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Broader Social Impacts Committee

The Smithsonian’s Human Origins Initiative has formed the Broader Social Impacts Committee (BSIC), comprised of people from diverse religious communities from around the United States, to assist in public communication and dialogue surrounding the exhibition ‘What Does It Mean To Be Human?’ and outreach efforts in human origins.

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Lesson Plans

Below are well-vetted lesson plans dealing with human evolution that the Understanding Evolution website has generously allowed us to link to. We will continue to post new lesson plans.

Alike but Not the Same (Grades 9-12)

Students conduct a classwide inventory of human traits, construct histograms of the data they collect, and play a brief game that introduces students to major concepts related to human genetic variation and the notion of each individual's uniqueness.

Comparison of Human and Chimp Chromosomes (Grades 9-12)

Students observe that the banding patterns seen on stained chromosomes from humans and chimpanzees show striking similarities. Possible evolutionary relationships are explored, as are the chromosomes and relationships of other apes.

Fossil and Migration Patterns in Early Hominids (Grades 9-12)

Students plot the distribution of major hominid taxa on a world map to hypothesize about the origin and movement of prehuman ancestors.

Investigating Common Descent: Formulating Explanations and Models (Grades 9-12)

Students formulate explanations and models that simulate structural and biochemical data as they investigate the misconception that humans evolved from apes.

It's All in Your Head: An Investigation of Human Ancestry (Grades 9-12)

Students describe, measure and compare cranial casts from contemporary apes, modern humans, and fossil hominids to discover some of the similarities and differences between these forms and to see the pattern leading to modern humans.