Lesson 20: Early Humans
Lesson Plan
Suggested time: 5-6 periods (40 mins each)
Content
Objectives
Tools/Materials
Used
Introducing the
Lesson
Methodology
• The tools, living, places and clothes of early humans
• Discovery of fire
• Farming and beginning of agriculture
• Domestication of animals for different purposes
• Means of transport
• Invention of the wheel
To enable the students to:
• describe the life of the early humans
• appreciate how tough their lives must have been
• describe their shelter, clothing, food and tools
• appreciate how the discovery of fire and the invention of the wheel
changed human history
• explain how the beginning of farming and the domestication of animals led
to civilisation
Timeline 3, a black board and chalk.
Use the Let’s begin… as a warm up to introduce the lesson. Ask the students
to decode the hidden words using the codes given.
Teaching the lesson
• Discuss how early humans must have lived. Talk in detail about early
humans hunting, eating and going about their daily work. Try telling them
that early humans had very few wants as they did not have most of the things
that are readily available today.
• Talk about the shelter and clothing of the early humans. Tell them how they
lived in caves and wore the skins of animals. Discuss the tools used by early
humans. If possible bring pictures to the class to show the different shaped
stones that the early humans used as tools.
• Talk about the discovery of fire and how early humans learnt to use it to
their advantage.
• Discuss in class the ways in which our life would have been different if fire
had not been discovered in the Let’s talk… section.
• Tell the class how the early humans went from place to place hunting and
never settled in one place. Tell them how farming helped them to settle down
and begin living in a society. Tell them how they chose places like the banks of
rivers to settle down and farm.
• Ask the students to tick the right option in the Think and answer… section.
• Describe how they tamed animals to do farm work and used them for milk
and meat. Ask the class to name the animals that are used for farm work.
Lesson 20: Early Humans
Lesson Plan
Suggested time: 5-6 periods (40 mins each)
• Tell the class how early humans must have seen a piece of wood floating on
water and hence thought of making sledges.
• Similarly, tell them how a rolling log would have made them think of wheels
and hence helped them invent the wheel.
• The discovery of metals helped humans make sharper weapons and tools
which made it easier for them to clear forests for agriculture.
Let’s answer…
• The teacher can help the students complete Exercises A, B, C, D and E on
pages 129-130 orally. The children can then be asked to write the answers on
their own.
Let’s do…
• Activity Time
(F.1)The students are required to enact a play of discovery of fire.
(F.2)The students will work in groups and each group will draw and convey a
message through pictures that the other groups will guess.
• Project Work
(G) The students should be asked to collect information about early humans
from internet or the museum and make a project on it.
HOTS
• The HOTS question can be discussed in class.
Life skills…
Discuss in class the statement ‘Invention of fire is a blessing for us but it can
be a curse also, if we are not careful’. Encourage the students to actively
participate in the discussion.