World Culture Project - AP Geography



World Culture Project

Chapters 4-7

This unit explores folk and popular culture as well as the fundamentals of religion, ethnicity and political geography. This project allows students to use creative skills to fully understand the concept of culture in our modern and ever changing world. In connection with the chapters of study, each student will have the opportunity to utilize their creative energy to demonstrate understanding. There are a variety of projects that can be completed. _______________________________________________________________

Folk Culture(Chapter 4)

• Building/dwelling:

o Research an area or a group from around the world that represents the basics of folk culture. An example would be the Amish in America or the Masai in Africa

o Students will create/build a dwelling that would be used by the culture in question

o Students must fully develop the characteristics of the dwelling, to include sleeping arrangements, location of vital areas of the home, superstitions or anything else that pertains to the group in question

o The dwelling must be 3-dimensional and include the surrounding area if it applies to the organization of the dwelling itself

o Around the walls, or inside the home students must also visually describe the group and its various characteristics, to include organization, history, current situation and examples of its folk culture

• Sports Visual

o Students will research a non-conventional sport that is currently played in society today(such as cricket or croquet)

o Using an instrument from the sport, students will create/make that visual to show to the class

o On the visual somewhere, the students will prepare information concerning the origin, history and overview of the sport in question

• Folk Art

o Students will research the art of an indigenous group and a visualization of a folk culture of their choosing

o Students will go to a ceramic shop, such as the one in the Grossmont Mall and create a plate which illustrates the culture that they chose

o In addition, each student needs present their plate along with some creative explanation of the visuals included, such as hanging the plate on a wooden board with explanations around the outside.

• Folk Clothing

o Student will research a folk culture found in the world today and research its clothing style

o The student will hand make a piece of clothing that illustrates the clothing style of the folk culture in question.

o This might include Dutch Klompen’s or Lederhosen, or anything else that represents a traditional form of clothing

o In a creative way on the piece of clothing, students will explain the visual, the reason and history behind the attire and an overview of the culture in question

• Field Study-Housing

o Each student will visit AT LEAST three small, older communities around the greater San Diego metropolitan area, such as Julian or Old Town

o Students will collect photographs of the three areas in question for a field study of the dwellings

o Students will compare older dwellings to the newer ones in the same area

o In some creative way, each student will prepare a visual that illustrates the differences between the three areas, visuals might include a diorama or a visual cube that organizes the information creatively

o The types of dwellings must be discussed and researched for their history, construction and regional differences

• Other

o There are so many ways to visually describe folk culture, it is up to the student to find a way to clearly identify the meaning behind folk culture around the world

o You need to check with me before you choose something

o There are some really great icons/symbols, see me if you want help thinking of something

General—each student must address the problems concerning the loss of folk culture as a part of their project. On EACH visual, this MUST be addressed through a discussion of popular culture and globalization. Please make sure that you FULLY address the topic and cover the RUBRIC!!!!!!!

Language(Chapter 5)

➢ Language Tree

o Students will create a 3-d tree of a language spoken in today’s society, however, the language must not be a “main” language such as English, German or Italian,

o The trunk of the tree is the area or original starting point of the language. The branches of the tree include the countries where the language is spoken including the percentages of people who speak it

o The tree must include a flat base, around the base students will identify the diffusion of the language, the alphabet, the history and any other pertinent information

➢ Language Map

o Each student will create a map of the languages found around the world.

o The projection must not be a traditional style normally found in the book, choose something unique and different

o ALL countries must be included and the map must be hand drawn

o The map essentials must be included

o In addition to the information listed above, the students must include an overlay of some other pertinent information concerning something connected to the language, such as development, dialects spoken or anything else that would provide a “mash-up” of the language and other important information

Religion(Chapter 6)

❖ Religious Journal/Field Study

o Students will choose 5 religions/sects to research and study. No more than 2 can be from the same religion

o Students will go and visit the places of worship for each of the chosen religions/sects

o On each of the visits, pictures should be taken IF ALLOWED!!!

o Students will create a journal of their field study which should include:

▪ Brief history

▪ Pictures

▪ Architectural style and its significance

▪ Main components of the religion

▪ Feelings/opinions of the place of worship

❖ Religious map/mash-up

o Students will construct a map projection, BY HAND, which is not a Robinson or Mercator projection. It must be unique

o The map must incorporate the religions found around the world along with the most important sights for each of the world religions

o The map must be colorful, creative and hand-drawn

o All map essentials must be found on the map

Ethnicity(Chapter 7)

▪ Ethnic Cleansing Symbol

o Students will create a 3-d visual which illustrates the concept/issue of ethnic cleansing

o Students will choose FIVE examples of ethnic cleansing from recent history(100) years

o On the visual, each of the examples must be addressed and include the following parts:

▪ Map/location

▪ Reasons/history behind the event

▪ Major people involved

▪ Timeline

▪ Results of the ethnic strife and current situation in the area

o Students that choose to complete this assignment need to FULLY develop each of the 5 examples of ethnic cleansing.

o The visual needs to represent the problem in some creative way, and each of the five areas need to be completed accordingly

▪ Museum of Tolerance

o Students will visit the Museum of Tolerance in Torrance, CA and complete an activity(if you wish to complete this assignment, see Mr. Root)

General(all chapters)

✓ Web Page

o Students will create a web page using software listed below

o Students will choose an ethnicity, language, religion or folk culture to research and develop into a web site

o AT LEAST 5 tabs must be done out of the following list of possibilities

▪ History, location, major elements/characteristics, resources/links, art, food, dance/song, customs, holidays, method of diffusion, threats to culture…other??

o The site needs to utilize creative and unique information. You may not just cut and past information from the internet.

o This is like a poster board completed on the internet

✓ Web quest

o This is a more creative and interactive web page that students create as a project with links and connections to outside web pages

o Using the thinkquest site, students will provide a connection to outside information which guides students on a path through the internet.

o In each of these cases, I can help you with this process, but the thinkquest site does provide a tutorial for students to use

this a blog style website, easy to use and navigate

this is a more traditional website creator

Basics:

• ALL projects ideas must be discussed with me before students are allowed to embark on their cultural journey

• Considering this is the last and largest project of your semester expectations are high, so make sure you put some effort into it. Please see rubric for grading

• All projects will be presented on the due date, there is absolutely no late work allowed…..once the date is up there is no chance to turn in anything!!!!!

• Essentially this is an individual project and your grade is based on effort, so looking for loop holes is not suggested

o I am open to suggestions on group work, but you have to come up with something pretty amazing….good luck(

Topic Due date____________________

Due Date__________________

Rubric:

Name_________________________Period_______Score___________

Chapter Covered__________________Project_____________________

Score Description

|90%-100% |Upper/Middle Ends: Students demonstrate a great deal of understanding of the topic, creativity is |

|Exceptional |exceptional, the visual is clear, concise and students have demonstrated a great deal of effort in the |

|Dynamic |construction or presentation of the topic. THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OUT OR UNANSWERED |

|Colorful |Lower/Middle Ends: The student has illustrated a clear understanding of the demands of the project. A |

|Clear |high degree of creativity is present; when appropriate the project is colorful, well organized and |

|Concise |completed. One issue or question is left unanswered or undeveloped. |

|Complete | |

|Analytical | |

|80%-89% |Upper/Middle Ends: Students have demonstrated a clear understanding of the assignment. The project is |

|Above average |creative, detailed and clear. Students have shown a high degree of analysis and have processed the |

|Creative |information well. Where appropriate students may not have shown enough effort, understanding or |

|Clear |creativity or have left a few questions unanswered |

|Educational |Lower/Middle: The project is creative, clear, developed and the students have shown an understanding of |

|Analytical |the assignment. There are few questions or issues that need to be resolved or clarified. The project is |

| |well done overall, but needs more clarity, creativity, color or explanation to reach the upper marks |

|70%-79% |All Levels: The student has completed the assignment and done an overall good job. The project is |

|Average |adequately creative, clear and the student has shown an understanding of the demands of the project. |

|Creative |However, it is average as a whole, or needs to show more creativity and a higher level of analytic skills|

|Complete | |

|Colorful | |

|60%-69% |All Levels: The project lacks in one distinct area, it is not as creative, colorful or complete as it |

|Below Average |could be. It is below average and does not fully meet the demands of the assignment. It does not |

|Decent |completely reflect the time allotted for the assignment |

|Creative | |

|Educational | |

|59% and below |All Levels: The project leaves several questions unanswered, the project lack creativity or just does not|

| |meet the demands of the assignment. It is not complete |

|Far below Average | |

|Incomplete | |

Notes:

I _______________________certify that the work my child did was his/her own and reflected their own ideas. I understood the demands of the project and have read the rubric.

X__________________________________________________________________[pic]

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