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?