Create a Country - Part 6 - Culture of Country

Terms to know:

• Culture: The way of life of a group of people.
• Customs: Special practices that are common to one group of people.
• Traditions: Customs that survive from one generation to the next generation. Examples would be religious celebrations, festivals and national holidays, and rituals such as how a culture deals with a child's baby tooth falling out.
• Technology: The scientific knowledge and tools available to a culture. The more complex and diverse the knowledge and tools, the higher the level of technology. Technology can range from a spear to a spaceship.
• Values: Beliefs about what is good, desirable, and worth holding on to. What we do and what we say are based on values. Values can be held by many people at the same time. Schooling for all children is an example of a value. Schooling can help spread values.

1. Create a Culture Web - use Inspiration OR another tool of your choice. Make sure you describe customs, traditions, technology, and values in addition to the food, clothing, housing, language(s), rules/penalites, government, transportation, education, holidays and celebrations...and any other cultural aspects pertaining to your country. See Webquest for Factors Influencing Cultural Development.

2. Create a Social Hierarchy for your country. See Webquest for Graphic Organizer.

3. Religions Map and Caption. See World Religions and Webquest

4. Create graphs that illuminate the demographics of your country. This is important in understanding the culture.  (Check out this map that shows how the demographics of immigrants change over time.)

5. Other Culture Projects (see Webquest for explanation pages):

• A one-page description of a special holiday or religious event held in your culture.
• At least 2 laws that apply to all inhabitants of your culture, along with a description of the penalties that result when these laws are broken.
• A special language, to be defined by an alphabet, the names of 20 things in your culture, 10 actions words, and a letter from one person to another. An English translation should be provided for all words created.
• A calculating system showing the following: how to count to 100, 5 math problems
• Examples of clothing worn by members of your culture. Two items are a minimum. These can be drawn or made.
• A means of transporting inhabitants and/or materials. This can be a drawing or an original model.
• A plan on how your culture's traditions will be passed on to the next generation, along with a listing of 10 things you wish to pass on to the new generation.
• A house (or other method of shelter) used in your culture (drawing or model).
• Three tools used in your culture (drawings or models).
• An explanation of the method by which members of your culture resolve serious disagreements with each other.
• How are children treated? Consider Child Labor issues around the world today.