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Human Origins Exhibit Entrance

What Does It Mean To Be Human?

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To be human means you walk, you talk, you eat you sleep, you go to school and work, to lie and make mistakes and our clothing you can tell a lot about a person based off their clothes

- Genesis, Louisville Kentucky

It means we have self awareness at a greater level than any other being.

- m, new jersey

To have emotions, to be able to think (have thoughts), to adapt to changes, and to create/invent/innovate.

- John, Rockville, MD, USA

The intellectual capability to form abstract thoughts is what led to our rapid intellectual development, distinguishing us from a common ape

- Kerri Ravas, Poughkeepsie, New York

To have capacity for empathy with members of our own species, and with all species with whom we share this planet.

- Katherine Munson, Berlin, MD

To be Human is Ah-mazing!

- Kelsey, Wisconsin

To be human means to have the ability to grasp complex aspects like evolution, to always dig further about how everything came to be.

- Anna Medrano, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

To feel and to love

- Adrian, 'merica

My name is Selena Mann, I am 19 years old studying psychology at Foothill College. What it means to be human is an interesting question with an abundance of answers. Personally, what I believe it means to be human is having to endure absurd amounts of bur

- Selena Mann, Fremont, California

To experience sadness.
To experience happiness.
To experience sorrow.
To experience compassion.
To experience pain.
To experience pleasure.
To experience anger.
To be human,

~is to feel…

- Xavier, Pineville, NC

To be bipedal.

- lauren, mckinsey

to be human is to be kind and accepting, to be supporting to others in every possible way. humanity is to love and cherish everything human.

- aditya, india

Featured Research

View more Human Evolution Research >>
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 big hungry brain!

Did you know that your brain makes up about 2% of your body weight…but uses about 20-25% of your body’s total energy, just for its basic activity? That’s one hungry brain!  No wonder it’s good to eat nutritious foods that offer a lot of energy. The brain of a newborn baby is even more amazing, as it takes up about 60% of the baby’s energy as the brain grows at an astonishing pace.