Cultural Tools Activity

Lunar-ratedTopics and Competencies

Awareness of Social Identities

Grade Level

High SchoolCollege/Adult

Subject Area Integration

None

Author(s)

Christy M. Byrd

Source

Christy M. Byrd

Date Created/Most Recently Revised

May 2021

Time

45 minutes

Setting

Appropriate for most settings

Type and Level of Engagement

Group Work, Low Engagement

Accessibility

The cultural tools slides will require adaption for students with visual impairments

Learning Objectives

  • Recognize how culture is embedded in everyday life
  • Identify the values behind cultural tools

Materials

Instructions

  • When class begins, put students into groups of 2-4. Have each group generate a definition for culture  Then have them answer these questions about each cultural tool:
    • What is this?
    • What is it used for?
    • Why do people in this culture consider it valuable or important?
  • Mention that they may be unfamiliar with some of the tools, but to make their best guesses. After 10-15 minutes, have the groups share some answers. Discuss:
    • How would you define culture now?
    • What surprised you about this activity?
    • What has not changed in your thinking?
    • What questions do you have?
  • They will almost certainly have questions about who the Nacirema are. Show the video “Body Rituals of the Nacirema”. In this YouTube video, a woman reads excerpt from the Miner (1956) article while showing the real objects. The video makes it clear that the Nacirema (which is “America” spelled backwards) are ordinary Americans.
  • Then ask again:
    • How would you define culture now?
    • What surprised you about this activity?
    • What has not changed in your thinking?
    • What questions do you have?
  • Explain that culture has many features, and have the students give examples of those features.
    • Invisible
    • Nested
    • Overlapping
    • Change over time
    • Provide us with histories and traditions
    • Provide us with practices, values, and assumptions
  • Describe how cultures mediate development and have students give specific examples:
    • Social enhancement: tools that are used because they are available in the immediate environment
    • Imitation: children learn to use cultural resources by observing others
    • Explicit instruction: intentionally teaching the use of cultural tools

Variations

  • Replace the slides with tools relevant to your local context

Extensions

Assessments

Evidence of Effectiveness

Related Activities

Ratings and Reviews

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