For this assignment, please listen to the following podcast from RadioLab called The Skull.
Then read the following WIRED article.
Reflect on these materials and Write a 1-2 page response to the following questions:
How was the Taung Child skull similar to chimpanzee and how is it similar to modern humans?
Why was the hypothesis that humans originated in Africa rejected in 1925? Where did scientists around 1925 hypothesize where humans originated?
What evidence did people use to hypothesize that humans didn’t originate in Africa? What became of this evidence?
What as one of the original hypotheses about the demise of the Taung-Child?
What scared the vervet monkeys? What is the current hypothesis for what killed the Taung Child? What evidence is there supporting this hypothesis?
How does the WIRED article describe scientific observations of Taung Child’s skull, and it’s influence on our understanding of the prehistoric climate of South Africa?
How do scientists come to understand the world? Reflect on how you come to understand the world around you, is it similar or different to a scientific approach? What might have influenced that for you?
