Unit 1: First Peoples in North America Common Assessment

Migration Route Theories: How and When did Humans Arrive in North America?From History Alive: American's Past"New Study Refutes Theory of How Humans Populated North America," History Channel, 2018Today, most scientists agree that the first people in North America came from the continent of Asia at least 15,000 years ago. This migration happened during the last Ice Age. An Ice Age is a long period when much of the Earth’s surface is covered in ice. Land Bridge TheoryThe last Ice Age began about 30,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago. During that time, Asia and North America were not separated by the Bering Sea, as they are today. The climate of the time caused the water of the Bering Sea to recede and dry up in the area we now call the Bering Straight. This exposed the land that connected Asia and North America. Scientists call this the "Land Bridge Theory." This "bridge" was almost 1000 miles wide.Most scientists believe that the first migrant people were from Siberia, called Siberians. The Siberians lived in northeastern Asia. They hunted big game such as mammoth (a large elephant-like animal), bison (also called buffalo) and caribou (reindeer). Scientists believe that these large animals fed on the grassy surface of the land bridge. Over many years, they eventually wandered across it. Small groups of Siberian hunters followed the animals. In time they moved all the way to North America. Pacific Coast TheoryRecently, scientists have used DNA evidence of plants and animals to reveal that the area of the "Land Bridge" did not have enough animal or plant material available to support human life during the earliest time humans were thought to be crossing it. This opened up the idea that the firsthumans to travel into North America must have moved along the Pacific Coast. This route would have enough fish, drift wood and some water sources for humans and animals to use as they migrated south into North America. The "Land Bridge" might have been used later on by people to migrate, but this new evidence shows scientists that early human migrants must have used a different route. The "Land Bridge" was therefore not the first route used by people and animals to cross from Asia to North America.Orange=Land Bridge, Yellow=Pacific RouteIn the hundreds of years following the last Ice Age, groups of Native Americans eventually began to settle in areas they thought had enough resources to support their basic human needs. During this time, changes in climate created many kinds of environments in North America. The environment also began to warm. A natural environment is everything that surrounds us. It includes things people search for to help them survive, such as clean water, animals, plants and other resources that can be used to make shelter. Many scientists believe that early humans continued moving along the continent of North America until they found environments they though had enough natural resources available for them to survive. Short Answer Question: New evidence has been found that says the earliest humans to migrate to North America from Asia may have traveled along the Pacific Coast instead of across the "Land Bridge" between Asia and North America. Explain why scientists believe this new theory and give one piece of evidence from the reading to support it. Use the reading to answer the task. Use context clues from the reading and your background knowledge to help you match the vocabulary terms below. Migration To move from one place to another, usually out of need such as food. Natural Environment The area you live in which includes land, natural resources and climate. Ice Age A long period when much of the Earth's surface was covered in ice. Land Bridge An area of land between Asia and North America that was exposed during the Ice Age. Humans and animals were thought to have crossed this land when entering North America Theory An idea that scientists use to explain something that is usually backed up by facts. Image Identification: People of the Eastern Woodlands People of the Eastern Woodlands, like the Iroquois, adapted to their environment through a variety of ways. Women and men had jobs or roles in their society. They used resources from the environment to meet their survival needs. Look carefully at the image. Label the image with the following tags. You can copy them into the image, but make sure you click the dot after you paste to input your answer.Evidence of farmingGrinding stone (tool)LonghouseMen huntingPummel (tool) used to mash corn grinding stone (tool) Longhouse Evidence of farming Men hunting Pummel (tool) used to mash corn Fill-In: Read the passage carefully. When you come to a blank, click on the spot. Use the choices that come up to select the best word to complete the sentence. Early culture groups of North America settled in different areas. The different environments that these areas had provided different natural resources. They used these natural resources to survive. Cultures became unique from one another because they had different natural resources based on their environments.For example, Eastern Woodland people had an environment rich in wood. The vast forests of their environment provided them with the resources needed to build huge wooden homes called longhouses. These people could build such large permanent structures because they could also farm. This, along with many animals in the forest to hunt, enabled this culture group to survive in one area for long periods of time and develop villages.Compared to the Eastern Woodlands, people living in the Far North environment had very few trees. The Inuit managed to survive based on what resources they had. Ice, snow and seals were abundant in their environment. Therefore, Inuit people designed igloos, or snow shelters often lined with seal skin, to survive in the harsh conditions of their environment. People of the Great Plains living in an environment rich with buffalo. These large animals provided resources for food, shelter and clothing. People of the Plains used the skin of the buffalo to create portable shelters called the tipi. Finally, the people of the Southwest lived in an environment with a hot, dry climate. The natural sandstone they found enabled them to create adobe bricks. These bricks were used to build stone shelters. Some parts of their environment had cliffs. The early people in this area adapted to this environment by building cliff dwellings with multiple rooms, using ladders connecting their structures to different levels and to the ground.