Download Lesson 2 – Participating in an Ethnography

Arcadia - Overview
Fridays 1:45-2:30
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Graders
Seven Sessions
Lesson 1
Cultural Anthropology - Culture and Clans
Lesson 2
Cultural Anthropology – Documenting Culture: What is Ethnography
Lesson 3
Archaeology - What Makes Pottery Archaeology and Not Paleontology
Lesson 4
Linguistic Anthropology – Language and Culture
Lesson 5
Biological Anthropology – Primates: Comparative Us to Them
Lesson 6
Biological Anthropology – Why is Evolution Important to Anthropology
Lesson 2 – Participating in an Ethnography
Materials Needed:
Boxes – washable markers, crayons, pencils
Poster board that acted as the flag from the first week
Video Camera
Introductions
Review:
Review knowledge from the prior week
What is Anthropology? What is Culture?
Reviewing CLAP: The four subfields
Focus:
What is an Ethnography?
How do we document culture using an ethnography?
How do we view cultures we don’t understand?
Learning Objectives
Understand the importance of ethnography
Work as a group to present their clans
Watch and Listen to the other clan talk about their culture
Ethnography: way in which anthropologists study and teach others about cultures.
Input and Modeling:
Ask about culture/define culture
Define Ethnography
Define Ethnocentrism
Explain how ethnographers study other cultures
Independent Practice:
Each group will finish their flag from last week
They will prepare a five-minute presentation about their clan. For Example, the clothes
they wear, beliefs, rites of passage, etc.
Review:
Ethnographers must live with their culture of study for a long period of time. They may
have to learn a new language in the process. It is important to always be kind.
Ethnography PowerPoint script
1. REVIEW:
a. What did we go over last week?
2. Slide # 1: As we learned last week, there are four areas of anthropology. Do you
remember the way we remember the four areas? CLAP
3. Slide # 2: Cultural anthropologists study people from all over the world that are still
around.
a. Imagine that a cultural anthropologist is coming to the US to study us. What
might be different?
i.
American football vs “football’ around the globe.
1. They would think it was different that we call it soccer.
b. Ethnocentrism: judging others by our own understanding of the world.
i.
You cannot judge others, you must be kind and understand that their
culture is different.
ii. This is VERY important.
c. Brazilian culture.
4. Slide #3: Today, we will learn how anthropologists study humans. This process is called
“ethnography.”
a. Anthropologists make ethnographies which are descriptions of the culture.
5.
6.
7.
8.
b. They observe people very closely.
c. HOW do they do this?
i.
They ask questions and write down what they learn.
ii. They also take pictures and videos.
iii. Show pictures from their clan activities.
1. We take pictures of you guys and write blogs for people from other
places.
Slide #4: In order to do this, anthropologists go to the field. They go to places like brazil,
which is our theme culture.
a. Picture of anthropologists in brazil.
b. They commit to live with the people that they are studying, usually for at least an
ENTIRE year.
i.
Why do they stay for so long?
1. It’s very important that they observe and participate in the culture
of the people so they can learn as much as they can.
Slide #5: Anthropologists must learn about the language of the culture they are studying.
They must learn how to speak the language. Does anyone know what language is spoken
in brazil?
i.
Portuguese.
ii. In Madagascar, they speak Malagasy.
Slide #6: Like we said earlier, anthropologists try to learn as much as they can about a
culture or clan by asking questions and writing down that they have learned.
a. What have you learned about brazil so far?
b. The video from last year
Slide #7: Activity
a. Today, YOU will be the ethnographers and the ones who are under study.
b. Pictures:
i.
These are students from Madagascar that we partner with. They’ll see
videos and pictures of you guys learning that YOU get to film
1. We’ll be bringing iPads in each week that you will get to play
with.
a. Hannah will help you guys, and Iyana has done this before
too.
c. So today, finish your clan’s flag. Hannah is here and she is going to help us today.
She will film you guys this week and next week you will get to use the cameras.