Happy Hominid Highlights

by A.D. Carter and Josh Uribe

The purpose of the “Day In The Life” project was for us students to plan a creative work to depict a day in the life of a hominid based on an artifact such as a skull. Some options included writing a children’s book, making an epic poem, creating a music album (including lyrics and album cover), doing a skit, creating a museum exhibit, or even making an Instagram page. This allowed each group to display their creativity through a fun project. People gathered into groups of two to three people and began working extensively on their projects for one week. During this week, all the Juniors met in the large room to have a “work-week” in which we didn’t have to worry about other classes or projects. This was nice because it allowed us to put our undivided attention into making these projects as beautiful, presentable, and neat as possible.

There are many ways to show off a day in the life of a hominid back in the first days of its existence.

For example, you could make an album with an album cover. A.D. Carter and Joshua Uribe made an album called “The First Wanderers” with several songs such as “Yung Hominids” which was based on “Peaches and Eggplants” by Yung Nudy [feat. 21 Savage]). A short part of this song is:

“Catch all the fish, take ‘em to the back

I just built a house, no it ain't a trap

Link up with mah boys, we just hit a dap

Go back to the sea, gotta catch a crab”

This song illustrates the life of a Hominid; one filled with fishing, building houses, and gathering.

Another example of a group making a song was Kaylee Hatton & Veronica Gutierrez with their song called “GET PRONC’D” which was based on the song “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio and Kylian Mash.

“As I swing through the jungles of East Africa

I take a look at my life and realize there’s not much left

Cause I already have four other cousins

And even my momma thinks that I’m the crazy one.”

The first line demonstrates how Hominids lived in East Africa.

Macy Waid and Julia Cicatko made an album called “KNM-1470.” Some lyrics to their song “7969 Epoch” were:

“Roaming all day in the Turkana Basin

Got my stone tools, these animals Im chasin

Wifes back in the cave; crushin leaves with rocks

Go to sleep early Too dark for late night talks

Livin’ through the Pleistocene Epoch,

Got Homo Rudolfensis on the clock

On the hunt for food, but not in a flock

It’s time to surive, we gotta rock.”

Another option besides making a song was to make a documentary-style video such as the one created by Evie King, Kalee Cash, and Victoria Shoop. In it, a professor went spelunking in a cave and found traces of Hominids.

View the film

Another example of a creative project was a cookbook by Brady Hecker & Asher Ryan.

These assignments even contained two examples of people making a children’s book. The first one was The Adventure of Neil the Neanderthal by Noah Bauserman and Ayden Reynard. This epic story is about what a Neanderthal would do in his daily life. This book even included pictures of what Neil the Neanderthal was doing to help give people more in-depth insight into Neanderthal living.

The other children’s book is called A Day In The Life Of Baby Kushim by Briana Brown and Audry Kepler. This book is different from everyone else’s project because it focuses on Hominids in Southwest America including facts about the weather, pets, and food.

I decided to save the best for last because of how funny each project was. Two groups created an Instagram account and made daily posts about things Hominids do. This is the Instagram account created by Bodie Lohr, Danny Gass, and Cayden Polk. Everything about it was hilarious because of this group’s ability to include historical facts while also including concepts of today such as McDonald’s. 

The other Instagram account was created by Rebekah Shulgan, Sarah White, and Molly Walsh. I love how they included a story highlight called “Fav Tools.” This is an example of adding extra details. This account included details of Hominid hunting, gathering, and exploring.

As you can see, there were so many different ways to depict “A Day in the Life” of a Hominid or Homo Sapien. All the juniors at MRGS were very creative with their assignments. That made it so much more fun to see all the different ways that the everyday lives of hominids/ homo sapiens could be depicted. Everyone worked very hard to make sure their projects were perfect and presentable since it was personal to them.