Unit 02

Question 1

Recognize the decreasing link over time between humans and their ecological environment

Answer 1

Movement around the world
Hunter-gatherer to agriculturalists to industrialists
Domestication of fire and animals/plants
Improvement of technological skills

Question 2

Present a brief history of early hunter-gatherers; movement, tools and ecological knowledge

Answer 2

Only in the last 10,00 years there has been a change
Domestication of plants and animals
Use stone and metals to create energy outside the body
Spread across the warmer parts of the world and warmer parts of Europe
First made tools of stone then natural glass – used for cutting or hunting
Then moved o metal tools because they were more flexible
Hunter-gatherers were practising ecologists
Learned about food and water resources – distinguish edible, medicinal, ornamental plants
Could survive a range of conditions

Question 3

Describe the history of human impact based on our knowledge of lower Paleolithic, upper Paleolithic and Neolithic ancestors and bronze age societies

Answer 3

Lower paleolithic: hunter-gatherers were scavengers ate as much plant material as they needed and as many animals that they could, the development of primitive chipped stone tools, used controlled fire and domesticated dogs for hunting, started eating fish
Upper Palaeolithic: knew how to make the world better for themselves, farming became more widespread, greater emphasis on the domestication of plants and animals
Neolithic: more sophisticated tools, hunting and gathering became more of a science, evidence of bowls and needles, first steps in controlling the flows of energy
Bronze: appearance of hand-crafted metal tools, surplus food, population increase – changing environment: cutting forests to make meadows and pastures, digging canals

Question 4

List specific human impacts associated with fire, hunting and gathering of early hunter-gatherers

Answer 4

Fire: established grasslands, conversion of forests to grasslands, loss of bird species
Hunting: extinction of animals, loss of herbivores (megafauna)
Gathering: caused disturbances in local areas due to digging, over-harvesting of nuts/acorns, unplanned distribution of plant species, this activity led to agriculture

Question 5

Describe the origins of the agricultural revolution and the domestication of plants and animals

Answer 5

The controlling of the genetics of animal or plant populations by the planned selection of seeds and animals parents
Better for the needs of humans
Agriculture development started in the middle east, central American and south America – domestication spread from these areas
4 lines of evidence for agriculture:
 Species outside their normal range
 Species in higher numbers than usual
 Unnatural sex ratio
 Changes in appearance
 Wolf was likely the first animal to be domesticated (herding, tracking, guarding), then sheep, cattle, pig
May be related to increase in population or climate change
Found in grassland environments  fertile crescent in the middle east

Question 6

Distinguish between pastoral nomadism and shifting cultivation (swidden agriculture) and list reasons why they are often no longer sustainable

Answer 6

Pastoral nomadism: rotational grazing of domesticated herbivores 
	No longer sustainable because:
	Can lead to overgrazing 
	Carrying capacity varies year to year 
	Too many 
Shifting cultivation: shift in the location of cultivated fields over time 
	No longer sustainable because:
	Clearing
	Burning 
	Need time to re-vegetate

Question 7

Identify links between the industrial revolution and changes in agriculture

Answer 7

Increased food demand from population growth

Increased demand for market crops

Question 8

Present a brief history of the industrial revolution linked to increasing human impact on the environment

Answer 8

Increased deforestation; need wood for energy to drive the industry
Cultivation and ploughing shifted the nutrient rich soils from hilltop to valley bottom – erosion
Spatial changes in landscape patterns (drainage systems)
Change in primary source of energy – coal
Started to produce artificial nitrogen to improve soil fertility
Migration from country side to towns and cities – more urban-industrial waste
Increased agricultural output
Air and water quality were degraded

Question 9

List the characteristics of an industrial society

Answer 9

Increasing production and consumption of goods – artificial needs/wants
Increasing dependence on non-renewable resources
Shift from use of natural materials/processes to synthetic materials/technological processes
Increase in the amount of energy used per unit output for transportation, manufacturing, agriculture and heating
Interdependence of national economies and global production systems

Question 10

Link the transitions described in this unit to the human-environment interaction model presented in Unit 1

Answer 10

Population grew and food supplied became more dependable
Focus on resources changes from stone to metals
Source of energy changes
Domestication of biotic resources