Hunter-Gatherers of the Paleolithic Age — Practice · Grade 6 Social Studies

Chapter: Early Humans & the Neolithic Revolution

What this practice covers

By the end of Hunter-Gatherers of the Paleolithic Age you should be able to:

10 questions, written answer, each with a worked explanation.

Vocabulary used: Paleolithic Age, hunter-gatherer, nomad, technology, migration.

Problem 1

Understand foraging as skilled work. Were all foragers continuously wandering?
Answer and explanation

No. Mobility and settlement varied with resources, seasons and social arrangements.

No. Mobility and settlement varied with resources, seasons and social arrangements.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 2

Interpret material evidence. Does no surviving wooden tool prove none existed?
Answer and explanation

No. Wood can decay; the material record is incomplete.

No. Wood can decay; the material record is incomplete.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 3

Explain adaptation without a progress ladder. Why compare multiple sites and dates?
Answer and explanation

They reveal regional variation and sequence instead of assuming one site represents all humans.

They reveal regional variation and sequence instead of assuming one site represents all humans.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 4

Build an evidence-limited reconstruction. What would strengthen a hunting interpretation?
Answer and explanation

Relevant marks, associated tools, context and repeated patterns, not one isolated bone.

Relevant marks, associated tools, context and repeated patterns, not one isolated bone.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 5

Give two supported possibilities and a conclusion that would overreach.
Answer and explanation

Repeated activity and skilled resource use are plausible; seasonal remains may suggest repeated visits. The evidence alone does not establish an exact language, family structure or a claim of low intelligence.

Repeated activity and skilled resource use are plausible; seasonal remains may suggest repeated visits. The evidence alone does not establish an exact language, family structure or a claim of low intelligence.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 6

Write a three-sentence museum or atlas label explaining this case. Include what is directly supported, one inference and one limit.
Answer and explanation

Repeated activity and skilled resource use are plausible; seasonal remains may suggest repeated visits. The evidence alone does not establish an exact language, family structure or a claim of low intelligence. The label must identify its evidence and avoid turning a model into an authentic artifact.

Repeated activity and skilled resource use are plausible; seasonal remains may suggest repeated visits. The evidence alone does not establish an exact language, family structure or a claim of low intelligence. The label must identify its evidence and avoid turning a model into an authentic artifact.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 7

A writer claims the supplied case proves the same thing happened everywhere in the Eastern Hemisphere. Repair the scope and identify a useful next comparison.
Answer and explanation

Repeated activity and skilled resource use are plausible; seasonal remains may suggest repeated visits. The evidence alone does not establish an exact language, family structure or a claim of low intelligence. Limit the conclusion to the named evidence; compare a different dated setting using the same categories before widening it.

Repeated activity and skilled resource use are plausible; seasonal remains may suggest repeated visits. The evidence alone does not establish an exact language, family structure or a claim of low intelligence. Limit the conclusion to the named evidence; compare a different dated setting using the same categories before widening it.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 8

Which source or observation would most improve this explanation? Explain the information it could add and a limitation it would still have.
Answer and explanation

No. Wood can decay; the material record is incomplete. A useful new source addresses the missing information directly. Explain its provenance, access or scale; do not assume a second source answers every question.

No. Wood can decay; the material record is incomplete. A useful new source addresses the missing information directly. Explain its provenance, access or scale; do not assume a second source answers every question.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 9

Using the assigned chapter reader, connect this topic to another named society or period. Give one similarity and one difference using matched categories.
Answer and explanation

Use two specifically located details from the chapter reader and distinguish period, source purpose and scale. Relevant marks, associated tools, context and repeated patterns, not one isolated bone.

Use two specifically located details from the chapter reader and distinguish period, source purpose and scale. Relevant marks, associated tools, context and repeated patterns, not one isolated bone.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 10

Revise your response to the whole-unit case after checking the fourth teaching part. State exactly what you changed and why.
Answer and explanation

Repeated activity and skilled resource use are plausible; seasonal remains may suggest repeated visits. The evidence alone does not establish an exact language, family structure or a claim of low intelligence. The revision note must quote or reproduce the changed claim and explain its improved accuracy.

Repeated activity and skilled resource use are plausible; seasonal remains may suggest repeated visits. The evidence alone does not establish an exact language, family structure or a claim of low intelligence. The revision note must quote or reproduce the changed claim and explain its improved accuracy.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

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