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Teaches how early humans learned to grow their own food and what happened when they had extra.
Imagine if you had to spend every single minute of your day searching for berries or chasing animals for food. What would you do if you suddenly had a giant pile of extra food and didn't have to worry about your next meal?
Long ago, the first humans were hunter-gatherers. This means they spent all their time moving around to find wild plants and hunt animals. Everything changed when they discovered agriculture, which is the practice of planting seeds and raising animals. Instead of searching for food, they could grow it in one place! To do this, they used simple tools. They started with a digging stick to poke holes in the ground. Later, they invented the hoe, a tool with a flat blade used to break up soil and clear away weeds. These tools made it much easier to grow a lot of food at once.
Quick Check
What was the name of the tool early farmers used to break up soil and clear weeds?
Answer
The hoe.
When farmers became really good at using their tools, they grew more food than they could eat. This extra amount is called a surplus. Imagine your family needs 10 baskets of corn to survive the winter, but you grow 15 baskets. Those 5 extra baskets are your surplus! Having a surplus was like a superpower for early villages. It meant that not everyone had to be a farmer anymore. Because there was plenty of food to go around, some people could stop farming and start doing other things they were good at.
Quick Check
If a village grows 20 baskets of beans but only needs 15, how many baskets are in their surplus?
Answer
5 baskets.
Because of the surplus, people began to have different jobs. This is called specialization. Instead of everyone planting seeds, some people became potters who made clay jars to store the extra grain. Others became weavers who made clothes from wool, or builders who made stronger houses. They would trade their work for the extra food the farmers grew. This was the beginning of organized towns and cities! People were no longer just survivors; they were creators and inventors.
In a village with a surplus, people trade skills: 1. A farmer has a surplus of bags of rice. 2. A potter has made new clay bowls but has no food. 3. The farmer gives the rice to the potter. 4. The potter gives the bowls to the farmer. 5. Now, the farmer has bowls to hold water, and the potter has food to eat!
Imagine a village wants to grow even more food. A specialist called a toolmaker decides to improve the wooden hoe. 1. They find a sharp, flat stone. 2. They use strong vines to tie the stone to a long stick. 3. This new stone hoe is stronger than the wooden one. 4. Because the tool is better, the farmer can clear the field in half the time, leading to an even bigger surplus next year!
What does the word 'surplus' mean?
Why was a food surplus important for early civilizations?
Early farmers used tractors and engines to plant their seeds.
Review Tomorrow
Tomorrow morning, try to explain to a family member what a 'surplus' is using your favorite snack as an example.
Practice Activity
Draw a picture of an early farming tool (like a hoe) and then draw a picture of a job someone might do if they didn't have to farm (like a potter or a builder).