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Human Origins Exhibit Entrance

What Does It Mean To Be Human?

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It means to learn from past generations and the people around you.

- Alexandra, PSU

To be human is to be made in the image of God.

- Skylar, Maryland

never going to give you up, never going to let you down.

- Rick roll, everywhere

Being Human means being able to think and reason individually ,to have emotion,To seek knowledge and perfection..To be imperfect.

- John Hardesty, California

To be Human is to be simple and complex. It is to be understanding and compassionate. A tool for Love. An extension of the Universe.

- Lumen, Tampa, FL

First of all, being human means that we can live easier than other wild animals. We don't have to struggle to find food or catch prey in order to survive. We have markets to buy the daily necessities and the food we want to eat. Because we can walk uprigh

- Zhijing, China

To be a human means to be able to take in information, and be able to pass it down from generation to generation.

- Alexa, Maine

What it means to be human is to be alive and healthy. Also good because that is the reason why we are alive living and happy about being human. Being love and being able to love one another in the world.

- Josiah, SDSCPA

Isn't it illegal to make beer . We are probably the only species that can be arrested for walking down the wrong side of the street.

- Brandon, Westport, WA

It means I can imagine I'm a horse with my friends.

- Olivia, age 4, Palatine, IL

To have the ability to completely wipe out a species, and almost, create a new one.

- Bryce Nurding, Astoria OR

El "ser humano" quiere referirse a la capacidad de razonamiento y el habilidoso aprendizaje que se obtiene a través el estudio y crecimiento continuo, esta educado para adaptar un espacio de armonía y convivencia con otros de su misma clase.

- YERLI GERALDIN PEREZ VILLALBA, Girardot-Cundinamarca/Universidad de Cundinamarca 102

Featured Research

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image of Homo floresiensis; LB1, skeleton

'Hobbits' on Flores, Indonesia

New digs and geological dating in Liang Bua Cave, Indonesia, show that Homo floresiensis, nicknamed the “hobbit” for its small size, became extinct around 50,000 years ago – tens of thousands of years earlier than originally thought.

For Teachers

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AP Biology Curriculum Materials

Are you an AP Biology teacher? Click here for freely downloadable curriculum materials aligned to the AP learning objectives that use human case studies to teach core evolutionary principles and a resource to help teachers create a comfortable and supportive classroom environment for teaching evolution.

Lesson Plans

Comparison of Human and Chimp Chromosomes (Grades 9-12)

Investigating Common Descent: Formulating Explanations and Models (Grades 9-12)

Human Evolution: Religious Perspectives

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The Hall of Human Origins offers a welcoming place to explore one of the most exciting areas of science, the study of human evolution. Despite strong public interest in the science, however, many people find this topic troubling when viewed from a religious perspective. Representatives of diverse religious communities encourage a larger, more respectful understanding of both the scientific evidence and religious belief.

Featured Media

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Rock or stone tool

How To Tell a Rock from a Stone Tool

How can you tell if a rock is actually an early stone tool? Watch this video to find out.

Video Thumbnail of Rick Potts from "Designing the Exhibition"

Designing the Exhibition

This video takes you behind-the-scenes into the process of designing and building the Smithsonian's Hall of Human Origins.

Fun Facts

Our eyes say it!

Compared to other primates, humans have huge ‘whites of the eyes’, or sclera. This means that humans can easily read each other’s gaze. In experiments, great ape infants usually follow a gaze only when the experimenter also turns his head. But human infants follow the gaze when the experimenter moves only his eyes. The whites of our eyes may help a lot in communicating with one another.