EXPLORING PREHISTORY ~ Carissa Noblet A few years ago, I was planning to pull my son out of public school to homeschool and was spending hours and hours research curriculum. My son was really into dinosaurs and asking all about evolution, prehistoric animals, how the earth began, etc. So, I decided to look for a secular Prehistory curriculum for our first year of homeschooling. I wanted something that was comprehensive and explored the whole prehistoric timeline in an amount of detail appropriate for my then 1st grader. There are a few unit studies that are fabulous but there was not just one curriculum or resource that covered everything I wanted. What I did find was a ton of books, movies, online resources, and hands-on activities scattered about. After hours of research and pages of resource lists, I decided to take this research and use it to create my own curriculum. We had so much fun with the “curriculum”, and it helped create some of our best homeschool memories to date. Instead of setting up a daily outline for you, I decided to just divide the resources into Units and Lesson. Each lesson could take you anywhere from 2-5 days to complete. We completed this over the course of a year. It could take a year or less, depending on how many resources you decide to use and how many times a week you do history. Over the course of a year or so, I gathered many resources and books. You do NOT need to purchase all the books or movies that I have listed. I have marked the required resources below. Links to resources are provided when needed! **Important Notes: — Emily Cook’s Build Your Library: Prehistory Unit Study (PUS) was vital to the creation of this curriculum. Her unit study is a requirement for this curriculum and can be found here: Build Your Library- Prehistory Unit Study If you have older children, she also has another unit study that would be a great addition as well: Build Your Library- Darwin & Evolution Unit Study — The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History is the spine for this curriculum. Many of the online resources come from the Internet links suggested in this encyclopedia. Required Books: The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History (UEWH) Dictionary Dinosaur Encyclopedia (some options below) Children’s Dinosaur Encyclopedia DK Eyewitness Dinosaur Encyclopedia Prehistorica Dinosaurs: The Definitive Pop-up DK Smithsonian Dinosaur! Life Story Archaeology for Kids Maroo of the Winter Caves The Secret Cave: Discovering Lascaux Creatures Yesterday and Today Optional Books: ~ We have and like all these books but you do not NEED them all. Pick and choose the ones that you think your children will like best. ~ ** - Highly recommended Fossils Tell of Long Ago Archaeologists Dig for Clues Volcanoes! (easy reader) Evolution: How We and all Living Things Came to Be **Charlie and Kiwi Galapagos George **Annabelle & Aiden: The Story of Life **Grandmother Fish: A Child’s First Book of Evolution BANG! How We Came to Be **When Fish Got Feet, Sharks Got Teeth, and Bugs Began to Swarm **When Bugs Were Big, Plants Were Strange, and Tetrapods Stalked the Earth **When Dinos Dawned, Mammals Got Munched, & Pterosaurs Took Flight The Magic School Bus: In the Time of the Dinosaurs (A Nonfiction Companion) The Magic School Bus present Dinosaurs Good Question! Why Did T. Rex Have Short Arms? and other questions about Dinosaurs **The Best Book of Early People You Wouldn’t Want to be a Mammoth Hunter The First Dog Prehistoric Art **Prehistoric Actual Size Other Required Resources: Build Your Library- Prehistory Unit Study Worksheets, activities, or other resources from this unit study will be highlighted in grey with accompanying page numbers throughout this curriculum. Timeline: Having a timeline poster that can be easily referenced was very helpful for my children. Here are the 2 timelines we have and we love them both! Eras of Life: Geological Time Scale Geological Time and the History of Life Internet Access Online Resources & Media notes: - There are no required online resources or media resources though they will be useful in your research for the Timeline and Field Guide. I do recommend that you check out the links and pick a few online resources and videos/movies for each lesson. Many can be found online or on YouTube. Others can be found on Netflix or Amazon. - I suggest that you look ahead at the options for “Online Resources” and “Media” for each lesson so you can decide which resources would best suit your child(ren). Worksheets: You can find worksheets that I created at the end of this curriculum. The others are found in Build Your Library: Prehistory Unit Study or online (links are provided). I have provided links to a variety of coloring pages. Use as many or as few as you would like. My kids enjoyed coloring these pages while I read to them. This is a great way to keep hands busy and minds focused! A Final Note: There are a LOT of resources listed in this curriculum. Feel free to use them all, we did! Or just pick and choose the ones that look fitting for your homeschool kids! If you have any questions, leave me a comment below and I will do my best to help you out! Unit 1: What is Prehistory? Topics covered: Fossils / Archaeology & Paleontology / Formation of Earth / Earth Science / Pangaea Lesson 1 - Prehistory / Fossils Books: __ Read Usborne Encyclopedia of World History (UEWH) Pgs 12-13 __ UEWH P 14-15 __ Optional __ Fossils Tell of Long Ago Vocabulary/Worksheet/Coloring Pages: __ Vocabulary Worksheet: Prehistory __ Prehistory Coloring Page from Satori Smiles __ Vocabulary Worksheet: Fossils __ Print and color some fossil pages here: Fossil coloring pages __ Types of Fossils WS (PUS P 53-54) __ My State Fossil WS Hands-on Activity: __ Start a Prehistory Binder We just used a 3-ring binder and taped the coloring page from Satori Smiles to the front. We then put all our Timeline & Field Guide pages, WSs, and pictures of our projects in this one binder. The kids have really enjoyed looking back through it! __ Make a Fossil (PUS P 7) Online Resources: __ Stories in the Amber __ Fossil Reconstruction Game Prehistory Binder __ State Fossils — look up your own state fossil here Media: __ Bill Nye: Fossils (YouTube) __ What’s a Fossil? (YouTube) __ Hadrosaur Fossils (YouTube) __ Rare Fossils of Ancient Trilobites (YouTube) Our Dino Board Game Lesson 2 - Archaeology/Paleontology Books: __ UEWH P 16-17 __ Optional __ Archaeologists Dig for Clues Vocabulary/Worksheet/Coloring Pages: __ Vocabulary Worksheet: Archaeology, Paleontology __ Paleontology Booklet Hands-on Activity: __ Make a Dino Board Game - We used the concept on this website and created our own dino board game. Over the course of the year we added cards with various questions about what we were learning. Try creating your own game, with your own rules! __ Sandbox Archaeology Dig Project Online Resources: __ Explore Awesome Paleontology Activities Media: __ How do paleontologists identify dinosaur teeth? (YouTube) Sandbox Archaeology Dig __ MSB: Shows & Tells (Netflix) __ SciGirls: Digging Archaeology S1:E4 (Amazon Prime) __ Nature: Raising the Dinosaur Giant (Netflix) Lesson 3 - Formation of Earth/Earth Science Books: __ UEWH P 20-21 (Birth of Earth) __ UEWH P 22-23 (Changing World) __ UEWH P 22-23 (Volcano section) __ Optional __ Bang! How We Came to Be __ Volcanoes (Easy Reader) Vocabulary/Worksheet/Coloring Pages: __ Vocabulary Worksheet: Big Bang Theory, Pangaea __ Layers of the Earth WS __ Label World Map with major plates (PUS P 52) __ All About Volcanoes (Coloring page) __ Test Your Volcano Knowledge Hands-on Activity: __ Make an Edible Earth __ Make a play doh Earth Playdoh Earth Layers __ Plate Movements/Pangaea Activity __ Plate Movements/Mountains Activity (Blankets) __ Plate Tectonics/Volcanoes Activity (Graham crackers) __ Make a play doh volcano __ Sediment / Buried Dino Activity __ Backyard volcano (we made ours outside in an old sandbox) or try one of these ideas here __ Start Timeline (PUS P 37) Online Resources: __ Earth’s Structure __ Pangaea Continental Drift Pictures __ Stratigraphy of Prehistoric Time __ Explore Timelines Online (or check out the timeline posters recommended on the resources list at the beginning of this curriculum) __ A Brief History of Life __ Interactive Prehistoric Timeline __ Geological Time Periods __ Tour Through Time Made a volcano Media: __ Earth: The Making of a Planet __ Plate Tectonics: Break of Pangaea Video __ Volcanoes 101 Video Unit 2: The Beginning of Life Topics Covered: Evolution / Early Life / Precambrian / Cambrian Lesson 1 - Evolution Books: __ UEWH P 18-19 __ Optional __ Charlie & Kiwi __ Galapagos George __ Grandmother Fish __ Annabelle & Aiden: The Story of Life __ Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be Vocabulary/Worksheet/Coloring Pages: __ Vocabulary Worksheet: Evolution Hands-on Activity: __ Spiral Timeline __ Teaching Natural Selection Online Resources: __ Here’s How a Darwin Explains Evolution to Kids Media: __ What is Evolution? __ The Evolution of Life on Earth __ How Evolution Works __ Planet Dinosaur Ep 6 (evolution) __ What is Evolution? __ The Genius of Charles Darwin __ HHMI Evolution: Constant Change and Common Threads __ HHMI The Origin of Species Lesson 2 - Early Life/Precambrian Books: __ UEWH P 24 __ Life Story 1-11 __ UEWH P 25 Vocabulary/Worksheet/Coloring Pages: __ Vocabulary Worksheet: Cells __ Field Guide to the Prehistoric World: Precambrian (PUS P 51-52) Hands-on Activity: __ Kimberella craft __ Add to Timeline: Precambrian (PUS P 38) Online Resources: __ Geological Time