10 Cultural Universals
Vocab• ANTHROPOLOGIST
• CULTURE
• A person who studies past and present culture
• A way of life passed on from generation to generation
Thoughts, feelings, actions, customs, habits, goals & values
LEARNED
Handout #1
•List 5 things you have been taught by your
▫Parents
▫School
▫Friends
1) Basic Needs
• All people need food, clothing and shelter
• How people satisfy these needs is mostly based on where they live
• HAND OUT #2
NEEDS vs. WANTS
2) Geographical Setting• Physical aspects of the
earth as well as weather
• Geography & climate affects▫ Food▫ Clothing▫ Shelter▫ Tools▫ Economy▫ Recreation
• HANDOUT #3
• How does geography & Climate affect Chicago? (Give an example for each of the categories listed)
3) Family Life• Family leadership, make-
up & size change between cultures
• Father leader, mother leader, shared leadership, live with extended family…
• HANDOUT #4
• If or when you marry what kind of family organization & leadership would you want?
4) Political Organization
• Government
• Rules, laws, leaders and ways of enforcing these laws
• HANDOUT #5
• If there was a society with no Laws, and you could only make ONE law, what would it be? Why?
5) Technology
• Technology is anything humans make or the way they make things
• Tools are anything humans use to make a job easier
• HANDOUT # 6
• List five things you have at home that your great grandparents did not have that makes life easier
6) Economics
• How people satisfy their needs by produces goods and services to trade
7) The Unknown• People try to explain or
understand the unknown through
▫ Myths
▫ Which-craft
▫ Religion
• Create Mores: unwritten laws
• HANDOUT #7
• Write a short paragraph explaining thunder (pretend you don’t know the scientific reason)
8) The Arts• How cultures express
themselves
• Art, crafts, music, dance & theater
• HANDOUT #8
• How does music today express the feelings of young people, name a song as an example
9) Recreation• What a person does with
their spare time…. Leisure time
• HANDOUT #9
• Write 5 activities specific to Chicago
10) Communication• Expressing ones,
thoughts, ideas, feelings through▫ Language▫ Hand movements▫ Facial expressions
• HANDOUT #10
• How would you communicate with a person who did not speak or understand your language if you are lost?
HANDOUT #11
•List the 10 Cultural Universals