BHP Lesson 26: The Rise of Agriculture

The invention of farming about 12,000 years ago meant that humans finally stopped chasing their food and settled down to farm! This gave us vast new food and energy resources, which dramatically changed the way we lived.

Driving Question: Why was agriculture so important?

  • As we discussed last week, the life of a forager was consumed with finding sources of food and water, but about 12,000 years ago, all that began to change. As these societies began to grow plants like wild wheat near their homes and domesticate wild cattle, life changed dramatically. For the first time in history we stopped chasing our food and settled down to farm! How did the invention of agriculture change our lives? 

Word of the Day: Agriculture

  • Definition: The practice of cultivating the land or raising livestock.
  • When humans first began to practice agriculture about 12,000 years ago, not only were their lives transformed, the surface of the Earth was transformed as well. Humans were no longer forced to move from place to place in search of food. They could settle down in one place, and they could produce more food than they needed in that place, resulting in human population growth. 

Lesson

  • Go to Khan Academy and read David Christian’s article, “Collective Learning: Part 2.” 
  • We learned last week that collective learning distinguishes humans from other species. Agriculture amplified our collective learning! In this article, think about the importance of agriculture to the growth of networks—and how that increased our ability to innovate and share knowledge over time.

Historian’s Journal Prompt

  • How has the coronavirus pandemic affected agriculture?
  • Farming might not seem like a big deal today. After all, farmers only make up a little over 1% of the US labor force. This holds true in most developed countries, where farmers constitute less than 5% of all workers. Advances in technology (thanks collective learning!) allow us to produce more food on less land with less labor. Yet, farmers are essential! Think about and research the effect this pandemic has on farmers, migrant laborers, meat processing factories, and agribusiness. 
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