By: E. I. See Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland Grade 3 Integrated Curriculum 2012

Everyone is born into a culture. Our parents and grandparents pass on their culture to us. We pass on our culture to our children. From the time we are born, we are taught how to think, what to believe, and how to behave. This is all culture. Parents share their culture with their children.

Culture is expressed in what we eat, the clothes we wear, the homes we live in, and the way we spend our free time. Our culture influences our ideas about what is right and wrong, what is beautiful and ugly, and what is important and what is not. We learn our culture by observing people and sharing ideas.

People’s behavior shows elements of their culture. Elements of culture include:  How people are grouped together—families and other groups  How people provide for the common needs of a group including keeping order and providing protection— government  How people use resources— economics

 How people express beliefs— religion  How people communicate thoughts, feelings, and knowledge—language, arts, and literature  How people communicate rules for behavior—customs and traditions  How people use their free time—recreation

Cultures develop and change through interaction with different people and different cultures. Interaction includes talking, trading, playing, and many other things.

Cultures change when ideas or customs move from one place to another. This happens when people move. When people move, they share goods, ideas, customs, traditions, skills, and technology with the people they meet. They share culture.

People share culture when they share customs and traditions. In a neighborhood, one person may recognize a birthday by hosting a party where the guests sing a birthday song around a cake covered with burning candles, play a game of pin the tail on the donkey, and bring presents.

Another person may celebrate a birthday by breaking a piñata filled with candy, dancing to music, and eating favorite foods. Yet another person may choose not to recognize birthdays at all. When people learn about these customs and traditions, they may or may not choose to add them into their own way of recognizing birthdays. This is one way that people share culture.

Another way that people share culture is by trading goods. Improvements in transportation networks have connected people around the world. Not only do people share their cultures as they travel from place to place, but their goods can also share culture. Goods are transported around the world by airplanes, ships, trains, and trucks. With these goods come ideas and information from the cultures where they were produced. Trading goods allows people to share culture.

When people take ideas about how to use goods in a different way, they are sharing culture. Think about the food goods that are available in the United States. A shopper can find goods, such as bananas from Costa Rica, salsa from Mexico, chocolate from Belgium, and rice from Indonesia, just to name a few. People use goods and recipes from around the world to cook.

This is a recipe for hot champorado, a breakfast food made with rice, served in the Philippines. It is a chocolate rice porridge. This recipe was shared on the internet. Today it is easy for people to share ideas (culture) electronically. Ingredients:  1 cup sweet sticky rice, rinsed and drained  5 cups water  6 ounces dark semisweet chocolate  1/3 cup sugar  1 can evaporated milk, or a cup of whole or low-fat milk Directions:  Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in a metal bowl set on top of a pot of simmering water.  Bring rice and water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce the heat and let the rice simmer gently. After 15 minutes, add melted chocolate and sugar and whisk vigorously until everything is thoroughly combined. Let the rice simmer for a while longer until it is cooked, another five minutes or so.  Serve either hot or chilled with a generous drizzle of milk.

Rice is a good used around the world. This is one way that people use rice in Southern India. This Banana Rice recipe was shared on the internet. Today it is easy for people to share ideas (culture) electronically. Ingredients:  2 cups of rice, cleaned and washed  6 green chilies, finely sliced  1 small onion, chopped  2 bananas, peeled and diced  2 tbsp of desiccated coconut  2 tsp of sugar  ½ tsp of salt  2 tbsp of lemon juice  4 tbsp of cooking oil Directions:  Cook the rice till soft and tender. Drain rice in a strainer under running water. Return to pan with a little oil to keep the grains separate. Mix the green chilies, onion, bananas, coconut, sugar, salt, and lemon juice in a large bowl. Stir in the cooked rice gradually into the banana mixture, taking care not to mash the bananas.  Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

This is a recipe from Spain that was shared on the internet. Ingredients:  3 tablespoons olive oil  2 onions, thinly sliced  1 garlic clove, crushed  1 green pepper, white pith removed, seeded and thinly sliced  2 red peppers, white pith removed, seeded and thinly sliced  12 oz. mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced  14 oz. canned peeled tomatoes, chopped  1 1/2 oz. [1/2 cup] stoned green olives  1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper  5 oz. [2 cups] cooked rice Preparation Directions:  In a large frying-pan, heat the oil over moderate heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions and garlic to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes or until the onions are soft and translucent but not brown.  Add the green and red peppers and cook for 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the mushrooms, tomatoes with the can juice, olives, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes.  Add the rice to the pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly, or until the rice is heated through.  Transfer the mixture to a warmed serving dish. Serve immediately, if you are serving it hot.

Media allows people from around the world to share their cultures. Stories are shared through books, movies, television, phones, radios, and computers. Stories often share ideas about family, government, customs, and traditions. Stories enable people to share culture.

Television and social media enable people to share events the moment they happen. A sports event, such as the World Cup (an international soccer competition), the Super Bowl (a yearly championship football game in the United States) or Sumo Wrestling (a competitive full-contact sport in Japan), can be shared with people throughout the world in real time.

During an event, people from around the world not only see the event but also the spectators. People from around the world see how people behave and what they wear. This is an example of sharing culture.

Culture can be shared in many ways. When people move from place to place, they take their culture with them. They share information with others. They exchange ideas, tools, beliefs, and skills with the people they meet. These exchanges change culture. This can make people better at the things they do whether it is farming, banking, sculpting, teaching, or building houses. When people trade goods, the goods take the producers’ cultures with them. Today media allows culture to be shared quickly over long distances.