Transcript Do Now
Do Now What elements of American culture unite us as a nation? Write this in paragraph form and justify your answer Cultural Geography • To understand human geography, culture is a key to that understanding • Culture includes all the features of a people’s way of life • It can be learned or passed down through generations • Important parts of culture include: language, religion, architecture, clothing, economics, family life, food, and government Culture Traits • Activities and behaviors • Learning to read and do math are common around the world • Vary from place to place What are Culture Traits?? • • • • • • • • • Food and shelter Religion Relationships to family and others Language Education Security/protection Political and social organization Creative Expression through arts, clothing, etc.. Architecture How to Eat?!??! • Americans- use fork, spoon, knife • Chinese-use chopsticks • Ethiopians- Use their fingers • All correct according to location!!! • Culture traits can be linked • USA and Canada- the Amish lead a simple life away from a modern society – Do not use cars, electricity, and telephones – Do not use modern farm technology like tractors Culture Regions • Many different regions in the world and have their own way of life • Includes the way they use their land, resources they depend on, religions they practice, settlement patterns, role of women, and government • Area with shared culture traits is called a culture region – This can be an individual country where there is one dominant culture like Japan – Countries can include multiple culture regions like Africa where there are many ethnic groups • Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa • Country borders can divide culture regions and separate members of one ethnic group – Kurds are one ethnic group but the borders of Turkey, Iran, and Iraq divide them • Culture regions can also be made up of several countries – Australia and New Zealand Culture Change • Traits change through time… Example: clothing • Can be more complex than clothing though – Shopping in U.S. in cities 1900s 2000s 1800s • Migration, war, and trade have caused culture to change- new ways of life – Example: Spain colonized the Americas, brought over horses, Indians then acquired them • When an individual or group adopts some of the traits of another culture it is called acculturation – Immigrants to the United States – Learn new language and adopt a new way of life • Assimilation- adopts culture completely Innovation and Diffusion • Two concepts to understand how culture changes • Innovation- new ideas that a culture accepts – Some ideas last longer than others…. Baseball • Diffusion- Idea or innovation spreads from one person to another…. Jazz • 3 Types of Diffusion – Expansion-spreads throughout a society – Relocation-When people move to new places – Hierarchical- From places of greater size to smaller size Globalization • Communications networks deliver information constantly around the world • Helps to spread culture traits quickly • Globalization- connections around the world increase and cultures become more alike • Cultural convergence- different cultures blending – Name brand soft drinks or fast food- Coke & McDonalds – Mexican food in the United States Traditionalism • Following long time practices and opposing many modern technologies and ideas • Fundamentalism- movement in which people believe in strictly following certain established principles • Contributes to cultural divergence- cultures becoming separate Culture Trait Comparison • Create a chart to show the similarities and/or differences of the two countries – You will be assigned the countries • Include the website you retrieve your information from in each box. Be sure to write in your own words Country 1 Language Religion Political and Social Organization Food and Shelter Creative Expression Architecture Education Relationships to family and others Country 2