the era? Time to revisit the EP Notebook!

Farming was adopted in many places, but there’s a fierce debate on how and why it happened and whether it was a good thing.

Two leading world historians discuss the connections between the shift to agriculture and the rise of states.

Students will use their causation skills to examine how agriculture led to different characteristics of societies.

Using the Ancient Empires and Agriculture Thematic map, and the knowledge you’ve learned in Era 2, it’s time to go back and review the map you created in the first lesson.

A full-color thematic map of the Ancient Empires and Agriculture in 300 BCE, meant to help you support, extend, and challenge the frame narratives.

Before you can write a good claim, you need to know how to find one! In this activity, you’ll use the Writing Rubric to evaluate the claim and focus of an essay from the course.

In this Warm-Up activity, you’ll look closely at the Claim and Focus row of the WHP Writing Rubric to fine tune your writing skills.

Did farming improve human life? Use the documents in this DBQ to come to an informed decision about pros and cons of the first agricultural revolution.

These DBQ writing samples provide example essays to help support writing instruction in different ways—use as you see fit in your classroom!

Now that you’ve written, it’s time to revise! This activity will help you identify areas to improve your writing based on the Claim and Focus row of the WHP Writing Rubric.

To farm or to forage? This comic suggests you should farm, and join the Neolithic Revolution!

To farm or to forage? This comic suggests you should forage, and quit the Neolithic Revolution!

Compare artifacts from archaeological sites around the world and learn how historians rely on evidence from many disciplines to construct historical accounts.

In your first LEQ of the course, you’ll examine the question: to what extent was foraging or farming more desirable for early humans?