Project Based Learning @ KV Kanjikode: EVOLUTION OF FIRE-GROUP 9

EVOLUTION OF FIRE-GROUP 9

GROUP 9

GROUP MEMBERS: Rishab, Gokul , Athul, Nandana.V and Manasadarshini

EVOLUTION OF FIRE

The discovery of fire by early humans was a turning point in the cultural aspect of human evolution. They made fire by hitting two rocks together, which created a spark and this spark created fire.

When early humans discovered how to build fires, life became much easier in many regards. They huddled around fire for warmth, light and protection. They used it to cook, which afforded them more calories than eating raw foods that were hard to chew and digest. They could socialize into the night, which possibly gave rise to story-telling and other cultural traditions.

But there were downsides, too. Occasionally, the smoke burned their eyes and seared their lungs. Their food was likely to be coated with char, which might have increased their risks for cancers. With everyone congregated in one place, diseases could have been transmitted more easily.

Much research has focused on how fire gave an evolutionary advantage to early humans. Less examined are the negative by-products that came with fire, and the ways in which humans may or may not have adapted to them.

Then slowly early humans evolved and learned many more new things. They invented the matchstick. The first matchstick was quite different from the matchstick we see today .It was just a wooden stick with some mixture of dried cow dung and crushed leaf called Xavier boric. Then they would scratch this matchstick in the rock many times until the mixture gets heated and lights up .But today it is made up of chemicals and we can obtain fire in just one scratch. Match stick was used to light the firewood and then cook their food and to obtain warmth.

Then fire was used by people to smoke cigarettes (smoking is injurious to health) .With the invention of cigarettes, the cigarette lighter was invented, which released fire just with a click on a switch which heated a liquid that is inflammable. It is a small substance or fire source that can be carried in our pocket.