Feet are neat! So, if you've already walked the path of examining animal footprints with your class, put them in the shoes of early humans! A well-designed lesson incorporates video, discussion, and hands-on learning to demonstrate how humans have evolved. Junior paleontologists leave their mark on their own versions of the Laetoli trackway and finish by comparing and contrasting them to the originals.

Concepts

footprints, primates, human ancestry, early humans, fossil records, making observations, making inferences, africa

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Watch the video as a class, then work together through the discussion questions
• Make the activity the culmination of a study of the fossil record or evolution
  

Classroom Considerations

• Print and laminate class copies of the Laetoli trackway ahead of time, one for each pair of students
• Enlist the help of volunteers for setting up your class' version of the trackway, so it's in place when the class begins
  

Pros

• Recreating the Laetoli trackway in the classroom is engaging and impactful
• The resource does an excellent job of reinforcing observation and inference skills
• Introduction video is interesting and sure to capture the class's attention!
  

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.9-10.2