What is Culture

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What is Culture

• Social Studies 9

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What is Culture?
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Culture

• "In Atlantic Canada as in the rest of the
  world, it is generally recognized that culture is
  at the heart of social vitality and identity."

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What is Culture?

• "Culture? That's easy! You prepare the ground
  by softening it, preparing it for the seed. You
  take a seed and plant it on the ground. You give
  it water and fertilizers. As it grows, you prune
  it, check it out for bugs, and continue giving it
  water and nutrients. You take care of it as it
  grows. Then when the plants are matured they give
  you perfect fruits or vegetables. That's what
  culture means to me."

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What is Culture?

• I remember this definition because my initial
  reaction to it was a snicker if not a hidden
  laughter. In my mind this was defining
  agriCULTURE and I simply wrote this opinion off.
  That in fact, the metaphor of planting a seed and
  nurturing the plant to its maturity is an
  excellent core and profound definition of
  culture.

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Culture Activity

• Explain why the metaphor is an excellent core
  and profound definition of culture.
• Use the metaphor quoted on the previous slide to
  produce a definition of culture.

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Culture is

• A group of people that share the same
  customary beliefs, social forms and material
  traits.

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Culture

• A cultural group can be a racial, religious or
  social group.
• Race a group of people that share a common
  ancestry.
• Ethnic pertaining to a person's race or national
  origin.
• Religion commitment or devotion to religious
  faith or observance.
• Mother tongue the language first learned and
  still understood.

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Components of Culture

• Culture involves at least three components
• what people think,
• what they do, and
• the material products they produce.

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Culture on Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton is known for its majestic beauty and
its strong cultural heritage.
Scottish immigrants joined early French settlers
the Acadians and the original inhabitants of the
area the Mikmaq.
Cape Breton is a community, which is deeply
rooted in culture.
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Cape Breton Culture
The people of Cape Breton have struggled against
diversity and have a will to survive.
Economic hard times are not foreign to Cape
Breton but neither is our sense of community and
our ability to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
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Canada's Changing Society

• Today, nearly half of Canadas citizens (47) are
  of an ethnic origin other than British, French or
  native-born Canadian.
• In Vancouver and Toronto, more than a third of
  the population is a visible minority. It is
  projected that by 2016, this figure will increase
  to more than half.
• In 2001, Statistics Canada reported that
  one-in-five school children in Toronto and
  Vancouver was a new immigrant.
• The same report noted that for almost half of all
  children in Toronto, and 61 percent in Vancouver,
  the language spoken most often at home was
  neither English nor French.

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Culture Activity

• Project Description Students will create an
  acrostic poem using the name of a culture found
  in Atlantic Canada.
• The project will consist of
• An acrostic poem
• A web search for information on acrostic poems
• A web search on the chosen culture
• Pictures or graphics of the words in the poem
• An explanation of how each word of the poem
  relates to the culture of the people found in
  Atlantic Canada.
• a map of the areas where the cultures are found
  in Atlantic Canada
• a map of the country where the cultures
  originated

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Culture Activity

• What is an acrostic poem?
• An acrostic poem is one that uses the letters
  in a word or topic to begin each line of the
  poem. All of the words or phrases in the poem
  relate to the topic word. Acrostic poetry is
  created by building upon the letters in a word to
  create a descriptive poem about that word.
• Each line starts with a letter of the word
• The lines are short usually just a word or
  phrase
• Each line relates to the topic
• The topic word is usually in capital letters
• The poem does not have to rhyme

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Culture Activity

• Directions You will conduct a web search.
• Explore the following websites to learn more
  about acrostic poems. You will read some acrostic
  poems written by other students. This will assist
  you in your culture activity.
• http//www.holycross.edu/departments/socant/dhummo
  n/acrostics/acrostics.html
• http//www.smfc.k12.ca.us/class/park/birnbaum/quil
  t/
• http//www.readwritethink.org/materials/acrostic/
  

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Resources

• New Brunswick Our Stories, Our People
• http//www1.gnb.ca/0007/Culture/Heritage/VMC/defa
  ult.asp
• Prince Edward Island History and Culture
• http//www.gov.pe.ca/visitorsguide/index.php3?num
  ber1009637
• Civilzation.ca - Crossroads of Culture
• http//www.civilization.ca/tresors/immigration/in
  dex_e.html
• Online Resources for Canadian Heritage Folk
  culture and popular culture http//www.civilizatio
  n.ca/orch/www07c_e.html
• The Kids' Site of Canadian Settlement Explore
  the Communities
• http//www.collectionscanada.ca/settlement/kids/0
  21013-1003-e.html

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Resources

• Cape Breton Céilidh http//www.virtualmuseum.ca/E
  xhibitions/Ceilidh/index_play.html
• Culture Online Made in Canada
  http//www.culture.ca/english.jsp
• The Canada Page http//www.thecanadapage.org/Regi
  ons.htm