Topic 1 Lesson 4: New Ways of Life

People of the Paleolithic Era, or Old Stone Age, lived as _______________. pg. 27, pp.1

Answer explanation

They could not have imagined all of the things we now take for granted.

Most historians believe that about 10,000 years ago southwestern ____ became the center of agriculture. pg.28, pp.1

Answer explanation

Scientists have unearthed seeds from domesticated wheat plants that were buried long ago.

Farming may have then spread from southwestern Asia westward into _____. (pg.28, pp.2)

Answer explanation

It may have also spread northward into Europe and eastward in the Indus River valley of South Asia.

In the southern part of present-day China, farming began when people began with the domestication of ____. (pg.28, pp. 3)

Answer explanation

Farther to the north a grain called millet was the first crop to be domesticated.

In every place that agriculture developed, the transition from hunting and gathering to farming took place _______, over a long period of time. (pg.28, pp.5)

Answer explanation

Each way of life had costs as well as benefits.

Agriculture also offered many benefits. Farming produced more food and required less ____ than hunting and gathering. (pg.29, pp.1)

Answer explanation

Any early farm family might need only six acres of land to raise enough wheat or maize to feed themselves for a year. In contrast, a hunter-gatherer family needed about 20,000 acres on which to find enough food for a year .

Farmers found a way to build permanent shelters. People used a mixture of ___ and straw to form walls. (pg.29, pp.4)

Answer explanation

People made roofs by placing poles and branches across the tops of walls and covering them with mud.

Agriculture also changed the way that people ______ . For hunter gatherers, the most important materials for clothing were animal hides and furs. (pg.30, pp. 5)

Answer explanation

Farming provided new materials that were lighter and easier to work with.

As crops and herd improved, the amount of food that farmers could produce each year increased. Some families were able to raise a ______, or more than needed to feed themselves. pg. 30

What types of useful objects did early farmers fill their homes with? pg.31 pp.4

• tablets, comfy chairs, clocks

• furniture, tools, clay pots

• fish tanks, decorative plates, small plants

• spoons, shovels, spinning wheels