Warm Up 3/13
Make a prediction! What percentage of the world’s population:
Lives in North America?Is Christian?Is literate (can read)?Has a high school education?Has a computer?
Unit QuestionHow have the patterns of American immigration changed over time?
Lesson Question
What is culture?and
Why is American culture so varied?
Vocabulary
AssimilationInnovationDiffusion
What elements make up a culture?
Culture Is… All the features of a society’s way of life
passed down from generation to generation.
Think: Santa Claus
Culture Is…Society’s shared values, beliefs,
institutions, and technologies.
Think: US Flag, Freedom of Speech
Culture Is…The roles given to individuals and that
establish relationships within groups in a society.
Think: School relationships
Cultural TraitsActivities and behaviors that people
repeatedly practice.Think: eating
US: fork, knife, spoon China: chopsticks Malaysia: fingers/hands
They can vary and change through time Think: clothing styles
How Do Cultures Change?AssimilationInnovationDiffusion
AssimilationWhen one culture group adapts to the
attitudes, belief systems and ways of life of another culture.
Think: Native Americans
InnovationNew ideas that are accepted into
a culture.
Think: Horse v. cars, bow and arrow v. rifle etc.
InnovationSometimes culture traits clash…
InnovationAnd then it becomes a way of
life!
LOOK!
DiffusionThe spread of a cultural trait from one
society to another.Could be rapid (Think: Rap Music) or
gradual (Think: popular dance style)How has the process of diffusion
changed?
MY Culture Is…
Closer
What foreign cultures are you most interested in learning
about? Why?