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Human Origins Exhibit Entrance

What Does It Mean To Be Human?

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To be human is to reach beyond the simple goal of reproduction.

- Pavel, Washington

Humans are the image-bearers of God and were created to glorify Him.

- Z, USA

Being human is actively being all of ourselves as God made us to be. After all, Jesus is the "way, the truth, and the life" so how could we live without trusting in life itself or being a part of it in the natural?

- Abraham Oloyede, Milwaukee, WI

Humans evolve and change to adapt to their surrounding environment. Humans use their tools to help survive and thrive in their environment.

- Wolfgang, NJ

To constantly adapt to change and use the resources we have around us, that is what it means to be human.

- Alex, Toronto

being human is he best ever thing ever existed in the existence of life. being human means everything, it's the best thing God ever created.

- Prude, BAGUIO

To me, what it means to be human is that we are the clay that has been shaped by God, created to reflect His image and live our lives bringing glory to His name. We are all uniquely designed by Him and given our own special set of skills and talents.

- Kayle, SC

To have grit and be able to fall then try, try, try again until you succeed.

- Abbey, NJ

It doesn’t necessarily mean anything to be human. I mean that in the same sense that it doesn’t mean anything to be an elephant or a lichen.

We are the result of biological and genetic adaptations over a very long period of time.

- Karl, Ireland

to be a human and what makes u unique from everything else is that we can do things ourselves.

- monica, roosevelt high school portland OR

To reify; to assign meaningful forms, attributes, categories to abstractions.

- Rhys, Evansville, IN

Ability to express emotions.

- Mary, Minnesota

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.