Where do we come from?
Ask your student about Lucy. We kind of love her.
This is the question I posed to Grade 6 on the first day of Humanities class almost six weeks ago. This is Humanities at it best–thinking big about the ideas that shape our world. During this first unit of the school year, I’ve asked the students to consider this question from many different angles. We began with creation stories from cultures as far apart as ancient Japan and the Holy Land and looked at how these tales of human origin were simultaneously quite similar and very different. Since then we’ve moved on to the more conventional scientific understanding of genetic mutation and evolution. Australopithecus, homo habilis, homo erectus, Neanderthals, etc. The gang’s all here.
Through it all I’ve been very impressed with the critical thinking skills exhibited by the students. Provocative questions are a daily occurrence and they’ve kept me on my toes. We had an excellent discussion about the practicalness and ethics of DNA manipulation by scientists.
Most recently we’ve been wondering about the future of humankind. Are we still evolving? If so, is there any way to predict what we might look like in a millenium? What might our capabilities be? [If you, too, are wondering about that, click here for an interesting website.]
Congratulations to grade 6 on a great beginning in Humanities class. I look forward to a year of asking big questions and hearing thoughtful responses from the students.