NY Social Studies 6.2b
The Standard
Early peoples in the Eastern Hemisphere are often studied by analyzing artifacts and archaeological features. Archaeologists engage in digs and study artifacts and features in a particular location to gather evidence about a group of people and how they lived at a particular time.
New York State K–12 Social Studies Framework
Key Idea 6.2
THE FIRST HUMANS THROUGH THE NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION IN THE EASTERN HEMISPHERE: The first humans modified their physical environment as well as adapted to their environment.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students examine objects, remains, and fixed site features, then infer how early people found food, built shelter, used tools, and organized daily life. They support each inference with specific evidence and recognize when evidence is limited.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can distinguish a movable artifact, such as a stone blade, from a site feature, such as a hearth. They make a reasonable claim about past life, cite two details, and explain what remains uncertain.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat every object as an artifact or assume archaeologists study dinosaurs. They may also make broad claims from one object, ignore where it was found, or confuse an inference with a proven fact.
How to Assess It
- Show students an image of a hearth beside animal bones and stone tools. Ask them to write one claim about the site, cite two clues, and name one unanswered question.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Bury replica tools, pottery pieces, and bone models in a sand tray, then have teams map each find before removing it.
Ask students to write: Which clue best shows how people at this site got food, and what makes that clue convincing?
Play Evidence or Guess, where students sort site claims into supported, possible, or unsupported categories and defend each choice.
Compare a museum display of an Eastern Hemisphere site with its excavation map, noting how location changes the meaning of each find.
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Printable 6.2b Worksheet
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