Teaching my daughters class about stone age v modern age

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nephilim

Settler
Jul 24, 2014
871
0
Bedfordshire
So thanks to my daughter, I've been roped into teaching her class about the difference of stone age equipment and modern age equipment.

Equipment I've decided to bring in.

My recurve bow (will not be strung so it can be passed around and the children can have a look).

My axe and a comparative sized piece of flint (appropriately sheathed).

My flint and steel

My fire steel and striker

Leather bag to hold the flint pieces.

Arrow heads (modern)

Arrow head (flint)

Char cloth

I was thinking about buying jerky and fruit leather to show how food was preserved with smoke and drying. What else do you think I should do? I have 90 minutes to cover.
 

Ogri the trog

Mod
Mod
Apr 29, 2005
7,182
71
60
Mid Wales UK
How about a bag of modern rubbish - the result of our consumer / wasteful society!

To compare with the scant evidence of our ancestors hundreds-of-thousands-of-years of existence.

It doesn't have to stink (though it might add to the effect) for the sake of cleanliness.

ATB

Ogri the trog
 

Tengu

Full Member
Jan 10, 2006
12,776
1,510
51
Wiltshire
Yes, I think you might like to emphasise that the vast majority of stone age artefacts were `not` stone and so are unlikley to survive.
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
Animal, vegetable, mineral. That's all they had.
My house would be more than 1/2 empty if I took out all the plastic (including this keyboard.)
 

Leshy

Full Member
Jun 14, 2016
2,389
57
Wiltshire
You got tools and materials covered...

Diet comparison and nutrition differences is a must as subjects go!
Sugar, protein, fats , Carbohydrates,etc.

foraging, hunting vs shopping

... especially as its such an important topic right now with parents and health advisors, and where we are unfortunately in the middle of a obesity epidemic.
Just my twopence
 

Tengu

Full Member
Jan 10, 2006
12,776
1,510
51
Wiltshire
In Bridges `Uttermost parts of the Earth` he mentions the natives had an insult, that a person was so fat, he couldnt hunt and his wife had to feed him on fish.

So, prehistoric man had plenty of dietary issues, including obesity.

(And of course we note that often obesity was a health benefit, such as with the Polynesians.)
 

nephilim

Settler
Jul 24, 2014
871
0
Bedfordshire
So the lesson was a ripping success. The teacher is going to see if the other classes in the keystage group would be interested with what I have shown today.

I'd love to have had more time, but I got them to try a flint and steel, and a modern striker, which many had trouble with both.

I took the bow in, and used it to show them just how big they are, and the bow was bigger than all the children.

Also showed my axes, and compared them to stone tools via the teachers whiteboard.

Also took in fresh picked conkers, apples, raspberries, and various herbs found on the journey.

The children loved it because it was an interesting and interactive lesson, they could hold the various tools and materials.

The teacher took lots of pictures which may be put on the school website.
 

nephilim

Settler
Jul 24, 2014
871
0
Bedfordshire
Yes she is year 3 :) was hard stuff, but they loved it. Learning about the flint and steel, iron pyrites, and bow drill methods, as well as stone tools like arrows, adze, axe etc.
 

northumbriman

Member
Jul 15, 2010
31
0
Prudhoe
Show them the human population size from stone age period compared to today. Estimates for the stone age are 1-10 million people current figures are around 7.5 billion. It will help them understand the immense pressure that the human population is placing on the environment. If you are going to discuss foraging compared to shopping it will also be important to point out that humans can no longer provide for their needs via hunter gatherer and rely on factory farming and highly technical food production to meet the food needs we have now.
 

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