First Steps Film Assignment Essay Example for Free

First Steps Film Assignment EssayThe following(a) assignment is based on the film Becoming Human Episode 1 First Steps. You whitethorn access the film in the following ways 1. It is avail fit for free on the PBS website at the following address http//video.pbs.org/video/1312522241/2. It is available instantly through Netflix (where you may temporarily set up a free account for a few weeks if you are non a member).Please lend oneself complete sentences to answer the following questions and type your answers on this form. You should lay out this assignment to the First Steps dropbox victimisation the Assignments tab by Sun 4/1 at 1159 P.M. Please submit this file as a .doc, .docx, .rtf, or .pdf file. Please do not use the .pages extension because PCs laughingstocknot go around it.1. Where is the Afar located?Afar is one of the nine Regional States of Ethiopia and is located in north east Africa. It is a part of the great rift valley (deep cut in earth where geological for ces are ripping Africa apart).2. How did researchers figure out how old the Selam fogey was?Clues to the age of the fossil came from key features in the landscape such as the white bands of volcanic ash that dated 3.4 million years ago. If the white bands of volcanic ash are 3.4 million years old then the fossil must be younger because it was institute above it. Therefore, the fossil was rough 3.3 million years old.3. How did researchers figure out how old the fossil child Selam was when she died? How old was she?Researchers looked at Selams teeth in influence to find out how old she was when she died. They did not look at the baby teeth that were visible in her jaw they looked her adult teeth that were evolution inside the bone. From that observation researchers know Selam died when she was three years old.4. What are the human-like components of the Lucy skeleton? What are the ape-like components?Lucky had two human-like and ape-like components. From the waist down lucy wa s like man and from the waist up she was like apes. She walked upright like humans and her pelvis bone resembled those of a human. Lucys greater trochanter was short and human-like. Her skeleton showed evidence of small skull capacity equivalent to apes. 5. What was the ancient environment of the australopithecines like? How does it change by 3-4 million years ago?Researchers have found that Seguda Valley went through a huge transformation. It was once covered entirely of water, up to an elevation of approximately 580 meters. The valley was filled with a great lake that was steeper than any of the great lakes. The entire African untainted used to be a lot wetter than it is present day. Long ago, before even Selam and Lucys creative activity Africa was a wet tropical environment covered with rainfall forest. Eventually Africa began to dry out out and the rain forests shrank. During Selams existence, 3-4 million years ago, Africa was a mosaic of incompatible environments. Resea rchers know that from the fossils that live there, they tell a novel of a vanished landscape. Fossils of creatures like a pig and hippopotamus. Today it is a vast expanse of volcanic careen and burning desert.6. What are some of the different hypotheses presented in the film for why bipedalism emerged?One theory is that the mammals stood up to be able to see over tall grass. Second theory is that they stood up to be able to pick fruit off low branches of trees. (The way chimpanzees do today.) Third theory is that they stood up to placid to a greater extent efficiently. Not as much sun beating on the body. * Most compelling dead reckoning is that it saved us energy.7. What is the molecular clock and how is it used to determine when two species last shared out a putting green ancestor?It is a simple idea that the rate of change in DNA sequences is more or less constant over time a way of determining if and when two species shared a common ancestor. By counting the differences in the genetic code between chimps and humans researchers can calculate how long they have been evolving away from each-other. (5-7 years ago humans and apes shared a common ancestor.)8. What is the clue that the Toumai fossil (Sahelanthropus tchadensis) is bipedal?The vital clue that the Toumai fossil is bipedal is how the skull connects to the spine. Researcher Michele could confer that by the shape of Toumais skull. If the skull is placed on a neck of an ape that walks on all fours its eyes superman down ward (not correct). If the skull is placed on an upright spine of a biped its eyes office straight ahead for Michele this proved that Toumai walked upright.9. How are the first stone tools identifiable as tools? Who is currently belief to be the first stone tool maker?The first stone tools were broken in a very particular way there is a method behind how the rocks were broken in order to make it into a tool. Homo habilis (1.6-2.5 million years ago) are thought to be the first stone tool makers.10. What is Rick Potts idea about the role of climate in hominid adaptation? How is it different from traditional ideas?Rick Potts observations let him to the new idea, rapid change as a catalyst for our evolution.11. What was firing on with the African climate when Homo habilis evolved?Africa had numerous climate changed from wet to dry, wet to dry, wet to dry all within approximately a thousand years.