Explain:
It is very interesting to consider how deep geologic time shaped cultures. Often historians consider more recent time and how it shaped cultures across the world. However, it’s worthwhile to think about how the landforms formed that put the resources in place where people would find them and settle near them. It was tectonics pushed up the mountains that provide for the drainages where water flows for the game, fish and for crops! What would our world be like if its plates didn’t move? Without the ancient systems to create landforms it is likely that resources could be largely unconcentrated and very hard to gather and support life.
Geography shapes culture exactly because of the concentration of resources that is happening on a geologic time scale. Worldwide we can think of these things simply by naming great river cultures and listing how they utilized their resources. A very similar activity can be undertaken in Alaska. Comparing larger regions like the Google Earth activity for the week points out a lot of differences. Looking at river cultures of Western Alaska many similarities can be seen with subtle changes based on geography and later considering influences from European and Russian cultures.
The Inupiaq, Unangan, Tlingit, Yupik and Athabascans all developed very different ways of adapting to their geography, but they also had some similarities because of their proximity on earth and similarities in climate. Certainly all of them want to preserve their environment and pass their cultures on their children. Native cultures that live off of the land have a lot of options about how they could live. It was eye opening to hear a man on a TD clip point out that limiting our options limits our ability to survive!
Extend:
As I reflect on my teaching, I am excited that I am making connecting geography and culture as one of the cornerstones of my 7th grade course about ancient civilizations. Before this module I had not thought of incorporating and processes of deep time into my course, but I could easily work with the physical science teacher next door to incorporate this material with collaboration between our classes!
Evaluate:
Using Google Earth and other mapping software will continue to be a large part of my courses. I am continually impressed by how much one can learn about a landscape and how to live on it by looking at maps and considering the implications of imprudent vs. careful planning when living in an area.
A popular activity that I was first exposed to when I was a middle-schooler was looking at a topo-map with some resource symbols and trying to pick out the best place to make a camp. Digitized and interactive GIS makes this basic activity much more hands on and adjustable! Showing students a basic map and layering on new data sets to provide clues for the kids helps them learn about how resources are positioned and accessible in a world with limited transportation and creature comforts.
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