Ritual has been an integral part of human life in every civilization and every historical era, and the rituals of all cultures have common characteristics.

In this lesson, students will identify characteristics of traditional and modern rituals found in different cultures. Through reading articles and watching videos of several rituals, students will identify some of their characteristics. Finally, students will apply their understanding to modern rituals in their own lives.

Geography, history (world and/or American), social studies, art

Standard 10: "The characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earth’s cultural mosaics"

Two hours

• Computer with Internet access

Students will

• list characteristics of rituals;
• identify examples of these characteristics in the rituals of various cultures and traditions; and
• identify examples of rituals in modern American life.

Some consider rituals to be archaic or quaint traditional cultural events which are no longer meaningfully present in modern experience. On the contrary, rituals remain an important and enduring aspect of our daily life. Modern society has both retained traditional rituals and accepted new ones. In this lesson, students will explore some traditional rituals and their modern counterparts.

Ask students what they think of when they hear the word "ritual." Accept all responses. Ask if anyone has attended a ritual. Again, accept all responses. Then, explain that they will be examining rituals from traditional cultures, and both modern and traditional rituals from their own.

Show the students the Descent into the Maya Underworld video. Tell students to try to identify characteristics of the rituals as they watch the video.

After the video, have students share their ideas of characteristics of the rituals. Write their responses on the board. Then, explain that there are many characteristics that rituals share, and that they will be exploring several of those today. Use the following list to help guide the discussion toward these characteristics:

• Ceremony (or pageantry)
• Religious devotion (prayer, expressions of faith, etc.)
• Sacrifice (of food, animals, or goods)
• Arts (music, visual arts, dance)
• Life cycle (birth, death, coming of age, etc.)
• Relationships (between people, animals, the natural world, the divine, etc.)
• Petition (asking for intervention or assistance)

Divide the students into groups of three. Have students watch the video again, this time reflecting on the seven characteristics of ritual described above. Have the students find examples of each of those characteristics in the Mayan cave ritual. Reconvene as a group and ask students to share their findings.

Then, explain to students that they will be conducting research on two traditional rituals. Have students read the following articles:

National Geographic News: Weeping Camel—A Real Mongolian Tear-Jerker
National Geographic News: Painted Past—Borneo's Traditional Tattoos

Then, students will use an interactive Venn diagram to indicate the presence or absence of the seven characteristics of ritual in the two rituals they have just read about. As students complete the Venn diagram, be sure they use the "Notes" tab to describe which aspect of the ritual reflects each characteristic they identify.

Reconvene as a whole class, review the list of characteristics, and have students share examples of those characteristics in each of the rituals.

Ask students to list as many modern rituals as possible, such as marriages, funerals, and Thanksgiving dinners. Then, in groups of four, have students prepare for a debate to answer this question: Is a birthday party a modern ritual? Use standard debate procedures to have students resolve the issue.

Have students create a chart showing which characteristics of a ritual are apparent in the Fourth of July. Have them determine if this holiday is a modern ritual.

Have students watch The Story of the Weeping Camel to find at least four instances of ritual in the film. For example:

• The grandmother's early morning ritual of sprinkling milk in the four directions
• The adorning and anointing of the first-born calf
• The sacrifice of food during the whole-village ritual
• The ritual of the weeping camel

Note that the film is rated PG and should be previewed by the teacher prior to showing in the classroom. You may wish to show only portions of the film as it contains some mature content (characters smoking, a camel giving birth, a child being bathed, etc.).

National Geographic Magazine: Descent Into the Maya Underworld
National Geographic News: Weeping CamelA Real Mongolian Tear-Jerker
National Geographic: The Story of the Weeping Camel