By examining history on an individual human scale, we can get an idea of what a day might have been like for people across scales of both time and space. Register to explore the whole course here: https://school.bighistoryproject.com/bhplive?WT.mc_id=Slideshare12202017

1. TEACHER MATERIALS
DAY IN THE LIFE (ANSWER KEY)
Directions: Fill out a day in the life for a person in each of the time periods. You can use the Big History timeline to get a sense of what was happening in each
of those time periods and on each of the continents. If time permits, you might want to go online to do some research to help fill in some details. You may not be
able to find exactly what you’re looking for, but you can infer some of the information. For example, in the Paleolithic era (13,000 BCE), you know that people were
hunter-gatherers, so ask yourself, “What could those people have reasonably been doing at that time? Maybe something to do with hunting and gathering?”
Before you get started, pick a location for each “day in the life.” For example, you might pick an adult female in China, a teenage male in Africa, or a baby
somewhere in Europe. Or, you could do a day in the life of yourself.
Location of person:
Gender of person:
Age of person:
13,000 BCE 1400 CE 1750 CE 1900 CE Today
Dawn Rise early, forage for food,
or eat what was left over
from the day before.
Wake in a tepee. Breakfast and start teaching
school.
Prepare breakfast for the
family.
Go to the gym.
Midday Move around and look for
food.
Clean up the tepee. Two-hour break from
school.
Clean the house, get food
for dinner.
Eat lunch.
Sundown Sit by a fire and cook any
meat that the hunters found
that day.
Play shinny (a game like
field hockey).
Leave school. Prep dinner, but the children
to bed.
Head home from work.
Night Go to bed shortly after dark. Prepare buffalo for dinner. Dinner. Sing songs around the
piano, play games.
Watch TV and eat dinner.
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 9.0 ACTIVITY
United States
Female
36

2. Name: Date:
STUDENT MATERIALS
DAY IN THE LIFE
Directions: Fill out a day in the life for a person in each of the time periods. You can use the Big History timeline to get a sense of what was happening in each
of those time periods and on each of the continents. If time permits, you might want to go online to do some research to help fill in some details. You may not be
able to find exactly what you’re looking for, but you can infer some of the information. For example, in the Paleolithic era (13,000 BCE), you know that people were
hunter-gatherers, so ask yourself, “What could those people have reasonably been doing at that time? Maybe something to do with hunting and gathering?”
Before you get started, pick a location for each “day in the life.” For example, you might pick an adult female in China, a teenage male in Africa, or a baby
somewhere in Europe. Or, you could do a day in the life of yourself.
Location of person:
Gender of person:
Age of person:
13,000 BCE 1400 CE 1750 CE 1900 CE Today
Dawn
Midday
Sundown
Night
BIG HISTORY PROJECT / LESSON 9.0 ACTIVITY