Name:______________

Grade 4 Heritage Fair Research Project: Thinking About Characteristics of Culture

This project will involve picking an Aboriginal group in Canada (or B.C. in particular) and creating a Heritage Fair presentation that answers the question, "What is the most characteristic* thing about the culture of the Aboriginal group (also called First Nations or indigenous people) that you chose to learn about?"
*Some synonyms for "characteristic" include distinctive, unique, identifiable, representative, distinguishing, individual, special, and symbolic. What is the most ______ thing about the culture of the group that you chose to learn about? (Fill in the blank with each synonym to think about the question differently.)
In other words, you are going to research an Aboriginal group and decide which thing about that group's culture represents their way of life more than any other thing ("culture" is a group of people's way of life, including things like their language, clothing, homes, food, beliefs, and stories & songs).

Characteristics of Culture
Now that you have explored two Aboriginal groups, list some things that are characteristic of their culture. Group #1: _________________________ Group #2: _________________________

Criteria for Culturally Characteristic

What are the attributes of things that are characteristic or representative of a culture?