World Cultures: Resource Book

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© 2005 Dr Ellen K. Rudolph www.drellenrudolph.com

© ReadyEdPubl i cat i ons •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y•

o c . che e r o t r s supe r

by Sandy Tasker

About Ready-Ed Publications Ready-Ed Publications was established in 1984 with the purpose of creating practical classroom blackline master activities. At the time, the role of the teacher was becoming ever more diverse with an increasing range of duties and responsibilities within the school and school community. Since then, the role of the teacher has continued to evolve with an escalating range of tasks and obligations, ensuring a reduction in time available to prepare work for the daily instructional program.

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Throughout these past 27 years, Ready-Ed Publications has built a reputation as publishers of Australian made, high quality, innovative, timesaving materials for teachers of primary and lower secondary levels. In addition, all materials are based on state or national curriculum guidelines or specific age-related interest areas and subjects.

A Resource for Young Learners: World Cultures © 2006 Ready-Ed Publications (Revised 2011) Printed in Australia Author: Sandy Tasker Typesetting and Cover Design: Shay Howard ISBN: 978 186 397 646 6

Acknowledgements:

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Ready-Ed Publications aims to assist busy professionals by making available contemporary classroom materials that contain relevant and stimulating work to support the requirements of the curriculum.

© ReadyEdPubl i cat i ons •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y•

i. Clip art images have been obtained from Microsoft Design Gallery Live and are used under the terms of the End User License Agreement for Microsoft Word 2000. Please refer to www.microsoft.com/permission.

ii. IMSI credits: Where credited the images used were obtained from IMSI’s Masterclips/MasterPhotos collection, 1895 Francisco Blvd, East San Rafael, CA 94901-5506 USA. www.imsisoft.com iii. COREL credits: Where credited the images used were obtained from Corel Corporation collection, 1600 Carling Ave., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1Z 8R7.

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Cover images:

i. Native Americans , Thai dancers, Maasai – IMSI Collection ii. Totem , Japanese cherry blossom, sphinx – Courtesy Microsoft Design Gallery

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iii. Aboriginal cave art – © Dr Ellen K. Rudoph, www.2docstock.com

Published by: Ready-Ed Publications PO Box 276 Greenwood WA 6023 www.readyed.com.au info@readyed.com.au

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iv. Photos from individual sources have been acknowledged where applicable. While every attempt has been made to acknowledge the ownership of photos used herein, in some instances this has not been possible. If you know of the photographers for these images, please contact the publisher so that proper acknowledgement can be given.

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All rights reserved. The reproduction of any part of this book for an entire school or school system or for commercial use is strictly prohibited. No form of this work may be reproduced, transmitted or recorded without written permission from the publisher. Requests for such permissions should be addressed to Ready-Ed Publications.

WORLD CULTURES

Contents Family Life in Ancient Greece......... 36

Why Are Cultures So Different?......... 6

At Home With the Ancient Greeks.. 37

Types of Culture............................... 7

Party with the Greeks...................... 38

Types of Culture............................... 8

The Olympic Games 1.................... 39

Cultures at a Glance......................... 9

The Olympic Games 2.................... 40

Cultures at a Glance....................... 10

The Vikings................................... 41

Aboriginal Australians................... 11

Lost at Sea? Never......................... 42

Special Stories................................ 12

Fun Facts About Vikings................. 43

Picture This.................................... 13

Modern Scandinavia...................... 44

Didge You Know?........................... 14

Sweet Sweden................................ 45

Living Off The Land....................... 15

Dynamic Denmark......................... 46

The New Zealand Mäori............... 16

Japan............................................ 47

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What is a Culture?............................ 5

© ReadyEdP ubl i cat i ons Squeezed In................................... 49 Fantastic .............................

Sushi, Rice and Things Nice.

•Feasts. f or r evi ew 19 pur po se sallo nl y •...... 50

Mäori-speak................................... 17

Tattoos and Dancing Moves............ 18

All Sorts of Sports........................... 48

Thailand........................................ 51

Home Sweet Home........................ 21

Thai School.................................... 52

Desert Dolls................................... 22

Kenya - Maasai............................. 53

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Native Americans.......................... 20

Buffalo Business............................. 23

Holy Cow!...................................... 54

Tepee Town.................................... 24

Ancient Egypt................................ 55

Pyramids - Standing the Test of Time.56 . te Mayan Culture..............................

26 Inside a Pyramid............................

57 o c the Huts!.58 .

Mayan Meals.................................

27 King Tut – Hidden Under c e her 28 The Write r Mayan Brains.................................

Stuff...............................

59 o t s s r u e p Fun and Games............................. 29 In Fashion...................................... 60 Wigwams and Wampum................. 25

Mexico Today................................ 30

A Multicultural Society.................... 61

Posadas and Pinatas...................... 31

A Multicultural Society.................... 62

Christmas in Mexico....................... 32

Cultures Online.............................. 63

Mexican Munchies......................... 33 What to Wear in Mexico................. 34 Ancient Greece............................. 35 3

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WORLD CULTURES

What is a Culture?

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Culture. You see this word all the world. You might have the time but what is a culture? relatives from some of these A culture is the way that countries, or perhaps you people from different places have even been there yourself. live. A culture is what people eat, wear and do for fun each Have fun exploring day. A culture is what people the cultures of the celebrate, what they believe world – don’t forget in and how they share their your passport! stories through art, music and dance.

A. Australia Aboriginal In this book, you will read B. New Zealand Mäori Native American (Indians) about life in different cultures C. USA D. Mexico Mayan; Mexican from far and wide. © ReadyEdP ubl i ca t i on s E. Greece Ancient Greek On the map below, you can F. Scandinavia Vikings Jp apan Japanese •f or r e i ew puG. r oses onl y• see that you will bev learning H. Thailand Thai about cultures from countries I. Kenya Maasai warriors in many different parts of J. Egypt Ancient Egyptian

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Why Are Cultures So Different?

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Thousands of years ago, it was very hard to visit or see other parts of the world.

There were no planes or big ships to travel on, and no television or Internet to learn about other cultures. People relied on their environment to stay alive. They passed on stories to their children and taught them how to survive. Many cultures did not know how other people lived so there were lots of differences.

In this book, you will learn about:

that people eat r o e t s B r e oo Celebrations in p different cultures u k S How cultures use

 The different foods  

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their environment to build homes  What people wear in different cultures Now, you can jump on a plane and be in  Stories told in other cultures another country in a matter of hours, or switch on the television and learn all about a different  Art, games and entertainment in culture. In this book, you will discover many of other cultures the differences between cultures, but you will  How we know also see how some things are the same, no about cultures matter where you live. from thousands of years ago

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Types of Culture People belong to a culture for many different reasons. Below are some of the different types of culture that you might learn about.

Ancient civilisations Indigenous culture or e t

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Ancient civilisations existed The very first people to live between 5000 and 2000 in a country or an area are years ago. Many new things called indigenous or native were used and invented in people. Before large ships ancient times and people or planes were built, it was started to learn a lot more hard to explore new areas about the world around them. so the indigenous culture Archaeologists often survived for many years are people who without changing the way explore thea ruins of s © ReadyEdP ubl i c t i on that they lived. ancient buildings

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•f or r evi ew pur po ses nl y• Indigenous cultures knew and study theo how to live in harmony with artefacts that they find from their environment, without these ancient civilisations. By wasting or destroying anything. Indigenous cultures looking closely at the things left behind, we can discover studied in this book include what life was like thousands Aboriginal Australians, New of years ago! You can read Zealand Mäori, Native Americans and Maasai tribes about the ancient civilisations of the Greeks, the Egyptians from Africa. and the Mayans in this book.

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Artefact = A tool or an object that was used by humans many years ago.

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Types of Culture Traditional culture

If you walk down a busy city street, you will probably see many subcultures.

Subcultures are groups of people that live in the same country or area but have different beliefs and habits.

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As the world became more populated (more people were being born), people set off to explore new lands, and before long, there were cultures of people in almost every part of the world.

Subculture

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Nowadays, the world is divided up into many countries You might see a surfing subculture that loves the and each country has a beach, a subculture of unique culture. In this book, business workers talking you will learn about ©R eatraditional dyEdP u bl i cat i o ns on their mobile phones food and clothing in Japan, and a music •f o rr evi ew pu r po sessubculture onl y• traditional celebrations of people lining up to buy in Mexico and traditional tickets for their favourite puppetry in Indonesia. band.

WORLD CULTURES

Cultures at a Glance Culture Australian Aboriginal

Language Hundreds of different languages

Religion Creation or Dreaming stories of spirit ancestors

foods Native nuts, berries, fish, kangaroo, lizards, snakes

artefacts Boomerang, woomera, spears, shields, digging stick, rock paintings

Father and Earth Mother

ing in a hole in the ground

carvings, wooden carvings

Native Ameri- Different can (Indians) languages in each tribe or group

Varies from tribe to tribe – most believe in spirits or gods

Foods varied depending on environment.

Included fish, berries, vegetables, buffalo

Jewellery, weaving, baskets, totem poles, Kachina dolls, beaded belts, buffalo hide items

Mayan language and hieroglyphic written language

Believed in many gods – gods of nature, gods of the sun and stars, calendar gods

Corn (maize) Carvings, cacao painting, (chocolate pottery bean), chilli peppers, beans and squash

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok Woven flax mats Mäori Native birds, Mäori language Legends of u (New Zealand) S vegetables, and baskets, creation by Hangi – cookgreenstone gods – Sky

Mayan

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. teMainly Spanish Mainly Roman Corn, tortillas, oPiñata, Catholic beans, chilli,csombrero hat, . che burritos,e poncho r o enchiladas, t r s super tacos, nachos,

Mexican

beef and chicken

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek dialects

Mythology – stories of gods including Zeus, Athena, Apollo and Aphrodite

Statues, Olives, flat bread, grapes, sculpture, pottery, coins wine, lamb, fish and other seafood 9

WORLD CULTURES

Cultures at a Glance Language Used an alphabet of symbols known as runes

japanese

Religion Believed in Norse gods who acted a lot like people. Vahalla was a Viking “heaven”

foods artefacts Fish, seaweed, Carved boats shellfish, seals, made of wood, whales, bread drinking mugs made of animal with a meat topping (such horns, wood or metal as boar or moose), honey Rice, fish, meat Kimonos, and vegetables, origami, sushi, sashimi, calligraphy, dolls, pottery teriyaki, miso, pickled vegetables, noodles

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S Shinto or Japanese Buddhist

thai (Thailand) Thai

Mainly Buddhist

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Culture vikings

Rice, hot and spicy meat and vegetable dishes, curries, coriander, coconut and lime flavoured dishes

Statues of Buddha, elephant statues, silver jewellery, silk clothing

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Maasai warriors (kenya)

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Maasai, Swahili Believe in gods Mainly cattle Beaded and sometimes such as a sun milk and cattle jewellery, god and a rain blood English carved statues god

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o c . che e r o t r s super Pyramids, Ancient Bread, Mythology of Egyptian with hieroglyphic written language

many gods, such as Ra, Atum and Amun

gold masks, vegetables, mummies, dried fish, a statues, board thick type of beer and honey games

WORLD CULTURES

Aboriginal Australians

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called Indigenous many years – some say Australians.

60,000 years or more!

Above is the There are over 200 Australian Aboriginal different groups flag. The black of Aboriginals in stands for the Australia, well asd ©asR ea yEdPubl i c at i o ns Aboriginal people, the groups of people from •f o rr e vi ew pur pos estands son l y • red for the earth the Torres Strait Islands (the group of islands between and the yellow circle is the sun.

Australia and Papua New The Aboriginal people believe Guinea). that the land is very important – it provides food and shelter and needs to be looked after.

The sun is also very special – it is the giver of life.

© 2005 Dr Ellen K. Rudolph, www.drellenrudolph.com

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r o e t s B r e o Australian Aboriginals The Aboriginal p o u k and Torres Strait Australians have lived S Islanders are often in Australia for many,

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Did you know?

The word “aboriginal” means native.

The first people living in a country or area are the aboriginal people.

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Special Stories Do you have a favourite story?

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Image courtesy Microsoft Design Gallery

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The Aboriginal people believe that the spirit ancestors had special powers and could change into giant animals.

Many Aboriginal groups tell the story of a giant snake-like creature who slithered its way through the land, carving out the rivers and valleys with its long body.

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You can read more about the Dreaming by asking your librarian to help you find some books or websites on the subject.

Perhaps you might even know an Aboriginal person who can tell you some stories.

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Aboriginal people talk about a creation time, also called the Dreaming. This is where important stories are told by Aboriginal groups to explain how the land, animals, plants and people look like they do today.

The Dreaming stories also teach people to look after each other and the land. For example, some stories tell people not to steal someone else’s food, because in the Australian bush, food is sometimes hard to find and very precious.

WORLD CULTURES

Picture This browns and yellows. Black charcoal and white clay were also used.

r o e t Family s Bo matters r e p ok The family was, and still is, a u very important part of Aboriginal S culture. Family groups are very large and include aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. Children are taught to respect the older people, called elders, because they pass on the stories and advice on how to live in harmony with each other and the land.

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Traditional Aboriginal groups did not write their ideas in words. Instead they painted pictures on bark, rocks, or cave walls. The pictures showed what the spirits looked like, how to hunt animals or what happened during special ceremonies. Many cave paintings can be found throughout Australia today.

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This photo shows a spirit painted on the ceiling of a cave in North Queensland.

© 2005 Dr Ellen K. Rudolph, www.drellenrudolph.com

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For paint, Aboriginal people used a type of crushed rock ©R ead yEdPubl i cat i ons or clay called ochre, which came• in f many shades ofw reds, orr evi e pur posesonl y•

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Didge You Know?

Wooden tapping sticks are often played to create a background beat for the sounds of the didgeridoo.

Today, didgeridoos are used in traditional ceremonies as well as modern Aboriginal rock music.

through the nose and mouth is used to play the didgeridoo.

It is called circular breathing.

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S A special way of breathing

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Have you ever heard the amazing sounds of the didgeridoo? This simple instrument, used by Australian Aboriginal people for many, many years, can produce the most incredible music.

Sounds of Australian A didgeridoo is made from animals can be made tree branches that have had using the didgeridoo. ©R ea dy EdPu bl i c at i ons Bee’s wax is used to make the mouth-piece smoother.

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the middle eaten out by tiny f or r evi ew pur posesonl y• insects• called termites!

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WORLD CULTURES

Living Off The Land animals and gathered, or collected, plants. Weapons such as spears were carved from wood and used to hunt animals.

r o e t s Bo r e p o The boomerang is u k S perhaps the best-

When it looked like the food was running out, the people would move to a new area, so that they did not destroy the environment.

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Aboriginal people used the land wisely to find a well balanced diet of native fruits, berries, vegetables, nuts and grains. They would eat animals such as fish, kangaroo, duck, goanna and snake.

known Aboriginal weapon – used to hunt large animals such as the kangaroo by knocking them to the ground.

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The digging © ReadyEdP ubl i cat i ons The phrase used for the way stick was used to dig •f orr e vi e w pur ose so nground, l y•such that Aboriginals found their upp foods from the food is hunter-gatherer, as yams, which are a kind of meaning that they hunted “bush potato”.

Aboriginal people used fire for cooking, keeping warm and keeping insects and snakes away. Sometimes plants were burnt so that they could grow fresh shoots.

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The New Zealand Mäori

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from Polynesia about 1000 years ago. They were the first people to live in New Zealand.

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok The Mäori people u came to NewS Zealand

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Did you know?

The landscape of New Zealand is so varied and beautiful, it has been used to film many movies. You might have seen some of them.

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WORLD CULTURES

Mäori-speak The Mäori word for hello is “kia ora”. Instead of shaking hands or kissing, Mäori people traditionally greet each other with a hongi – where two people press their noses together. It is probably not the best time to sneeze!

All about art

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© New Zealand Nature Company

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Arts and crafts are an important part of Mäori culture. Weaving was done from a plant called flax, which has long flat leaves. These leaves were woven into baskets, mats and fishing nets.

Greenstone is carved to make jewellery. Today, these pendants are very popular and are sold in tourist shops Zealand. © ReadyEdPthroughout ubl i caNew t i o ns You may have seen someone you •f orr evi ew pur po sesone. on l y• know wearing Each design has a special meaning.

The Mäori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, which means “land of the long white cloud”. A tale is told of an early explorer called Kupe who was travelling the sea in a big canoe. His wife saw a large cloud in the distance, which told them that there might be land ahead. She called out “He Aotearoa” which meant “A long white cloud!”

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Tattoos and Dancing Moves The Haka is a chant with hand r o e t s Bo r movements and foot stamping, e p ok and was originally u performed by Mäori S warriors before

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Dances with a difference

battle to show their strength.

Nowadays, the Haka is Tattoos known as moko are performed popular with Mäori people. for tourists visiting In the past, sharp instruments New Zealand and is made from bone were used to also performed by the All Blacks rugby team cut swirling designs into the before a game. face. Then a mixture, made

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The Haka Chant:

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from burnt caterpillars and tree gum, was placed into the cuts to make them dark. It was a long and very painful process.

Ka mate, Ka mate Ka ora, Ka ora

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Poi is the Mäori word for ball.

Balls attached to strings were swung around in a dance performed by Mäori women.

Originally, poi dancing was used to make the women’s hands flexible for weaving.

Men used poi to improve their coordination and strength.

WORLD CULTURES

Fantastic Feasts Can you imagine digging for your dinner? A traditional way of Mäori cooking is in a hole in the ground, called a hangi. A fire is made and then stones are placed over the fire.

The hot stones are then rolled into a large hole in the ground. The stones release steam. Meat and vegetables are placed in a wire basket and then covered with wet sheets. The hangi is covered in soil and the tasty meal cooks away for about seven hours in this underground oven!

Big bird

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Another food that Mäori used to eat was the moa, a giant bird that could grow taller than a basketball player and weighed up to 200 kilograms! These birds could not fly so they were easy to hunt. The Mäori ate then meat © ReadyEdPubl i ca t i o s and eggs and used the •f orr evi ew pur pose sonl yclothing.

• feathers for The moa is now extinct, which means there are no more of these big birds to be found.

You’re hooked!

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Before Europeans came to New Zealand, the Mäori survived off the land. They ate lots of native vegetables and fish. One interesting way that they caught fish was to make a lure out of a shiny shell called a paua. The paua shell shimmered underwater and looked like bait. The fish went for it and swallowed a hook made from bone, shell or wood.

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Native Americans

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North America is a huge continent A totem for and the first Americans, known your school as Native Americans, were very good at making the most of where You might have a school crest or a picture on your school t-shirt. they lived. Read on to find out This is a bit like a totem for your how.

school. Perhaps it shows a plant Northwest Friends of the or animal that was found near Forest your school, or perhaps it shows a symbol of friendship or learning.

The Northwest Native Ask your teacher if they know Americans lived in forest what your school symbol means.

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by the people to build their homes, known as lodges.

This group also used tree trunks to make totem poles for outside the front of their homes. Animals, birds and spirits were carved into tree trunks and painted. These animals were symbols that told a special family story.

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© ReadyEdPubl i cat i ons areas. • Large trees were used f or r e vi e w pur posesonl y•

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Home Sweet Home Intermountain Groups – Movin’ on

Southwest Groups – apartment living

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In the Intermountain region The Southwest area was mainly there was less food so the desert. The indigenous groups of this area lived in clay shelters native peoples had to move called pueblos. These homes were around more. Their homes carved into large cliffs called were made of twigs and mesas. Clay bricks called adobe branches and covered in were used to make the walls of the building. reeds. These dome-shaped homes were called wickiups.

Pueblos looked like apartment The people in this area used blocks! Hundreds of people lived in each one. There were windows but whatever they could find to sometimes no door. The families make clothing. In summer, entered thea house bys a ladder, © R e a d y E d P u b l i c t i o n they wore grass skirts. In climbing through a hole in the roof then they took away the ladder so winter• they wore f osometimes rr evi e w pu r p o s e s o n l y • intruders could not get in. a cape made from rabbit fur, which was also used as a blanket at night.

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Desert Dolls Water-wise

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As the Southwest Native Americans lived in the desert, water was not always easy to get and they had rules about how to What else would you have use it in ways that weren’t found in a pueblo? You may have seen examples wasteful. Many places in of pottery, weaving and our country have water Kachina dolls. Kachina dolls restrictions too. Perhaps you were used to teach children have learned some ways to about the © Re dy EdPubl i cat i ogods. ns be water-wise ina your home.

The Native Americans •f orr evi ew pur p o s e s o nl y• believed that gods brought

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them things like rain and sunshine, so they had to make sure they pleased the gods by looking after the land and not being wasteful.

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Buffalo Business

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Plains Groups – A home Buffalo hide where the buffalo roam and seek: Native Americans living on the Some tribes used animal hides as plains depended on animals a disguise to sneak up on buffalo called buffalo for their that they were hunting. The animal survival. They ate the buffalo hide covered the appearance and meat and made clothing and smell of a human. Once they got shelter out of the buffalo skin, close enough, they could capture the buffalo. called hide.

Clothing made from buffalo hide Hide was used to make often had fringes on the sleeves. everything – blankets, shoes, They not only looked great but drums, bags and toys. Buffalo they were very useful – the fringes horns were used to make tools could swat insects away and bits ©R ea dy EdPofuthe bl i cat i on and spoons.

The hoofs were fringe could bes used as also crushed up to make a instant “string” if n things needed • f o r r e v i e w p u r p o s e s o l y • type of glue. The natives only to be tied together. hunted what they needed for survival and did not waste any part of the buffalo.

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Tepee Town A home for all seasons

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Insulation = material used to The homes stop heat from getting in or of the Plains out of an area. tribes were called The Plains tribes had an tepees. They interesting way of facing were made using their enemies. Many long wooden poles thought it was braver to be that were joined able to touch their enemy at the top and and get away than it was spread out in to fight them! a circle at the They had a special stick bottom. The called the coup stick, which poles were © ReadyEdPub l i c at i otouch nsthe they used to then covered enemy.

Ifs they succeeded in buffalo hides.

The •f orr evtepee i ew pur p o s e o n l y • in doing this, they earned often had a fire in the centre. In a feather for their winter an extra layer of animal headdress, which was like hide was added for insulation. a big, feathered wig that In summer, the front flaps were they wore on their heads. left open to let the cool breeze in.

. t eset up a tent on o Have you ever c . che it did e a camping trip? Hopefully r o t r s super not take you too long! Tepees were made so that they could be put up or pulled down in a hurry. This was useful when the tribes had to move quickly to follow a herd of buffalo or to escape from an enemy.

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Wigwams and Wampum Eastern Woodlands Groups

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Native Americans of the Eastern Woodlands regions lived in homes called wigwams.

Wigwams were homes made by bending the trunk of a young tree to make a dome shape, then adding bark and dried grass over the top. Other Woodlands tribes lived in longhouses of wooden frames and bark. A longhouse lived The Eastern Woodlands up to its © name – some could fit P Re ady Ed ubl i cat i oan s people invented game about 12 families inside them. similar to the sport of lacrosse.

•f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• In this game, there was a

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stick with a small net at the end, which was used to scoop and throw a ball. Goals were developed to score points.

Sometimes, the game was used to settle a disagreement, such as who owned a piece of land.

o c . che e r o t r s super Some tribes in the Eastern Woodlands used wampum which was made from tubes of white and purple shells. They were used like beads and strung together in belts. Wampum was used for lots of different reasons – sometimes it was used to vote for a new chief, sometimes it was used in special ceremonies and sometimes it was given as a gift.

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Mayan Culture

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about the Mexican culture of today, let’s find out about what it used to be like many years ago.

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r o e t s BoNot all r Mexico, just southp of e the United States o k of America, is au colourful country full rubbish!

S But before we learn Archaeologists have of vibrant culture.

searched Mayan ruins and have discovered that one of the best ways to learn about About 3000 years ago, a civilisation Mayan life is to go known as the Mayans lived in the through piles of garbage that have Mexican area. been preserved for The Mayans built huge, flat pyramids with many years. This steps on the outside and temples on the means that the top. These stone structures were built in garbage did not rot honour of the gods that they worshipped. away in the ground.

The items that they Here is a ruin of an old Mayan pyramid have found are called that can still be seen today. artefacts. If you could preserve your garbage bin and someone went through it in 1000 years time, what would they discover about how you and your family lived?

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The Mayans also drank a chocolate drink made from the crushed cacao bean. It was thought to be the drink of the gods. It was better if the drink was frothy, so the Mayan people used to pour it from a height to make it froth up.

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Mayan Meals

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What did the Mayan people eat? Well, they were farmers Tricks of the trade who grew a lot of corn, also called maize. Growing healthy The Mayan people traded food ast maize, cocoa ©very Re adyE ubsuch l i ca i ons crops was important to dP and cacao beans and fruit. the Mayans and they prayed •f orr evi ew pur poses on l ytricky • Sometimes they were to the gods of nature to give and made counterfeit beans them good farming weather. by mixing sand or dough in with the real beans. Another trick was to add colour to old beans to make them look fresher.

o c trade . che e r Trade means to swap goods. o t r sdifferent cultures used supe r Many

The Mayans had about 160 different gods!

trade instead of money. For example one Mayan farmer might have traded some cacao beans for some maize. Then he got to enjoy both with his family.

A place that many people go to trade is called a market.

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WORLD CULTURES

Mayan Brains The Mayan people were very clever.

They used maths a lot to help with their trading of food. Their way of counting used groups of 20 instead of groups of 10 (like we do). They used symbols for these numbers. A dot stood for one and a bar stood for 5. They also used the number 0 – which was shown by a shell.

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 17

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  18

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The Mayans also created one of the first written languages. They used pictures and symbols called glyphs to make words. Mayan books made of bark Here are a few numbers using Mayan were called codices symbols. and were folded up like a fan.

The writing was 0= done with brushes © ReadyEdPubl i c at i o ns made from animal f r   hair orl quills • o r e v i e w p u r p o s e s o n y • 1 4 2 3 made from turkey feathers.    Mayan children 5 8 6 7 did not go to school but they    were very busy 9 12 10 11 – they learned by watching and    helping adults do their daily chores.

13 16 14 15

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WORLD CULTURES

Fun and Games Have you ever played soccer?

If you have, you will know you are not allowed to touch the ball with your hands. The Mayans also played a game with a ball that they were not allowed to touch with their hands. It was called pok-atok.

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Mayans had a different idea of beauty to what we have today – it required quite a bit of pain. They thought it was beautiful to have a flat head!

A newborn baby’s head was squeezed between two wooden boards to make the front of the head flatter. This was probably not very comfortable but it did not affect the brain, which luckily is very flexible when you are first born.

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Looking r o e t s Bo good! r e

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The ball was made of rubber and it had to be knocked through a small hoop carved from stone. The winning team ©got Re dy EdPubl i cat i ons sometimes toa keep the jewellery of losing team.

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o c .hung a che The Mayansr also e o a baby’s eyes Mayans also enjoyed music. t bead between r s s r u e p Conch shells were used to make to encourage them to look trumpets, pottery was used to make flutes and turtle shells were used to make rattles. The Mayans played their music and danced in feathered costumes.

inwards – as they thought it was beautiful to be cross-eyed!

They pierced their ears, nose and lips with different types of stone or shell and filed their teeth into pointy shapes.

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Mexico Today

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celebrate their freedom with food, dancing, music and paper flowers.

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Mexico today has been Fiesta fun: Special days in influenced by many Mexico are called fiestas. different cultures. This They are full of colourful means that many costumes, tasty treats and groups of people, like terrific traditions. Keep the Mayans, the reading to find out about Spanish and the some of the celebrations North Americans that Mexican people enjoy. have brought their ideas and© traditions ReadyEdPubl i cat i ons The Day of into Mexico. These ideas •f o rr ev ew pur pos esDead onl y• the have been blended toi November 2: Have you ever create a lively culture seen anyone put flowers on of people who love somebody’s grave? On this to celebrate. special day, people celebrate the life of their friends and relatives who have died. They make dancing skeletons and decorate cemeteries. They even eat candy skulls! This might all sound a bit creepy but the day is just all about remembering people that they May 5: have loved.

On this day, Mexican people

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Posadas and Piñatas Guadalupe Day – December 12:

r o e t s Bo r e p ok Dance is u The Mexican Hat S a famous dance done by

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This is Mexico’s most important religious holiday.

The people celebrate the Virgin of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico. They have special ceremonies called posadas and play the piñata (pin-yah-tuh) game.

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Mexicans during celebrations.

You can try this with your classmates by using some lively music and clapping to The piñata is a papier mâchè the beat. animal filled with sweets or Place a sombrero (a big other prizes.

Children are ©R eady EdPu bl i c at i othe ns Mexican hat) on ground blindfolded and take turns and hopo and tap your orr ev i ew pur p oclap, ses nl y• trying• tof break the piñata feet to the beat as you and with a stick. Once it is broken, your classmates dance the sweets and toys fall around the sombrero in a everywhere and the children circle. Raise your arms high in rush to collect them. Have you the air and shout “Ole!”, which ever popped a piñata? means “Hooray”.

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Christmas in Mexico Christmas December 16 – 25:

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Christmas celebrations start nine days early in Mexico.

In villages, children act out the procession of Mary and Joseph travelling to Bethlehem. They might even ride on a donkey!

And more Christmas celebrations:

On January 5, family and friends get together and share a sweet bread shaped like a doughnut called Rosca de Reyes. Plastic baby dolls are hidden inside the bread (like many families hide coins in a Christmas pudding). Whoever finds the doll has to invite everyone around to their place for another celebration.

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On January 6, parents fill their children’s shoes with presents. Having big feet might be a good thing here.

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Other children follow the ©R ead yEdPubl i cat i ons parade dressed as angels and •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• shepherds.

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Mexican Munchies

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If you want to have your own Mexican fiesta, you will need to know what food to prepare.

Did you know?

Perhaps you have eaten Chewing gum originated in Mexico.

Mexican food at home or at a A certain type of tree produces a food hall. sticky sap called chicle. Mexican people chewed this rubbery One of the most important substance to clean their teeth. foods in Mexico is corn. It is An American man added often ground into a type of sweetener to this sap and flour called corn meal. Corn made it into chewing gum. meal is the main ingredient of tortillas, the flat breads that are folded into burritos or enchiladas. beans, © RSpices, eady EdPu bl i cat i o ns Mexican Nachos cheese, lettuce meat and f o rr e i ew pur posesonl y• onions• are some ofv the ingredients used in many Ingredients: Mexican dishes.

• 1 packet corn chips Mole (say “mo-lay”) is a sauce • 1 tin refried beans • 1 jar tomato salsa for meats made with sesame • grated cheese seeds, chilli, spices and • sour cream chocolate!

• 1 cup guacamole

o c . che e Directions: Spread the corn r o t r s supe chips on an oven-proof plate. Top r with tomato salsa, refried beans (mashed avocado with lemon juice)

© IMSI

and grated cheese. Place under the grill until cheese is melted. Top with a good dollop of sour cream and guacamole.

Enjoy with your amigos!

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What to Wear in Mexico

hole for the head – worn when it becomes cold at night.

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© ReadyEdPubl i cat i ons •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• A poncho is a blanket with a

o c . che e r o t r s super During fiestas, women wear brightly coloured skirts that swing and sway as they dance.

Mexican women also wear shawls on their heads called rebozos. These rebozos are also tied around a person’s body to help carry a baby.

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Traditional clothing in Mexico includes the sombrero – a wide brimmed hat that protects people from the hot sun.

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photo shows the ruined © ReadyEdPubThis l i c at i ons old building in Athens called the Parthenon.

It was built •f orr evi ew pur pos e s o n l y • from a very strong type

Greece is a country made up of islands in the Mediterranean Sea.

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People that lived in and around Greece a few thousand years ago were part of a very interesting culture known as Ancient Greece.

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of rock called marble over 2430 years ago and was used for worshipping the goddess Athena. People visit Athens today to see this magnificent ruin, which is still standing.

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Ancient Greece

o c . c e r In Ancient Greece,h people lived in er o t s supe r city-states, which was a city and its surrounding villages. Two famous city-states were Athens and Sparta.

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Family Life in Ancient Greece Dad:

Boys:

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Boys helped out at home, Men were very busy and when they were about running the cities of 6 or 7, they went to school.

Greece. They spent a At school they learned how lot of time away from to read and write and do home. When they maths. They also learned were at home, they sports, and if they were supervised their workers good enough, they might have on their farms. For fun, been able to compete in the they went sailing or played sports such as Olympic Games. Other wrestling or running. boys learned skills that © R e a d y E d P u b l i cat i o nsinto the They also had would get them parties• orf went to army, oro learned about o r r e v i e w p u r p o s e s n l y • the theatre to see government. a play. Women were not allowed to be in Greek plays, so Girls: all the female parts were played by men dressed up as women. Girls did not get to go to school in Ancient Greece. Instead they stayed at home and helped their mother and learned how to keep a good home. They learned how to cook, weave and clean. Greek girls got married at a very young age, about 15!

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Greek men might have been in c e hebut r charge of the government, o t r s uper Greek women were in charge s at home. They supervised their workers who did all the cooking and housework and looked after the kids. Unfortunately women weren’t allowed out of the home very much but every now and then they snuck in a visit to a neighbour.

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When a new baby was born, the Greeks celebrated by hanging a wreath of olives on the door if it was a boy, and a wreath of wool on the door if it was a girl.

WORLD CULTURES

At Home With the Ancient Greeks

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The Ancient Greek home was made of clay or stone rooms that were built around a courtyard, where the family could relax in the open air.

This is often where they spent time together. They ate meals and told stories here – like a family room today.

. t The Greekse also made a lot of pottery to hold food and water, like this pitcher in the picture!

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The Greeks probably didn’t A farming life: have a lot of furniture in Most Greeks had farms that their homes. Furniture was the whole family worked on. On made to be useful, not a farm there might be wheat, © R e a d y E d P u bl i cat i ons or olive trees or grape vines. for decoration. Art work from • Ancient Greece show Theo wheat was into f or r evi e w pur p ses omade nl y •a flat type of bread. Olives were people using wooden stools, eaten or made into olive oil. couches, tables, clothing Grapes were made into wine, a chests and chairs. Their favourite drink. “multi-purpose” couches Greeks living in ancient times were used to sit on, eat on also kept goats and made and sleep on. the goats’ milk into

o c . che e r o t r s super cheese (like feta cheese). Most of Greece is near the ocean, though, so fish was easy to get and a popular food.

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Party with the Greeks The Ancient Greeks used to like having dinner parties.

These were also called symposia. The men invited their friends over and the slaves would prepare the food.

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The diners would say a toast to good health and drink some wine out of specially made cups.

Their dinners may have included goat cheese, olives, dried figs, and lamb or fish.

Instead of a plate, they sometimes used a piece of flat bread.

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The Ancient Greeks ate their meals with their fingers. They also thought they could digest their food better if they ate When a guest arrived, the lying on their side on a slaves would remove their couch. Mealtime must shoes and wash their feet, and have been messy! welcome the guest into the The guests would talk home. about their lives, tell jokes or recite poetry. They © ReadyEdPu bl i caentertained t i ons were also by dancers or musicians •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• playing on harps or pipes.

WORLD CULTURES

The Olympic Games 1 Have you seen the Olympic Games on television? Did you know that the first Olympic Games were held thousands of years ago in Ancient Greece?

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok u The AncientS Greeks believed

that the gods liked to see fit, healthy people so they were very serious about their sports and exercise. The games also The ancient Olympic gave Greek men good training Games happened every for being© in the army.

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four years, just like today.

In ancient times, the Olympics The first in the or evi ew pur po se ssport onl y • were • notf for allr countries Olympics was running.

– only Greek people were After a while, other allowed to enter. The games events were added, such were always held in Greece, in as wrestling and the a town called Olympia. pentathlon, which included running, jumping, discus, javelin and wrestling.

Chariot racing was soon added to the Olympic events. A chariot is a two or four-wheeled cart pulled by a horse. In the chariot races, competitors had to complete 12 laps of the stadium.

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The Olympic Games 2 There were some unusual events in the Olympics as well, such as a competition for trumpeters and a running race in full armour, including a helmet and a shield.

Did you know?

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok u SOlympic The winners of

Only men could compete in the Olympics. The only way a woman could win an Olympic event was to own a horse that won a chariot race or horse race.

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events did not get a medal like they do in modern times – they won a wreath of olive Gods leaves, which they wore The Greek people believed in around their head. Some many gods and goddesses. Zeus champions had statues built was the god of t the sky who also © R e a d y E d P u b l i c a i o n s in their honour. The winner ruled all the other gods. The became famous ine his •very f or r evi w pur pos eso nl ywere • ancient Olympic Games held to please Zeus, and a gold home town and got free and ivory temple was built in meals or front row seats at Olympia to honour him. the theatre performances.

Ah, the life of the rich and famous!

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WORLD CULTURES

The Vikings

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The Vikings were so good at exploring that they discovered parts of North America about 500 years before Christopher Columbus did.

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r o e t s B r e Over a thousand years ago, the Vikings o p ok lived in the cold region we now know as u Sin the North of Europe.

Scandinavia,

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They used a keel, a long, narrow piece of wood underneath the boat, which helped improve the speed and the steering of the ship.

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Animal fur and tar from pine trees was used in the gaps between the planks of wood to make the longships waterproof.

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The Vikings were excellent ship builders Rea dyEd Publ i cat i ons and their© wooden longships could go much further than those of other •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• cultures.

o c . che e r o t r s su The ends of the ships were decorated per with carvings.

Huge sails were made of sheep’s wool or linen from a plant called a flax plant.

As well as using wind power, the ships were rowed with many pairs of oars.

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Lost at sea? Never

One of the main methods of navigation was by using the ea yEdPubl i cat i ons position of© theR sun.

Ifd the sun sets in the east and you head •f orr evi ew pur posesonl y• towards the setting sun, you know you are going east!

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Some Vikings kept a bird such as a raven on their ship. If they got lost, the bird was set free. If the bird did not come back to the ship, this meant that they were close to land so they would then follow the direction that the bird flew in.

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The Vikings knew the types of sea animals and seaweed in certain areas and could tell where they were by peering into the ocean.

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Landmarks werec also used. e her r o t Vikings remembered the s super shape of the mountains that they sailed past, just like you might remember that you pass a park on the way to school.

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The Vikings were very good navigators, which meant that they could find out where they were heading when sailing their ships.

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Fun Facts About Vikings The Vikings had a god called Thor – the god of thunder. The day Thursday is named after Thor – “Thor’s day”.

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Vikings kept slabs of stone or small pebbles carved with some funny looking symbols.

These symbols are called runes and they are the letters of the Viking alphabet.

Runes were used to label

Many pictures show Vikings wearing helmets with horns on them, but people say that the © ReadyEdP u b l i c a t i ons helmets did not have horns on •f orr evi ew pur pos eswould onl y •made them.

Horns have it harder to move around!

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belongings such as weapons and they were also carved on the sides of buildings wherever they went (so the Vikings were into graffiti).

One way that the Vikings did use animal horns was as a mug. The only problem was, the horns could not be put down or the drink would spill … so they had to drink everything in one go!

some gift stores today. They have the same symbols on them as the Vikings used and they are thought to have special powers.

Image courtesy Microsoft Design Gallery

o c . che e r o t r s s r u e p You can buy rune stones in

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Modern Scandinavia The countries where Vikings used to live are now known as Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Read on to find out about some of these Scandinavian cultures.

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Iceland

r o e t s Bo r Norway e p  Norway was one of the ok first countries u S in the world that allowed women to

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vote.

Oslo is the name of Norway’s capital  Finland city.

Rivers run down from the mountains  Norway in Norway and the movement of these Sweden rivers is used to power electricity © ReadyE dPubl i cat i ons plants.

Wp inter inp Norway is very dark.

On  Denmark •f orr evi ew u r o s e s o n l y • some winter days there are 24 hours of darkness in parts of Norway!

Almost everyone in Norway knows how  to ski – there is a lot of snow around.

You might find yourself eating four or  five meals a day if you lived in Norway.

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Sweet Sweden Nobel Prize: Special awards are given to people who achieve great things in art, writing, science, medicine and peace. The Nobel Prize was started in Sweden.

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 Eat all you want! The smorgasbord, where you can choose your own food from a large range of dishes, comes from Sweden.

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© Re ady EdPubl i cat i ons  Well-known music group from the 1970s, ABBA, isp • f o r r e v i e w ur posesonl y• from Sweden.

Image courtesy Microsoft Design Gallery

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St Lucia Day is a special Swedish holiday where young girls dress in white with a crown of leaves and candles. They wake their families with a song, hot coffee and buns.

o c . che for all  Day care is available e r o t r young Swedish children. s super

Easter Witches: Some Swedish children dress up as witches for Easter.

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Read some fairy tales

by Hans Christian Andersen, the most famous Danish writer.

His stories include The Ugly Duckling, The Emperor’s New Clothes and The Princess and the Pea. Andersen was born in April, 1805.

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Dynamic Denmark

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Prince of che e r Denmark, Crown Prince o t r s met an Australian supe r Frederik,

A link to Australia – the man who designed the Sydney Opera House, Jorn Utzon, was from Denmark!

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Delicious pastries are sold at  Nowadays, people in bakeries all over Denmark. Have come you ever© triedR ae Danish pastry? ady EdPDenmark ubl i ca t i ofrom nsmany other countries, including

 Education is very important •f orr evi ew pur pose sonl y• Turkey, Germany, Bosnia, in Denmark. There are some Lebanon, Iraq and Sweden. differences – students call

 Many islands make up the their teachers by their first country of Denmark. names!

called Mary during the Olympic Games held in Sydney in 2000. They ended up getting married and Mary is now the future queen of Denmark!

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making some parts very crowded!

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The old and the new Japan is a country of contrasts – there are many very old traditions mixed in with the latest in technology. © ReadyE dP bl i cat i o ns Take theu buildings, for example. buildings are beautifully •f orr evi ewTraditional p u r p o sesonl y• designed and are surrounded by landscaped gardens, but Japan’s biggest cities are crammed with hundreds of modern skyscrapers.

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© Alan Mitchell

r o t Japan ise made up of four main s B r e oo of other tiny islands and thousands p u k islands.

It is not a large country but S over 126 million people live there,

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Japan

Image courtesy Microsoft Design Gallery

o c . che e r o t r s su r e Another example of contrasts is p in the clothing. Many Japanese

teenagers wear bright, modern clothing, which looks totally different to the traditional kimono.

The kimono is a long robe, often made from silk, tied around the waist with a sash called an obi.

Kimonos are now mainly worn on special occasions.

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All Sorts of Sports Although Japanese people enjoy baseball, bowling, golf, table tennis and volleyball, the more traditional sports of sumo wrestling and martial arts are still popular.

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around for over a thousand years. The wrestlers are huge – many weigh more than 200 kilograms. They grow their hair long and wear it in a topknot on their head.

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok u Shas been Sumo wrestling

The aim of sumo is to wrestle the opponent out of the ring or on to the floor.

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Some sand is sprinkled around the ring so it is easy tou see when the wrestlers step © ReadyEdP b l i c a t i o n s outside the area. The two •f orr evi ew pu r pose so nopposite l y• wrestlers stand on ends of the ring, face each other and clap and stamp their feet. Salt is thrown into the ring to “purify” it and please the gods.

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Then the two men try to stare each other down for a few minutes. The actual wrestling time is very short – each match usually only lasts a few seconds before one wrestler is defeated.

The winner is very serious – they do not jump up and down or scream with excitement.

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Squeezed In

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Because there are so many Cities in Japan have capsule people living in Japan, many hotels, where there is just enough room to lie down and sleep. live in small apartments. Inside homes, there might be paper screens that can divide off different sections of the house.

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Low mattresses called futons are used as beds and rolled up during the day so that the room can be used as a living area. This helps to save space.

© Ryan McDonald, 2005

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Japanese people usually take their shoes off before entering •f o rr evi e w pur posesonl y• a home to keep the floor clean.

A Haiku is a special type of Japanese poem with:

o c . che e 5 syllablesr in the third line. o t r s super 5 syllables in the first line,

7 syllables in the second line,

Capsule Hotel Haiku Try to fall asleep, Squashed into this tiny room, Where is the toilet?

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Sushi, Rice and all Things Nice

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The most common food in Japan is rice. Rice is eaten with almost every meal and is often served with vegetables and fish.

Chopsticks are wooden or The Japanese don’t always bamboo sticks used to eat cook their fish. Sometimes the food. Most of the food is served in small pieces that they eat it raw. This is called can easily be picked up by the sashimi. chopsticks.

Sushi is raw fish and If you go to a Japanese vegetables wrapped in restaurant, you will probably seaweed. You might have seen have the choice of using sushi rolls served at food halls chopsticks or a fork and spoon. © Re adyEdP ub l i ca t i o ns in local shopping centres.

Once you get the hang of them, chopsticks are an interesting Tempura iso fish and vegetables • f r r e v i e w p u r po sesonl y• new way to eat food. fried in a crispy batter. Miso soup is a tasty broth made from soybean paste.

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Thailand

dance and celebration.

Thai food is spicy and delicious! Fruit and vegetables are often sold from boats, called floating markets.

common in Thailand, especially where tourists visit. Visitors can see performers dressed in elaborate costumes performing, like the dancers in this picture.

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r o e t s Bo r Thailand is a country in e p Thaio dance South-east Asia, boasting tasty u k Traditional dance is foods and a S lively culture of

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Religion © is anR important part eadyEdPubl i cat i ons of Thai culture. Many people •f or evi ew pur posesonl y• in Thailand arer Buddhists.

The people that teach others about this religion are called monks. Monks wear bright yellow robes and shave their heads.

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Thai School the older person first as a sign of respect.

The Thai national anthem is played at 8.00am every morning. Students stand to attention out of respect for the anthem.

Thai schools have clubs, which students can join at lunchtimes, such as chess club, art club, volleyball club and computer club.

At the end of the day, students help to clean the classroom.

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School in Thailand is the same in many ways to school in our country, but there are also some differences.

Students are not allowed to wear their shoes inside – shoes are placed on special shelves outside each room.

Students greet their teachers with a wai. A wai is where someone places their hands together like they are praying and bows their head. A younger person always wai’s

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in many different ways.

They might take a threewheeled bicycle taxi called a samlor or a motorcycle taxi called a tuk-tuk.

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© ReadyEdPubl i cat i ons •f o rr ev i ew pur posesonl y• Students arrive at school

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Kenya - Maasai

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The Maasai people live in Kenya, a The Maasai people love country on the east coast of Africa. dancing to celebrate weddings, births, and Kenya is a very hot country – other special occasions. the equator (the imaginary line One of their most famous running around the middle of the dances is a jumping dance earth) runs right through it.

– this shows how fit and The Maasai men spend their day strong they are. herding their cattle. The Maasai women look after the home, ©R ea dyEdPubl i cat i ons collect water and make jewellery.

•jewellery f orr e i ewfrom pur posesonl y• Maasai isv made brightly coloured beads and sometimes iron or silver. Heavy earrings are worn by both men and women. Clothes are also brightly coloured.

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Holy Cow!

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The Maasai people live in rural areas where they look Why are cows so after cattle (cows). Maasai important? people believe their rain god The Maasai people depend on gave them the cattle and other their cattle for many things. people who own cattle have They eat the meat (on special stolen them. occasions) and drink the milk of the cattle. They also drink The Maasai are nomadic, the blood. This might sound a meaning that they move bit yucky for us, but the cow’s around quite a bit. This is blood is very nutritious and mainly because the cattle need keeps the people strong when to move to different areas to other foods are not available. graze (eat grass). The Maasai Even when their cattle go to also keep sheep and goats. the toilet, the Maasai © ReadyEdP u bl i c at i onare sglad.

That’s because cattle dung and urine are mixed with mud, grass and twigs to make the huts that the people live in.

Luckily, the mixture does not smell once it is dry.

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Ancient Egypt

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r o e t s Bowhy Ancient Egypt r e The reason Egypt is a country in the north p ok is so important is that many u of the continent of Africa.

S artefacts (objects from daily You have probably heard of

o c . c e Ancient Egypt wash considered r e o t r s super to be one of the first civilisations. This means it was one of the first groups of people to build large cities with rulers, citizens and slaves.

They farmed for food and invented many new things.

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life) have been found from this time. A special type of writing from Ancient Egyptian times has also been de-coded.

Let’s time-travel back 5000 So we know a whole lot about years to when these pyramids what life was like for the ©and Re adyEdP ubl i cat i ons were built explore people who lived in this time Ancient Egypt. and place.

•f orr evi ew pur po sesonl y• the pyramids – huge stone structures that you can still see in Egypt today.

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Pyramids - Standing the Test of Time

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The Egyptians built massive tombs to bury their rulers. If you How were the go to a cemetery you can see pyramids built? headstones on all of the graves.

Building a pyramid was no The pyramids were like giant easy task – thousands of men headstones for the important dragged large limestone or leaders of Egypt. They were granite blocks to the area and built so well that you can still then made long ramps out of see them today. rocks and sand to drag the blocks up to the top.

The most famous pyramids are at a place called Giza. The Each stone block weighed biggest pyramid was built for a as much as 2500 kilograms pharaoh (leader) called Khufu.

– about as much as a It is about© 140R metres and hippopotamus! eadtall yEdPu bl i cat i oThere nsare contains more than two million many theories on exactly how f orr ev i e wwas puthe r pheavy ose son l y • blocks were carried. blocks • of stone!

And all this built more than 4500 years ago. Some believe that they were dragged on large sleds pulled This picture of a pyramid by animals such as oxen (a at Giza also shows a stone type of cow). sculpture known as the Sphinx, which has the head of a human and the body of a lion.

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Inside a Pyramid Why were the pyramids built?

Secret chambers were made inside the pyramids. In these chambers, the pharaoh was buried, along with all of his possessions. Statues were also included to protect the dead in the afterlife.

On the chamber walls, the Egyptians painted scenes from daily life, which they believed would come to life for the pharaoh who was buried there.

Sadly, thieves broke into many of these chambers, and the artefacts were stolen.

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The Egyptians believed that after a person died, they came back to life again in a place called the afterlife.

In the afterlife, they could do all of the things that they did in this world, like eating, drinking and playing.

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the new king of the afterlife and he needed to take his body with him. He also needed all the things he used in his daily life, like food, plates, cups, clothing, jewellery, weapons and furniture.

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King Tut – Hidden Under the Huts!

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In 1922, a famous Egyptian tomb was discovered by an English man named Howard Carter. King Tutankhamen, or “King Tut” was one of the only pharaohs whose tomb remained safe and sound, untouched by thieves for thousands of years.

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But how was it hidden from the robbers? Well, King Tut was Thousands of years later, not buried in a pyramid. His archaeologists were working tomb was© underground, buried in u theb area and they just R e a d y E d P l i c a t i o n s under some stone huts that happened to uncover a step •f or r ev i ew pu r pos estoothe nl y • were built for people working leading down tomb’s on another pharaoh’s tomb. entrance. It would turn out to be one of the most important finds in history.

Howard Carter was excited to find that King Tut was buried in a chamber along with many amazing artefacts, including a gold mask of his face (shown in the picture above), furniture, clothing, weapons, games and even chariots.

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In fact, there were over 3000 artefacts found in King Tut’s tomb and they had not been seen for over 3000 years!

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The Write Stuff

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Only a small number of Egyptians could read or write. They used a written language known as hieroglyphics and the people that could write were known as scribes.

Hieroglyphics looked like little pictures. There were birds, crosses, waves, snakes, and baskets, all standing for different letters and sounds.

The Egyptians invented a paper made from reeds called papyrus and wrote with reeds using ink made from water and soot. The writings on papyrus were rolled into a scroll © R e a d y E d P u b l i c a t i o n s and stored in special rooms.

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In Fashion The Ancient Egyptians liked to wear cosmetics and jewellery.

They wore red lip powder and painted their fingernails and eyes. The men wore make-up too!

Fun and games

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r o e t s Bo r e p ok u Perfume was S popular amongst

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men and women. They wore wax cones on their heads that contained perfume. When the wax melted, the perfume was What did the Egyptians do released. Perfumed oil was to have fun? They swam, also rubbed on the skin so they sailed and fished in the Nile adfrom yE dP ubl i ca t i on s would not© get R drye skin the River.

They hunted animals hot sun. such ass crocodiles, lions and •f orr evi ew pu r po esonl y•

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Jewellery was made from gold, silver, copper, turquoise and quartz.

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hippopotamuses. They also played wrestling games.

For the less adventurous, there was a board game called senet, which was a bit like backgammon.

Egyptian children played with dolls, tops and stuffed leather balls. They had pets including cats, dogs, monkeys, baboons and birds.

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The Egyptians wore wigs for special occasions.

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A Multicultural Society

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In Australia Harmony Day is held in March each year to celebrate our diversity. The colour for Harmony Day is orange.

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There are many different There are many ways that cultures living in Australia and you can celebrate diversity of culture at home or at school.

New Zealand – in fact there Here are just some of these are people from about 200 ways: other countries! This makes  Welcome: Make new people ours a multicultural society from other cultures feel (multi means “many”, so welcome in our country and multicultural means “many help them to learn about cultures”). our culture. Find out about Diversity means that there theirs, too. are many differences between  Eat Up: Try foods from people in our country, and it is the differences that make © ReadyEdPubl i cat i ons it so interesting to meet new people about theirp •and f olearn rr e vi ew ur posesonl y• culture.

other countries by buying a new recipe book or visiting a restaurant.  Listen In: Listen to music or watch movies from another country – check out your music store or video shop!  Join a Club: Learn dance or martial arts from other countries.  Speak Out: Learn a new language.

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A Multicultural Society The United Nations (UN) is a group of 191 countries that work together to make sure that there is peace and friendship between different cultures.

The UN tries to make sure that they look after people who are poor or sick or are not able to learn at school.

The UN also makes sure that the environment is looked after so that all cultures can enjoy the wonders of nature for many years to come.

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makes your life special, because one day, someone might be reading about your culture!

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 Holiday Time: Visit a different country with your family or look at photos from a relative’s trip.  Family Ties: Find out where your parents, grandparents and great-grandparents come from.  Research Station: Do a school project on another Welcome Home! country.

So there you go … you have travelled across the continents of  Dress Up: Have an the world and even gone back in international costume day © ReadyEdP ub l i c at i onshow time.

You have discovered at school. many different cultures make our  Write Away: Write or •f orr evto i e w pu r po ses onl yplace.

• world a more interesting e-mail, a pen-pal in another Remember to celebrate what country.

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Cultures Online  Journey to Another Country www.readyed.com.au/Sites/cultures/

r o e t s Bo r e p ok u S - World Cultures  Geographia

www.geographia.com/

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 Culture Quest World Tour www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/cquest/

 Islands of the World www.henry.k12.ga.us/pges/instruction/kid-pages/islands/  Cultural Profiles Project www.cp-pc.ca/english/index.html

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 Countries and Cultures library.thinkquest.org/J0112083/

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© ReadyEdPubl i cat i ons  Tour Around the World • f o r r e v i ew pur posesonl y• library.thinkquest.org/J0111929/

 Food Through the Ages library.thinkquest.org/C005446/frame.html

. te o c  The Return of the Vikings . c e her r library.thinkquest.org/C003446/ o t s super  Zoom School Geography www.zoomschool.com/geography/

 Festivals Around the World yahooligans.yahoo.com/Around_the_World/Holidays/

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