Seeking Input; Ancient World History

[SS Rocks!]

I'm in my second year and teach social studies of the ancient world. I'm starting a unit on the Stone Age. Inevitably, I will receive questions about where people came from and Neanderthals and other hominids that came before humans. How would you handle this? :confused:

Personally, I believe in evolution to a certain extent but neither feel comfortable doing so nor think that it is appropriate to share what I feel on a topic that can stir such an emotional reaction.

I sought help at school by talking with the other sixth grade social studies teacher. She goes into a lot of detail on evolution and human ancestors and suggests I do the same. She claims it's all part of our state standards. I have read the standards and the only thing even remotely close to mentioning human ancestors is that we are supposed to teach about "inventors of tools".

[Clix]

It may be part of the science standards. If it's NOT part of your standards, I'd suggest seeing what the school library has on the subject, and when the questions come up, simply say, "there are different opinions on this, based on the evidence from early civilizations. It's not exactly what we're going to study, but here are titles of some books you can find in the school library if you want to know more."

You want to encourage their curiosity, but at the same time, you need to spend your class time focusing on your curriculum.

[Brit]

well, it's a theory. Teach them what "theory" really means -- it's our best guess, but it's not proved right or wrong yet. there's a lot of things we teach that are just theories. None of it is for sure, but it's the best we've got until someone comes along with more proof and comes up with something better! I always like to throw in "and maybe that someone will someday be you!"

[SS Rocks!]

Thank you for your input! I think I will borrow ideas from both of you.

I'm making a 100 meter long timeline on the sidewalk in front of our school covering 200,000 years of human history to show the kids how much humans have accomplished in such a short period of time and hopefully get students to realize how insignificant we are as individuals compared to the number of years humans have been around.

When I get back around 200,000 years ago on the timeline, I will briefly mention the discovery of hominid bones, the theory of evolution, inform them that evolution doesn't mean we came from monkeys (from what I've heard so far, a common 6th grade misconception) rather we share a common ancestor, and emphasize and define the word theory.

I will also encourage them to do research on their own by either using our textbook or mrdonn.org, both of which have a fair amount of information about various hominid species.

Thank you!!! :) I'm feeling better about this week.

[Helix]

I'm a "liberal Yankee" that ended up in a cowtown small city in Texas. (This town actually booed Bill Nye the Science Guy) :( I like to personally believe it's creationism AND evolution...I carry the viewpoint that a supreme being put us on earth and that it's watching what we're doing. I don't tell this to anyone, really.

Well, anyhoo...what I do is I start with a disclaimer when I teach this stuff in science. "Evolution is a THEORY. You are required by the state of Texas to learn about this THEORY. You are entitled to your pre-existing beliefs. You can challenge evolution, just as you can challenge creationism. You are to know the components of this THEORY. No one is saying that you are wrong if you do not appreciate the THEORY, but you must know the components of it."

This tends to be appreciated by both kids and parents. Even though my science textbooks have "lies" scribbled over all the word "evolution." Kind of scary how passionate people get about it.

[Boxcar]

How could anyone not like Bill Nye? His science shows are informative and interesting.

You've gotton some really good advice. This question is similar to the "Where do babies come from?" issue. I used a standard line for tricky questions like this: "That is a good question. We'll ask your your primary caregiver when s/he picks you up." I fill in the primary caregiver spot with the person's name.

Unfortunately, this isn't esay or possible with older children. You can't throw it back to the families.

I really like the idea of directing students to the library. They don't feel brushed off that way, and they can still come to you for further direction if needed.