Earth's Influence on Humans
Aligned to HS-ESS3-1 — Next Generation Science Standards.
What this lesson teaches
Where and how people live has always been shaped by natural resources, natural hazards, and climate. Fertile soil and fresh water draw settlements, while earthquakes, droughts, and floods push them away or force adaptation.
Worked example
Ancient Egyptian civilization thrived along the Nile because its yearly floods deposited rich soil for farming in an otherwise dry desert. The river was both the resource that fed the population and the climate-driven cycle that dictated when they planted.
Practice questions
- Observe: Major early cities often grew along rivers and coastlines. What resources and hazards might explain that pattern?
- Model: Choose a region and map how one resource, one hazard, and the local climate together shape where people live.
- Explain: A community depends on a river that is starting to run dry from drought. Construct an explanation of how this climate change could reshape their activity.
Watch the lesson
Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.
▶ Watch this lessonEn español
La Tierra influye en los humanos
Dónde y cómo vive la gente siempre ha estado moldeado por los recursos naturales, los peligros naturales y el clima. El suelo fértil y el agua dulce atraen asentamientos, mientras que los terremotos, las sequías y las inundaciones los alejan o los obligan a adaptarse.
Ejemplo: La civilización del antiguo Egipto prosperó a lo largo del Nilo porque sus inundaciones anuales depositaban suelo rico para cultivar en un desierto por lo demás seco. El río era a la vez el recurso que alimentaba a la población y el ciclo climático que dictaba cuándo sembraban.
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