Emergence of Complex States · SHS1 History

Lesson notes

Learning Objectives

Indicator: 1.2.1.LI.1 - Examine the nature of the earliest human culture in Ghana

By the end of the lesson, learners can:

Describe the lifestyle of the earliest hunter-gatherers in Ghana, including their food, clothing, tools, and shelter, using evidence from archaeological sites.
Identify at least five rock shelter and archaeological sites in Ghana (such as Kintampo, Abetifi, and Begho) and explain what each site reveals about early human life.
Explain how historians and archaeologists use material culture, such as stone tools, pottery shards, and cave art, as evidence to reconstruct the past.
Compare the living conditions of earliest humans in Ghana with life in contemporary Ghanaian society, noting at least three similarities and three differences.
Create a poster or chart that presents findings on earliest human culture, working collaboratively in mixed-gender groups.

This lesson focuses on the first learning objective of the content standard: using relevant historical evidence to reconstruct the emergence of complex human cultures in Pre-Historic Ghana. The material covered here, particularly the nature of early human culture and the use of archaeological evidence, lays the foundation for Week 12, where learners will analyse the Pre-Historic periods in Ghana in more detail.

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Curriculum details

Strand: States and Societies in Pre-Colonial Times (Strand 2)
Sub-strand: Emergence of Complex States (2.1)
Content standard: 1.2.1.CS.1 - Demonstrate understanding of Pre- Historic Ghana. (50, 000 BCE to 700 CE) 1.2.1.LO.1 Use relevant historical evidence to reconstruct the emergence of complex human cultures in Pre-Historic Ghana. 1.2.1.LO.2 Use relevant historical evidence to analyse the diverse migration accounts and draw conclusions on why and how the peoples of Ghana created settlements; recounting the key factors that led to their rise and decline. 1.2.1.LO.3 Use relevant historical sources in the environment to reconstruct the unique socio-cultural, political, and scientific systems of selected indigenous Ghanaian states and kingdoms and compare with contemporary Ghanaian society.
Indicator: 1.2.1.LI.1 - Examine the nature of the earliest human culture in Ghana.
Suggested placement: Semester 1, Week 11 (Week 11 of the year)
Our suggestion, laid out in curriculum order across three terms of twelve weeks. NaCCA does not fix the week, so follow your school's scheme of learning.
Source document note: The official curriculum document has a fault in this entry, so the curriculum text above is transcribed exactly as printed:

indicator text - p.41: the document prints this learning-indicator code as "1.2.1.L1.1" - a digit one where the I of LI belongs. Settled from the file, not from the rendered stroke: the page's content stream draws the code as the TJ operands (1.2.) (1.L1.) (1) with a WinAnsiEncoding simple TrueType font that carries no ToUnicode CMap, so the byte after the L is 0x31, DIGIT ONE; in this face the digit one and the capital I are different outlines with twice the advance width (1024 against 512); and every L1 code run in the document measures 64 px wide against 60 for every LI run of the same length. Filed under LI, which is the document's own code vocabulary (CS|LO|LI|AS)
Curriculum reference: NaCCA curriculum document, p. 41

Exemplars (from the NaCCA curriculum)

Enquiry Routes: How did people live in earliest times in Ghana? What evidence exists in tracing the life and times of earliest human culture in Ghana? How does the study of early material culture help in understanding our place in human history?
Project-Based Learning:
- Learners in pairs, analyse sources (material culture, oral accounts, pictures, etc.) that explain the lifestyle of the first hunter-gatherers of Ghana.
- In mixed-gender groups, learners examine pieces of evidence on the discovery of earliest material culture in rock shelters at present-day Kintampo, Abetifi, Jilik, Kambago, Tusik, Kpatritinga, Gingana, Yilkpabongo, Begho, etc.
Experiential Learning: Learners visit ancient sites and museums to gather 'first-hand' information on earliest human culture in Ghana.
Cooperative Learning: Working cooperatively, learners describe elements of earliest human culture in Ghana including what constituted food, clothing and adornment, tools, foraging and hunting, etc.
Project-Based Learning: In small groups, learners develop a poster that compares the living conditions of earliest humans in Ghana to today's.
Teaching and Learning Resources:
- Primary and secondary source data including photographs, archaeological finds, cave art and paintings, etc.
- Resource person
- Virtual field trips on the Kintampo ancient site and museums
- Internet access
- Computers/ laptops, LCD projector/screen, video/ audio player
Assessment (1.2.1.AS.1). The document marks these depth-of-knowledge levels for this indicator: Level 2 Skills of conceptual understanding; Level 3 Strategic reasoning; Level 4 Extended critical thinking and reasoning.