Defining Success
OBJECTIVE: What will your
students be able to do by the end
of class?
KEY IDEAS: What 3-5 key
knowledge or skills will students
need to master the objective?
SWBAT plan and write an ethnography about our community
SWBAT to review the 5 themes of geography by applying themes to their
own community
Social science writing skills
5 themes of geography (Location, place, region, movement, human or
environment interactions)
Cultural anthropology as a career
ASSESSMENT: How will you assess to determine which students mastered the objective?
Students’ ethnographies and maps will be graded using a rubric.
DRILL/DO NOW/OPENING: How will you focus, prepare, and engage students for the
lesson? (20 minutes)
WATCH a cultural anthropologist explain why he loves what he does:
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/other-shows/videos/i-ardipithecus-isearching-for-humanitys-story.htm
We are going to spend the next two days being cultural anthropologists.
Cultural anthropologists study the customs of human communities to
discover processes leading to their similarities and differences. Those who
live for long periods within a community and study aspects of the culture
are practicing ethnography. Their descriptions of the community's way of
life are called ethnographies. Cultural anthropologists study living
communities.
Lesson Cycle
We will:
1) Make observations of our surroundings, our life style, and our habits.
2) We will think deeply about how we interact with the environment
around us.
3) The best way to prepare us for the study of ancient civilizations and
other cultures is to know and understand our culture and the cultures
that have sprung from earlier human civilizations.
4) Location, what we spent a significant amount of time on this unit, is
only a very small facet of geography – but one must have those skills
and vocabulary to approach the other 4 themes of geography unbiased and with an open mind.
Students will be brainstorming about 2 different categories about their
community using a t-chart on their do now.
1.
2.
What are the bad things/things you don’t like?
What are the good things /things you like?
The purpose for this “Do Now” is for them to begin thinking about the topic they will
be writing for the written portion of this project.
INTRODUCTION OF NEW MATERIAL: How will you convey the knowledge and/or skill of
the lesson? What will you student be doing to process this information? (10 min)
MATERIALS:
Handout
1.
2.
3.
4.
I will begin to explain that they will be creating a map and writing a
social science narrative about their community
Show students the outline they will be required to fill out
Show students what the template looks like for writing
Explain to students that an ethnography shares the same qualities as a
formal English paper
a. Intro
b. Body paragraph
c. Conclusion
READ some sample culture writing by children:
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/peopleplaces/hands-on-explorerchallenge-2011-winning-essay-excerpts/
GUIDED PRACTICE: In what ways will your learners attempt to explain or do what you
have outlined? How will you monitor and coach their performance? (10 min)
Have students answer the questions about their community. Before answering, talk
through some of the questions and give examples.
After students are done answering these questions, remind them that in their
opinion, these things could be good or bad. Discuss bias/stereotyping/ethics
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE: (20 min)
Preview homework (observations of my community – rough draft of ethnography)
I will hand out the outline & rubric for the ethnography
Must be in pen, Must be neat, Must reflect the editing you did on them.
What English formal essay parts do you think it is important to have
when writing ethnography?
Teacher’s bad example: “I like my neighborhood because the streets
are paved with gold”
Students will begin writing and finish for HW
CLOSING:
Organization
NAME: ________________________________________________ PERIOD: ______
1.7 My Community Ethnography
DO NOW:
Bad things/Things I don’t like
MY COMMUNITY
-neutral-
Good things/Things I like
Ethnography planning sheet:
a.
What kind of place is my community? Does it have trees, cars, etc.…? What are the types of buildings?
b.
Where is my community located? (Include difference between absolute and relative location!)
c.
What region is my community in? (Vernacular, formal, and/or functional)
d.
Do people move a lot? Do things change frequently?
e.
Do people communicate with each other? How?
f.
Are their constant changes such as road maintenance or cutting of trees? Are people changing their way of living
to cope with nature?
g.
What will be the main idea of your ethnography?
NAME: ______________________________________________ PERIOD________ETHNOGRAPHY RUBRIC
GEOGRAPHY CONTENT:
A. Location
Exceeds
The student correctly displayed and
explained the geography theme of both
Absolute and Relative Location
B. Place
Exceeds
The student correctly distinguishes
Between both physical and human
Geography
C. Human-Environment Interaction
Exceeds
The student correctly displayed and
explained how humans interact with the
environment through change,
dependence, and adaptation
D. Region
Exceeds
+Meets The student discusses relative
or absolute location
Approaches
The student mentions location,
but does not go into detail
+ Meets The student discusses their
place using detailed
observations
Approaches
The student mentions place, but
does not have supporting details
Falls Far Below
The student does
not address this
+Meets –
The student correctly
displayed this theme with 1-3
details
Approaches
The student displayed the
Geography theme but does not
have supporting details
Falls Far Below
The student does
not address this
+Meets -
Approaches
Falls Far Below
The student correctly displayed and
explained Region with vernacular,
formal, and functional details
The student correctly
displayed and explained
region with 1-3 details
The student displayed the
Geography theme without
supporting details
The student does
not address this
E. Movement
Exceeds
+Meets -
Approaches
Falls Far Below
The student correctly
displayed and explained
movement with 1-3 details
The student addresses
movement but without
supporting details
The student does
not address this
+Meets -
Approaches
Falls Far Below
The student correctly displayed and
explained the Geography theme of
Movement of ideas, people, and goods.
Participation
Exceeds
Falls Far Below
The student does
not address this
Student uses all class time to work on
project, asks questions, and does not
need to be reminded regarding behavior
Student completes classwork, This student does not complete
Student is off-task
but may require one or two
all that is expected in class and
in class and does
directions to control volume
requires frequent redirection on not attempt
or to refocus
behavior
writing
PROJECT DIRECTIONS: Please write 3 paragraphs describing your community. The 3 paragraphs are as follows:
1) Hook the reader into your study. Introduce your topic with the themes of location and place, trying to not pass judgment or show
bias - try to approach your ethnography as an outside observer. Include a thesis, and all other rules for writing paragraphs apply!
2) In the body of your ethnography, think like a social scientist and record observations about the region, how they move and how
they interact with the environment.
3) In your conclusion paragraph, be sure to re-state your thesis, and summarize for your readers what can be learned from your
study of this community. What are your take-aways from your time in this community about modern civilization and the five
themes of geography?
1.7 ABSENT NOTES: REVIEW OF 5 THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY
LOCATION
"Where are we?" is the question that the theme Location answers. Location may be absolute or it may be
relative.
Relative locations are described by landmarks, direction and distance. For example, John is sitting to
the left of Ann or Phoenix is east of Los Angeles These locations may change depending on where you are. If
you are in San Diego instead of Phoenix, Los Angeles will be North of you.
Absolute location is a location where something is that does not ever change. For example, an
absolute location is a street address. Your street address here in Arizona doesn’t change whether you are
currently in Equador or Paris. It always stays the same. The latitude and longitude of our school won’t change
either. Those are both examples of absolute location.
PLACE
What kind of place is it? What do you think of when you imagine China? Japan? California? The answer
to these questions tells you PLACE. It is what a certain location is like.
Places have both human and physical characteristics. Physical characteristics include mountains,
rivers, soil, beaches, wildlife, soil. Places have human characteristics also. These characteristics come from the
ideas and actions of people that result in changes to the environment, such as buildings, roads, clothing, and food
habits.
REGION
A region is the basic unit of study in geography. A region is an area that has similarities, such as
government (FORMAL REGION), language, food, music, and traditions (VERNACULAR REGION). Humans
decide what makes up a region (SOMETIMES JUST A FUNCTIONAL REGION: Dominos Pizza delivery area).
Arizona is in the Southwestern region of the United States. What do you think of when you think of the
southwest? What do you think New Yorkers think of us cowboys? 
MOVEMENT
Movement is shifting of people, goods, and ideas from one place to another. The movement of people
around the world, trading of goods, and long distance communication have all played major roles in shaping our
world. People everywhere interact. They travel from place to place and they communicate using airplanes,
trains, cell phones, and the internet. Also, not only do humans move but also ideas move; fashions move; fads
move. In this way, people interact with each other through movement and share ideas and resources.
HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION
Human-environment interaction refers to ways people interact with their environment, such as building a
dam, cutting down a tree, or even sitting in the sun. There are three parts of human-environment interaction:
Humans adapt to the environment. For example, people adapt to the environment by wearing
clothing that is suitable for summer and winter; rain and shine.
Humans modify the environment. People modify our environment by heating and coolings
buildings for comfort and building roads to make transportation easier.
Humans depend to the environment. People depend on rivers for our water and transportation.
People depend on fields to grow food.