Lesson Plan: What is Culture? / Introduce Nine Universals of Culture
Carol Quarton, Ph.D. and Hank Rowe, NBCT
Learning Objective: Students will be able to accurately be able to apply the Nine
Universals of Culture to contemporary society.
Links to Amphitheater Curriculum and Arizona State Standards:
Strand 2 (World History) Concept 2: Early Civilizations  PO 2. Determine how the following factors influenced groups of people to
develop into civilizations in Egypt, India, Mesopotamia, and China.
 PO 3. Describe the importance of the following river valleys in the
development of ancient civilizations.
 PO 4. Compare the forms of government of the following ancient
civilizations.
 PO 5. Describe the religious traditions that helped shape the culture of the
following ancient civilizations.
 PO 6. Analyze the impact of cultural and scientific contributions of ancient
civilizations on later civilizations.
 PO 7. Describe the development of the following types of government and
citizenship in ancient Greece and Rome.
 PO 8. Describe scientific and cultural advancements in ancient civilizations
(e.g., networks of roads, aqueducts, art and architecture, literature and
theatre, mathematics, philosophy).
 PO 9. Identify the roles and contributions of individuals in the following
ancient civilizations
Common Core Standards for Literacy in Social Studies
Strand: Reading Informational Text
Cluster: Integration of Knowledge of Ideas and Information. Integrate
information presented in different media or formats as well as in words to
develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue
Time Frame: This lesson is designed to take place over 1 – 1 ½ days.
Anticipatory Set: Students will be asked as bellwork (or homework from the night
before) to respond to the prompt “What is culture?”. These will become examples to
later plug into the Nine Universals of Culture.
Relevancy: The purpose of this lesson is to introduce the Nine Universals of Culture,
which will become the foundation for the project on Early Civilizations, as well as for
studying all ancient civilizations this year.
Assessment: For this lesson, students will be asked to complete the “Nine Universals
of Culture” for their own lives and American culture today. Responses will be reviewed
for understanding by all students, and instruction modified if necessary as this is an
important concept to be used throughout the year.
Learning Connections: Studying ancient cultures is challenging, especially when
students do not see a clear purpose. By making connections to their own lives today,
students will be able to make connections to the Nine Universals of Culture in their own
lives before studying the application of the Universals to early civilizations.
Learning Task Description: Students will begin by sharing their response to the
prompt “What is culture?”. By bringing out examples of how we identify culture,
students will be provided with a copy of the Nine Universals of Culture, pointing out that
all civilizations (past, present, and future) will define culture into these categories.
Through group discussion, each Universal will be explained and an example or two will
be elicited for each. When completed, students will be put in groups of three to
generate their own examples of each Universal. After 10-15 minutes, groups will return
to the whole and questions will be addressed and further examples elaborated on.
Special Class characteristics: This class, being a Humanities Reading/Social Studies
class, consists of primarily high-achieving students (gifted, high AIMS/MAP scoring,
etc.). Throughout the entire process, individual understanding will be monitored and
adjusted as needed (written responses, group discussion, other anecdotal evidence).
Closure: Students will be provided the Nine Universals of Culture handout “How do
you fit in?” to complete, using examples from their own life (or American culture) to
complete examples of all nine universals. This will either be assigned to wrap up the
lesson or assigned as homework.
Materials and Resources:
 Nine Universals of Culture “How do you fit in?” handout
 Teacher-prepared PowerPoint for each of the Nine Universals to provide visual
support.