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Human Origins Exhibit Entrance

What Does It Mean To Be Human?

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To be human is to learn and build off knowledge from present and deceased generations. Essentially, to have continuous growth in thought.

- Paul, University of Maryland, College Park

Respecting the diverse cultures that we each come from.

- Kimberly, Wright

To be human means to evolve and become a better society. It also means we have to figure out the natural world

- Josh, California

Being a human means sharing your qualities with the world as you build bridges across differences.

- Tricia Nicole, Los Banos, Laguna, PHL 4030

To be human means to follow the rules of life and live in a system. It means to understand how things work in society, and knowing where you stand. However, being human really isn't that exciting. We are just mammals with brains and disposable thumbs

- Morgan, Indiana

To be human for many people all throughout the world, could mean to experience hardships. Whether you are fighting for your country, or just fighting for food, water, and shelter, many people experience hardships, but that does not make less human.

- Lynsey, Kentucky

capacity of opposing the thumb to any other digit of same hand

- Mario Blanco, west palm beach,florida

For love. To create, build, share, grow, live, strive, all in love. This is what builds the connection others, coming from the heart. We need one another in this life. So, give your friends and family a hug today, keep spreading love!

- Kate, Louisville, Kentucky

No clue

- John, Lol

creatures whose consciousness leads us to believe we are separate from and superior to the rest of the beings and other forms of matter.

- Brian, Gaithersburg, MD

To be human is to be able to feel the pain in your chest, yet also be able to feel the joy and adrenaline running through your veins.

- Mina Dang, A Middle School in Minnesota

Blessed to be alive and imperfect and to be given the opportunity to improve and be forgiven daily.

- Sue, USA

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

How strong are we?

The bones of human ancestors were very strong, able to withstand powerful muscular activity. But about 12,000 years ago, people began to develop agriculture and started living in permanent settlements. It was then beneficial to evolve smaller muscles and lighter bones that didn’t require as much energy to grow and maintain.