Early Human Evolution: Web Expeditions

These explorations are intended to expand your understanding of the evolution of the earliest humans and the world in which they lived. Use your favorite Internet search programs to roam around the World Wide Web and discover what other people who have interest in these subjects have said to explain and support their views. Seek out reliable, factual sources. Do not stop at just two or three. It is worth the extra time to thoroughly research these questions and get views on all sides of the issues.

Questions to Explore

1.	Search the Internet for announcements of early hominin discoveries made during the last several years. Where were they found? When did they live? What were their species? What new things do the discoverers say we have learned from these fossils?
2.	Look on the Internet for information that would support or reject the view that there were more than one species of early humans before Homo erectus. Who is making the claims? What is their evidence?
3.	During the last decade, there has been new evidence that Homo erectus migrated out of Africa by about 1.8 million years ago. This is many hundreds of thousands of years earlier than previously assumed. Search for information on the Internet that supports this early African exodus model. Describe the evidence. If you can find it, include the opinions of professional paleoanthropologists concerning the reliability of the evidence.

Help Getting Started

If you have not been satisfied with the search programs that you have used in the past, try one of the following. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately, none of them can link you to everything available on the Web today because of the rapid growth of sites and the way search engines selectively exclude certain kinds of sites.

Old Standby General Search Programs		Specialized Information Search Programs

Altavista Alltheweb Bing Google Teoma Yahoo		Answers.com MyOptumHealth MedBot MEDLINEplus OminMedicalSearch Wikipedia

If you don't have success searching with these programs, take a look at the Related Internet Links section of this tutorial.

CAUTION: In doing your searches, keep in mind that not everything on the Web is accurate, current, or true. To help discover which sites can be trusted and which ones cannot, ask yourself the following questions:

1.	Who are the authors of the site? What are their credentials? Are they experts?
2.	Is the information current? When was the website created and last updated?
3.	Do the facts presented in the site seem correct?
4.	Is the purpose of the site to objectively inform and explain or to persuade and sell a particular perspective?