What is Culture?
Exploring the Seven Elements of Culture
Culture is the way of life of a group of people.
We will learn that there are six key parts to a group's culture: Customs, Language, Art, Religion, System of Government, and System of Economics.
The first element of culture we are going to explore is a group's customs.
Customs are a set of rules of behavior that are written or unwritten. Customs can also be related to celebration .
Another element of culture is language.
Language is important because it provides communication and helps share similar ideas with people.
Language is simply the way a culture communicates.
Another element of a culture is its art.
Art is made through paintings, carvings , buildings and physical pieces of art . Art can also be made through pieces of writting, and music.
Art is important to a culture because it gives a great look into a culture's ideas, beliefs and its history.
Another element of culture is religion.
Religion is a belief system, usually in a higher power like a god(s).
Religions follow two rules of monotheism and polytheism.
Monotheism is the belief in one god.
Polytheism is the belief in many gods, or more than one.
Government is also an element of culture.
Government is how a culture protects its citizens and makes a set of set written laws to what the citizens can and can't do.
World-wide there are many forms of government.
In the United States, we use a form of government called Democracy.
Democracy is a form of government where the power of lawmaking and voting for government officials is held by the people.
Finally, economic systems are the last element of a culture.
Economic systems are related to goods in a culture.
An economic system answers three question:
- What goods are made
- How the goods are made
- Who gets the goods after they are made
Economic systems are important to culture because it sets rules for the types of goods a culture has in its stores.