Cultural Patterns & Processes

3.1 Introduction to Culture 3.2 Cultural Landscapes

Week Eight October 4, 2021

Welcome to the month of October and week 8 of the bell ringers! Students will begin the unit learning about how cultural practices vary across geographical locations because of physical geography and available resources. Materials to use directly with students, formerly known as the 3 for 3s, follow the teacher materials. As always, if you have any comments or questions, feel free to email me at laura.kmetz@gmail.com.

A FEW NOTES TO TEACHERS NEW TO TEACHING APHG: ★ general teaching notes: I strongly encourage you to read pg. 57 in the CED before planning and teaching this unit. If you use

an older textbook, especially a Rubenstein book, it is easy to fall into the culture trap and spend six weeks in unit 3. As always, the focus in teaching the concepts should be grounded in unit 1 concepts associated with the study of space (1.4) and ideas related to human-environment interaction, scale, and region. Review the course skills on pg. 14 to make sure you are staying focused on teaching students how to demonstrate their knowledge on the exam. You may wish to read Pierce K. Lewis’s essay “Axioms for Reading the Landscape” here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17zR_-b8tO4FkGMrEBEh_ktfdgGhVoCKa/view?usp=sharing

★ looking forward: Topic 3.3 Cultural Patterns is directly related to 3.2 Cultural Landscapes. The recurring elements of cultural landscapes constitute cultural patterns and have impacts on those locations.

SOME RESOURCES TO HELP YOU INTRODUCE THE UNIT AND TEACH 3.1 & 3.2: ★ TED talk “Danger of a Single Story”★ the Throughline (NPR podcast) episode “The Invention of Race” (great discussion of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism and

in the context of its connection to 1.5 concepts of determinism and possibilism)★ “Body Ritual of the Nacirema” https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lpxXsBnNGXJsC-Mf5bZLRJOtZ42hw9UW/view?usp=sharing ★ from the US National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/culturallandscapes/understand-cl.htm ★ collection of photographs taken by a geography professor: https://greatmirror.com/ ★ photographs on CIA World Factbook https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/

What’s where? Why is it there? Why do we care?

3.1 Introduction to Culture

Use slide A to introduce the unit. Have students return to their answers at the end of the unit.

Use slides B and C to teach 3.1. I have my students discuss the traits on the iceberg with their group, finding one that no one in the group really understands or can think of an example of. Then they share with the class to see if another group can explain. If not, I jump in. A useful framework for thinking of cultural traits is their classification as artifacts, sociofacts, and mentifacts. Although those terms aren’t specifically in the learning objectives, they are included in the CED in the intro to unit 3. I have students work in groups to find two traits from the iceberg that are artifacts, two that are sociofacts, and two that are mentifacts. I also show a fun YouTube video that you can find at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvFRrHpzlTk&list=PLYtJBnR-6d3RXeCx90heleiliZARX58aY&index=45. It’s a montage of dance scenes from movies, and I ask my students to find examples of culture traits (besides dance and music) in the video. suggested answers (many different answers are possible): 1) A food, such as fish in Southeast Asia, that is more plentiful in a particular location may play a larger role in the diet of people who live there, or clothing may be worn because of the climate, such as light colored clothing in warmer climates; 2) Houses may be constructed of materials that are more plentiful in the area (see Google Earth Voyager’s This is Home for visuals), such as adobe in the US southwest.

Use slide D to teach PSO 3.A.3. An excellent Thoughtco article that explains ethnocentrism and cultural relativism can be found at https://www.thoughtco.com/cultural-relativism-definition-3026122. You may wish to use this video: Great Big Story: What Breakfast is Like Around the World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KorC-8NddDk. suggested answers (photo source: https://www.greatbigstory.com/stories/around-the-world-breakfast): 1) Most of the countries in Southeast Asia have access to the sea, so fish are a staple of many people’s diet; 2) A person from Southeast Asia with an ethnocentric view of the American diet might think that eating so much sugar at breakfast, in high calorie foods having minimal nutritional value, is disgusting or repulsive. They might believe eating soup that is high in protein and nutrient dense carbs (vegetables) is a much better type of meal to eat at the beginning of the day; 3) A limitation of viewing cultural differences through the lens of cultural relativism is the potential danger of not seeing certain practices, such as human rights violations, as morally wrong. We don’t want to make the mistake of thinking that all differences in human behavior can be attributed to cultural differences.

Slide E can help students review the major concepts in 3.1.

3.2 Cultural Landscapes

Use slide F to introduce the concept of cultural landscapes.

Use slide G to teach 3.B.1. The Great Mirror, Wikimedia, Getty Images, and Flickr are sources for interesting images that you can provide to students for practice in reading the cultural landscape. Geoguessr or even just Google Earth Streetview can also give students practice. You might ask students to find an image that reflects as many aspects of the cultural landscape as possible. I like how this particular image (source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pizza_Hut_Gizah.jpg), from Giza, reflects sequent occupancy in the pyramids. Email me if you need help with the other characteristics of the cultural landscape that are reflected in the image.

Slide H asks students to explain the degree to which a multinational corporation such as Pizza Hut is related to sequent occupancy. suggested answer: The presence of a multinational corporation such as Pizza Hut doesn’t really reflect sequent occupancy at all. Instead of reflecting the presence of a cultural group associated with the corporation, it reflects globalization and, as far as the cultural landscape is concerned, commercial land use. If your students need help with questions asking them to explain the degree, teach them to cross that out, reword it to how much, and then to reword the prompt in the form of a question. They should answer the FRQ by specifying how much (to a great degree, to a moderate degree, not very much, not at all?) and should continue their answer with an explanation that supports their statement.

To teach PSO 3.C.1, you may wish to show images from Wikipedia’s entry at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_segregation. Ask students to consider how attitudes toward gender help shape the use of space in each photo.

COMING NEXT WEEK:

3.3 Cultural Landscapes

3.4 Types of Diffusion

3.5 & 3.6 Causes of Diffusion

SLIDE A Essential Questions: Cultural Patterns & Processes

How does where people live & what resources they have access to impact their cultural practices?

How does the interaction of people contribute to the spread of cultural practices?

How & why do cultural ideas, practices, & innovations change or disappear over time?

Read through the questions, writing and/or sketching your thoughts about each. How would you answer them today, before studying material in this unit? What words seem particularly important in thinking geographically (think: scale, human-environmental interaction, connections, regions, data) about culture? What do you think you’ll learn about? What questions do you have? Try to write at least one thing for each of the essential questions.

SLIDE B 3.1 Introduction to Culture

Imagine you must leave your home in 24 hours to live in a new place far away. You will never be able to return to your current home, and everything you take must fit into a single trunk. What will you take with you?

SLIDE C 3.1 Introduction to Culture

1. Describe how a specific culture trait can be influenced by physical geography.

2. Describe how a specific culture trait can be influenced by available resources.

SLIDE D 3.1 Introduction to Culture

Súp Lu'o'nPopular in Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, eel soup is made with chopped vegetables, eel, and spices such as chives and eaten for breakfast.1. Describe how the geography of Southeast Asia influences the diet of people in the region.2. Explain how someone from Southeast Asia might regard a typical American breakfast, such as cereal or donuts, with ethnocentrism.3. Explain a limitation of viewing cultural differences through the lens of cultural relativism.

SLIDE E 3.1 Introduction to Culture

Place each item in the correct space in the graphic organizer. Add specific examples, definitions, or descriptions where possible: *architecture*ethnocentrism*cultural relativism*food preferences*land use*the shared practices, technologies, attitudes, & behaviors transmitted by a society

SLIDE F 3.2 Cultural Landscapes

Look outside and describe what you see. How has human activity shaped it? How is land used? What evidence of religion or language is there? What cultural beliefs are reflected? What attitudes toward ethnicity and gender are reflected?

SLIDE G 3.2 Cultural Landscapes

Describe characteristics of this cultural landscape in terms of: ...physical features...agricultural practices...industrial practices...religious characteristics...linguistic characteristics...evidence of sequent occupancy...architecture...land use patterns

See how many of the above you can find!

SLIDE H 3.2 Cultural Landscapes

Explain the degree to which the presence of a multinational corporation such as Pizza Hut reflects the concept of sequent occupancy.