August 13, 2013

CW 1.4: Jared Diamonds The Worst Mistake

Page 1

Do First (3 minutes) and Share Out (2 minutes)

According to Jared Diamond, what was the worst mistake in history? Explain your answer.
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Lesson Overview (1 minute)
Objective: SWBAT analyze a contemporary research article (Jared Diamonds The Worst Mistake in the History
of the Human Race) in order to identify its thesis
Mastery: In order to master this objective, you will need to write a thesis on this prompt:
Agriculture was (or was not) the worst mistake in human history.
Agenda (1 minute)

Do First and Share Out (5 minutes)

Lesson Overview and Agenda (2 minutes)
Key Ideas (5 minutes)
Article Review (15 minutes)
Classroom Discussion: (13 minutes)
Thesis Writing (5 minutes)
Exit Ticket (5 minutes)

Key Ideas (3 minutes)

1. Jared Diamond argues that agriculture was a
mistake and that humans were better off as
hunter-gatherers.
2. The negative effects of agriculture include:
a. Poorer nutrition
b. Greater risk of starvation if crops fail
c. Diseases spread more easily in
permanent settlements
d. A patriarchal social order came into
existence

3. Diamond argues the hunter-gatherer lifestyle

was better because they:
a. Worked fewer hours
b. Had better nutrition
c. Avoided the social ills that plagued
agricultural societies
4. Diamond ultimately argues that huntergatherers chose agriculture to increase their
population at the expense of their quality of
life.

August 13, 2013

CW 1.4: Jared Diamonds The Worst Mistake

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Article Review (15 minutes)

Archaeologists studying the rise of farming have reconstructed a crucial stage at which we made the worst
mistake in human history. Forced to choose between limiting population or trying to increase food production,
we chose the latter and ended up with starvation, warfare, and tyranny.
Hunter-gatherers practiced the most successful and longest-lasting life style in human history. In contrast,
we're still struggling with the mess into which agriculture has tumbled us, and it's unclear whether we can
solve it.

Using the above excerpt, your knowledge of social studies and your text, respond to the following question:

1. What is the central argument that Jared Diamond makes in the above excerpt (and in the article)?
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There are at least three sets of reasons to believe the findings that agriculture was bad for health. First,
hunter-gatherers enjoyed a varied diet, while early farmers obtained most of their food from one or a few
starchy crops. The farmers gained cheap calories at the cost of poor nutrition, (today just three highcarbohydrate plants -- wheat, rice, and corn -- provide the bulk of the calories consumed by the human
species, yet each one is deficient in certain vitamins or amino acids essential to life.) Second, because of
dependence on a limited number of crops, farmers ran the risk of starvation if one crop failed. Finally, the
mere fact that agriculture encouraged people to clump together in crowded societies, many of which then
carried on trade with other crowded societies, led to the spread of parasites and infectious disease.
Epidemics couldn't take hold when populations were scattered in small bands that constantly shifted camp.

August 13, 2013

CW 1.4: Jared Diamonds The Worst Mistake

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Using the above excerpts, your knowledge of social studies and your text, respond to the following question:
2. According to Diamond, what are the negative effects of agriculture on human life?
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For instance, the average time devoted each week to obtaining food is only 12 to 19 hours for one group of
Bushmen, 14 hours or less for the Hadza nomads of Tanzania. One Bushman, when asked why he hadn't
emulated neighboring tribes by adopting agriculture, replied, "Why should we, when there are so many
mongongo nuts in the world?"
While farmers concentrate on high-carbohydrate crops like rice and potatoes, the mix of wild plants and
animals in the diets of surviving hunter-gatherers provides more protein and a better balance of other
nutrients. In one study, the Bushmen's average daily food intake (during a month when food was plentiful)
was 2,140 calories and 93 grams of protein, considerably greater than the recommended daily allowance for
people of their size.

Using the above excerpts, your knowledge of social studies and your text, respond to the following question:
3. According to Diamond, what are the benefits of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle?
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August 13, 2013

CW 1.4: Jared Diamonds The Worst Mistake

Page 4

4. Do you agree with Diamonds Thesis? Explain your answer with evidence, either from the text or from
your own experiences and knowledge.
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Classroom Discussion (13 minutes)
The purpose of this discussion is to share your response to question 4 with the class or agree or
disagree with a classmate, providing evidence to support your ideas.
You can use the following sentence stems to begin your comments:
I agree with Diamonds Thesis because
I disagree with Diamonds Thesis because
I agree with what _______ said and I want to give another piece of evidence to prove that what _____ said is
true
I disagree with what _______ said and here is a piece of evidence that proves them wrong
I dont understand exactly what _______ means and I want to ask a question to help me understand

Use the chart below to keep track of who is talking and what they are saying:
Speakers Name

John

Purpose of Comment

Agree with Diamond

Evidence

Farming leads to ...

August 13, 2013

CW 1.4: Jared Diamonds The Worst Mistake

Page 5

Short Answer Response: The Beginnings of Social Inequality (5 minutes)

Write a thesis on the following prompt:

Agriculture was (or was not) the worst mistake in human history.
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The following rubric describes how your thesis will be scored:

Thesis Rubric

Assertion/Topic
Sentence
Evidence
Examples/
Explanations

Partner Eval.
Assertion
Causes
Ex./Explanations

Thesis does not contain an

assertion.
Thesis contains 1 or fewer
pieces of evidence.
One or fewer of the pieces
of evidence is explained or
has examples.

Score

Thesis contains a statement

that responds to the prompt
but it is not arguable.
Thesis contains 2 pieces of
evidence.
Two of the pieces of
evidence are explained or
have examples

Thesis contains an arguable

statement that responds to
the prompt.
Thesis contains 3 or more
pieces of evidence
Three or more of the pieces
of evidence are explained or
have examples.

What evidence do you see for this score?