First Steps Through First Steps Through AmericaAmerica

Mrs. Gladimar De Jesús

Social Studies

Subject 1: Welcome, First Settlers!Welcome, First Settlers!

When first settlers arrived, American Continent was different from what is now. When America became populated, the Earth was going through a glaciationglaciation.

glaciation – is a period in which glaciers covered a great part of the surface of the planet. glacier – is an enormous block of ice.

Many rivers froze and, as consequence, their water didn’t reach the oceans. Then, the levels of the oceans decreased and many territories were uncovered.

Welcome, First Settlers!Welcome, First Settlers!

The Bering Strait, Bering Strait, located between Asia and North America, was one of those territories.Some animals, such as bison and mammoth, passed through this “bridge of earth”, followed by America’s first settlers. This is one of the most accepted theory.

theory – theory – is an idea or possible explanation that has not been proven yet.

Subject 2: Traces of the PastTraces of the Past

The first settlers lived in small groups called bands, to survive in a difficult environment with gigantic animals.They did not have fixed homes and move from one place to other, following the animals they hunted.These groups are known as nomads, that is people who go from place to place.

Traces of the PastTraces of the Past

Because their main occupation was to obtain food, nomads were gatherers and hunters.

Their weapons were simpler, they mostly employed creativity and collaboration by all the group members.

They slept in caves or built shelters from animal skin and tree branches to protect themselves from cold and rain.

Traces of the PastTraces of the Past

Traces of the PastTraces of the PastNomads went through great changes, they continued to collect and hunt, they learned to differentiate the poisonous fruits from the non-poisonous, at the same time they understood how to control herds o animal. They began to make small farming fields called orchardsorchards, when they discovered that plants grew very well near the rivers. To take care of them, they built houses near them. In this way they became sedentary, sedentary, which means that they had fixed housing, and the group of houses became villages.

Subject 3: The Life of the First SettlersThe Life of the First Settlers

The nomads employed simple tools to collect fruit and hunt animals. They discovered that when they hit the stones, they could shape them.They invented

the crusher, which they used to break down bones.the perforator, which they used to make holes in animal skins.

They perfected arrow points and invented new weapons:

spears

The Life of the First SettlersThe Life of the First Settlers

The Life of the First SettlersThe Life of the First Settlers

Our ancestors also left us mysterious paintings on caves’ walls, known as cave paintings.

On these paintings they represented every day scenes.

They obtained the paint from plants and blood from the same animals they depicted.

The Life of the First SettlersThe Life of the First SettlersFirst settlers used to travel from place to place when food sources ran out. In the course of time while they stayed in one place, they became aware that plants grew from tree seeds they has brought from another place. From watching them grow, they learned were the months for planting and harvesting. Growing orchards or horticulture, became agriculture.First Settlers’ plantations included variety of crops that still today are part of American diet.

cornscassavapeanutscacaopotatoes

The Life of the First SettlersThe Life of the First Settlers

The Life of the First SettlersThe Life of the First Settlers

Together with the agriculture came the domestication of animals.

domesticate – to accustom a wild animal to the company of humans.

This process provided human with a sure source of meat for food, and skins and wool for clothing.

Thanks to agriculture and stockbreeding, the settlers had more free time to engage in other activities.

The Life of the First SettlersThe Life of the First Settlers

The first settlers cooked over stones heated with fire, but later they discovered clay.

clay – is a pasty material that results from the mixture of soil and water.

Because of the need to make pots or plates to cook with, they were led to work with clay.They discovered that if they placed the objects they made over the fire, they would dry faster and more resistant. Thus pottery was born.

pottery – is the art of making vessels or other objects with clay. Also known as ceramics.

The Life of the First SettlersThe Life of the First Settlers

At the same time than pottery, weaving began. The first weavers made fishing nets and baskets with stems and leaves.Later they made simple fabrics with cotton or wool thread. They employed bone and wooden hooks to do this. They invented the loom.

loom – a tool composed of two wooden sticks, one of which was tied with several sticks, while the other was fastened to the waist.

They were able to make more elaborate clothing with it.

Taken from: Social Studies 5 text bookSocial Studies 5 text book, part of Yabisi Project; Ediciones Santillana, Inc.

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