Early Development of World Agriculture

Subject : Agricultural Science

Term : Third Term

Week : Week 5

Class : jss 3, Year 9

Topic : Early Development of World Agriculture

Average age :  12

Behavior Objectives :  By the end of the lesson, learners will be able to be able to

a) to say the stages of early development of world agriculture

Instructional materials : Wall charts, textbooks, pictures on card boards, flash cards

Content :

Early Development of World Agriculture

CONTENTS: 1. Periods of Agricultural Development

• Introduction
• The Paleolithic era
• The Mesolithic era
• The Neolithic era

2.The Agrarian (Agric) Revolution.

Sub-Topic 1: PERIODS OF AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

The history of agriculture is as old as man. The early man moved from place to place to gather food and clothing from wild plants and the skin of animals. The early men began to catch and tame some of the animals. They also learned how to plant and cultivate some crops such as rice, barley and wheat. This was the beginning of growing crops and domestication of animals.

Early development of world agriculture is divided into three eras (periods):

2 Mesolithic Era (8000-7000 BC

3 Neolithic Era or New Stone Age (7000-6500 BC) .

1 Paleolithic Era or Old Stone Age (9000-8000BC)

This era is also known as Old Stone Age .This is the period when humans were cave and food gatherers for almost five million years , the food they ate were vegetables, tasty insect larvae and small reptiles.

2 The Mesolithic Era (8000-7000 BC )

This period is known as middle stone age .It was the period between the Paleolithic Period and Neolithic Period, humans were still gathering food, living by hunting, fishing, and collecting fruits, berries, nuts and other edible plants .The Mesolithic hunter achieved a greater efficiency than the Paleolithic and was able to exploit a wider range of animal and vegetable food sources.

3.The Neolithic Era (7000-6500BC)

The Neolithic Era is also known as New Stone Age and characterized by the following features:

i) Settled village life.

ii) The art of processing by grinding.

iii) Development of

elementary agriculture.

Historically, agriculture originated Near East, as men were hunting for the animals the women were gathering fruits. Some animals were kept and later gave birth to young ones, also some of the fruits that were thrown away later germinated and bore fruits, through that women learnt that fruits and other crops could be cultivated. People commonly believed that the early development of agriculture was incidental and not deliberate.

Early men began to observe that plants grew better when the ground were broken .They were using crude digging sticks to break the ground for cultivation of crops. Wooden plough was later developed (a crooked stick that one man held in position while one or two other men dragged through the soil). Later, horses, oxen, and other work animals were trained to pull ploughs. Early men and women who were practicing settled agriculture developed villages. The early people that lived in settled village Near East cultivated crops such as wheat, barley, and pears.

Agriculture stated in many places such as Palestine Switzerland, Great Britain, Syria, the Mediterranean , Iraq ,Iran ,Arabia, Kenya ,Tibet and Egypt before Nigeria and Ghana.

SUB-TOPIC: 2

Sub-Topic 2: AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION (1700-1986) (Agrarian Revolution)

Agricultural revolution started in the 1700s and 1800s in Europe, particularly in Britain .This is when humans gradually developed mechanized agriculture.

People who played major roles in agricultural revolution:

(a).Jethro Tull: He invented the horse-drawn cultivator for tilling the soil and drill for planting seeds.

b).Charlestown Shed: He was the first person to introduce turnips and other root crops and how to cultivate them in a better way by rotating them in the farm.

C).Cyrus Hall McCormick:  He invented the horse-drawn reaper machine in 1931. It was an improvement over the horse drawn plough invented by Tull. The McCormick machines was faster than the horse drawn cultivator.

D}.Robert Bakewell: He was an animal breeder who carried out pioneer work genetic. He was one of the first animal breeders to breed both sheep and cattle for meat. Through his work, the world learnt about cross-breeding of animals of the same species.

American businessmen invented

meat-peaking plants to process farm products. After World War I between 1914 and 1918, American farmers began to use tractors and tractor-drawn machines for cultivation of crops, through these machines, American farmers achieved high agricultural production.

The use of electricity began as source of power between 1930-1940.There are various machines such as tractor-pulled/drawn machines which can reap (harvest), thresh grains in one single operation, spread fertilizer and harvest cotton, rice, corn.etc.

Farm inputs such as herbicides, fertilizers and insecticides are used extensively in most parts of the world to increase crop yields by reducing losses due to crop and livestock pests, diseases and weeds. As a result of all these advances in agriculture, it is easy to cultivate large areas of land to produce enough food for the rapidly increasing world population.

Presentation

Step one :The class teacher revises the previous topics

Step two : The class teacher introduces the new topic

Step three : He or she arouse the pupils interest by making the class alive, warm and interesting by making use of various instructional materials like pictures on books or cardboard or making online reference with phones, laptop or desktop computer

EVALUATION:

1 Mention the characteristics of new Stone Age.

2. Mention three divisions of early development of world agriculture.

3. Mention two people and the roles they played in agricultural revolution.

Objective Test:

1 The Mesolithic Era period was from…………A .6000-800BC B. 8000-7000BC C. 1996-2007AD D. 8000-8000BC E. 2000-2009AD

2 The Paleolithic Era was also called ………..A. The Old Stone Age B.The New Age C.The Past Age D.The New Stone Age E. The Coming Age .

3. The Jethro Tull invented the horse-drawn cultivator for…………

A. cutting down trees B. Tilling the soil C. carrying goats D. Harvesting maize E. milking cow.

4 Which machines did American farmers use for growing crops after the first World War between 1914- 1918? A. Combined harvester B. Boom sprayers C. Tractor and tractor drawn machines D. Scissors E. Seed planters.

5. The early humans who practiced settled agriculture developed………..

A. cities B. villages’ C. aero plane D. boats E. television sets

Conclusion : The class teacher gives out a summary of the note on the board and he goes round to mark ‘

He or she also doe the necessary corrections