Early Humans & the Agricultural Revolution
Aligned to C3.D2.His.1 — C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.
What this lesson teaches
For most of the Stone Age, people were nomadic hunter-gatherers who followed food and made tools of stone. Around 10,000 BCE, farming and herding began — the Neolithic (Agricultural) Revolution — letting people settle in one place, store surplus food, and specialize in jobs beyond food-getting.
Worked example
At Catalhoyuk in modern Turkey, farmers around 7000 BCE lived in tightly packed mud-brick houses, stored grain, and kept animals — one of the world's first permanent farming towns, home to thousands of people who no longer wandered to survive.
Practice questions
- What is the difference between a hunter-gatherer and a farmer?
- Explain how a food surplus let some people take up new jobs like potter or priest.
- Farming gave more food but also brought new problems, such as disease and warfare over land. Was the shift to farming worth these costs? Defend your answer.
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
Los Primeros Humanos y la Revolucion Agricola
Durante casi toda la Edad de Piedra, la gente era nomada, cazadora y recolectora, seguia a los alimentos y fabricaba herramientas de piedra. Hacia el ano 10,000 a.C. comenzaron la agricultura y la ganaderia —la Revolucion Neolitica (Agricola)— lo que permitio a las personas establecerse en un lugar, almacenar excedentes de alimentos y dedicarse a oficios distintos de la busqueda de comida.
Ejemplo: En Catalhoyuk, en la actual Turquia, hacia el ano 7000 a.C. los agricultores vivian en casas de adobe muy juntas, almacenaban grano y criaban animales: uno de los primeros pueblos agricolas permanentes del mundo, hogar de miles de personas que ya no vagaban para sobrevivir.
More History lessons
Teach this lesson today
An AI tutor that guides with questions instead of just giving answers — all K–12 core subjects, every child in the family.
Start free — no card required