Modules

The above indigenous-inspired mural, entitled Future Tribez (created by Royal Sumikat, with the help of Jesenia Arredondo), was designed to demonstrate the strength of cultural diversity. The artist Royal Sumikat is Houston-based, and calls Houston home, yet was born in the Philippines. She dedicated this mural to her ethnic ancestors who have inspired her to be a better global citizen by appreciating the perspectives of others from outside her own ethnic experience. In short, the vibrant figures in her mural suggest our futures (note the futuristic eyewear) are bright when people from all cultures unite to fly their flags side by side. The mural is located at Sawyer Yards in Houston.

The module is designed for geography and/or social studies teachers to use to teach aspects of human geography. The module focuses on defining culture and incorporates the identification of different cultural elements. Teachers are encouraged to have their students consider their own cultural backgrounds, as well as other elements evident across the cultural landscape within which they live , particularly that represented by food, ethnic traditions, and street art. In the end students will be sharing their own culture and showing their understanding of what culture is and what influences it has based on ethnicity, place, religion, etc.

What is culture?

Culture refers to the set of learned characteristics of behavior (language, religion) that a group of people share, or tangible manifestations (food, architecture, clothing) of these learned behaviors.

• Culture can encompass religion, language, cuisine, ethnicity, social behaviors, art, literature, music, modes of dress, etc.
• Culture tends to be learned in place of birth, or place of residence, but all culture is dynamic. For example, culture can change over time as one moves to different geographic locations or when one receives influences from other places (e.g., immigration or other forms of diffusion).
• Some aspects of culture are very geographically widespread, whereby many people share the same sets of values, beliefs, and origins. Other aspects of culture are spatially distinctive and unique to a limited geographical area. Accordingly, such unique cultural traits are generally adhered to by a smaller number of people (e.g., global versus local culture). However, the value of culture cannot be determined by its spatial or demographic extent.

BACKGROUND: EXAMPLE OF CULTURE AND THE DYNAMIC BLENDING OF CULTURE RESPONSIBLE FOR HOUSTON’S MULTI-CULTURAL STEW

BLENDING OF CULINARY CULTURE IN COASTAL LOUISIANA

A culinary tradition common across southeastern Texas, including Houston, is the crawfish boil. This dish, which generally includes crawfish (crayfish or crawdads), most often boiled with potatoes, sausage, corn, and lemons, is often considered the signature food tradition of New Orleans or coastal Louisiana.

The traditions of the Louisiana crawfish boil trace their roots to the Atchafalaya swamp in western Louisiana and the various peoples who settled there: the Acadians, or Cajuns, who migrated from French Canada and the French-speaking African-Caribbeans, or Creoles, from Haiti and other Caribbean islands. In a similar fashion, gumbo also developed in coastal Louisiana, as early residents from France, Africa and Spain combined their cooking techniques to create the hearty stew. Likewise, jambalaya, a rice-based dish with chicken and sausage common across the same region, recalls both Spanish paella and West African jollof rice.

CAJUN/CREOLE CULTURE DIFFUSES TO SOUTHEAST TEXAS

In the mid-to-late 1960s through the 1970s, increasing numbers of people from Louisiana migrated to the Houston-area for jobs in the oil and gas industry. These migrants brought the cultural traditions with them, and in time, the crawfish boil and other forms of culture linked to the coastal Louisiana, became a common part of the cultural landscape across southeast Texas.

VIETNAMESE-CAJUN CRAWFISH

Beginning in the late 1990s, the tradition of crawfish boils in southeast Texas started exhibiting the ethnic influence of yet another immigrant group. In the mid-to-late 1970s, Vietnamese migrants fleeing the tragic conflict in their home region began arriving to southeast Texas in significant numbers. Crawfish are a commonly eaten across southeast Asia, and eventually these Vietnamese migrants merged their own culinary traditions – for example, the use of ginger, lemongrass and garlic in a crawfish boil – with the pre-existing traditions common to Cajun culture. This re-blended mix of culinary culture is responsible for what is now known across Houston as Vietnamese-style or Viet-Cajun crawfish.

Vietnamese-style, or Viet-Cajun, crawfish typically includes a number of different ingredients, including garlic.

In short, the culture of food evident across Houston exhibits multi-layered cultural influences from a variety of ethnic groups, all of whom arrived from a variety of source regions, yet all of whom now call Houston home.

Key Terms

Cajuns – people of French-speaking ancestry native to the Gulf Coast region of the United States, mostly the coast of Louisiana.

Creole - people and culture of the Native American, French, Caribbean, African, and Spanish settlers of the American Gulf Coast, especially the state of Louisiana.

Culinary culture – related to the learned traditions of cooking.

Cultural landscape – the imprint of human and cultural activity on the landscape (e.g., on streetscapes, buildings, fields, urban areas, residential environments, etc.).

Diffusion - the geographical spreading of something more widely.

Ethnic group - grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared cultural traditions (such as place of origin, religion, nationality, and/or region) that distinguish them from other groups.

Jollaf Rice - West African dish made with rice, tomatoes, vegetables, and peppers.

Metaphor - word or phrase used to represent something else, or an understanding of one concept in terms of another concept.

Paella – Spanish dish made with rice, chicken, seafood, vegetables, and the spice saffron.

Sample Assessment

Summary:
Students will be telling their own stories, but will also be describing the imprint of ethnicity (e.g., ethnic food traditions) on the cultural landscapes within which they live. Students will be in groups where they share their own culture and describe elements of a different cultural context they have seen on the landscape.

Learning Goals and Intentions:

• Students will be able to identify and describe the essential defining characteristics and functions of culture
• Students will demonstrate an understanding of their own culture’s connection to geography and place

Instructions

The teacher will begin by writing “culture” on the board and have a classroom discussion about all the aspects of culture. Students should be asked to provide specific examples of different cultural elements.

Students will then work in small groups (preferably around 3) to discuss what makes up their own culture. They will turn in a list for each other, although it may be possible that some groups are comprised of students that identify with the same culture. If possible, students should also make videos describing their own culture outside of class. As part of this discussion, each student should identify and describe at least one culinary dish that is traditional to their own cultural group (perhaps something eaten on certain ethnic holidays, days of religious observance, celebrations, etc.). Students should be expected to identify the geographical origins of these culinary traditions. This may encourage students to discuss their ethnic origins with older family members.

Students in each group will also collectively identify aspects of culture evident on the landscapes where they live and/or go to school, cultural elements that reflect some ethnic traditions other than their own (restaurants, street and/or school names, grocery stores, graffiti & street art, murals, statues in public parks, churches and/or other religious institutions). If possible, students should video or take photographs of cultural landscapes they encounter outside of class.

Students should be expected to identify or research the geographical origins of these ethnic traditions.

Students should be encouraged to take their own pictures and video for this assignment (if feasible, if not feasible, then observations can drawn on paper or described via writing). The video and/or written descriptions should allow students to tell their own stories about their culture and focus on elements of culture that shape their own lives and the lives of those around them. The main point is that students express their understanding of what culture is and what influences connect culture and geography.

Other Resources for Cultural Geography

Language Diversity Index: Use MapMaker Interactive to explore linguistic diversity across the globe today https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/language-diversity-index-map (interactive activity)

The Global Network: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/global-network (article and activities)

Hula: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/hula (article, videos, activities)

Lunar New Year: Learn a little about the festivities, food, calendars, and colors of the Chinese Lunar New Year. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/lunar-new-year (article, activities)

Cultural Differences: Watch as the Lost Boys of Sudan experience for the first time what most American's take for granted and as they gain valuable insight on American 'norms.'https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/cultural-differences (video and article)

Sense of Place and Community: In the United States, the Lost Boys reflect on the culture they left behind and reminisce about life back in Sudan. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/sense-of-place (video and article)

Climate Migrants: Use this StoryMap to see who Climate Migrants are, where they are located, and what is forcing them to leave their homes. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/climate-migrants (interactive map)

What influences flooding?

Precipitation intensity/rate and duration

• How hard did it rain?
• How long did it rain?

Infiltration Rate

• How fast can water soak into soil/ground?

Land Use/Land Cover

• Is there a lot of concrete or forest cover?

Size of Stream Channels

• Can the stream hold lots of water like Buffalo Bayou or the San Jacinto River? Or is it a small stream that fills up fast?

Topography/Slope

• Flatter areas like Houston slow water down and allow it to pool like a big bathtub.
• Areas like Hill Country have more slope, and the water moves fast, causing dangerous flash flooding.

Why do we get so much rain, and why does it rain so hard?

The Gulf of Mexico is warm and leads to lots of evaporation and moisture being in the atmosphere along the Gulf Coast. It rains with more intensity and for longer durations in this part of the U.S. versus others, because there is a lot more total water vapor in the air that can fall as precipitation.

(Temp in Degree Celcius × 1.8) + 32 = Fahrenheit Temperature

https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/ocean/sst/contour/

Where does the rain go when it falls?

Some rain infiltrates/soaks into the ground, but the rain that can’t pools at the surface or runs downhill toward sewers, rivers, streams, and roads. Water infiltrates more quickly into sandy soil and much more slowly into clay rich soil. That’s partially because the spaces between clay particles are smaller and harder for water to move through. And Texas has a lot of clay!

Infiltration Rates vs. Rainfall Rates

Notice how much faster water can move into sand acompared to clay. Sometimes, during major storms and hurricanes in Texas, rain can fall at rates of 6 inches per hour! The only soil below that can allow water into the soil at that rate is sand. But, much of Southeast Texas isn’t a pure sand soil, so the extra water that can’t infiltrate winds up flowing downhill. Notice too how slowly water can soak into really clayey soil during storms!

Rain that falls and runs off at the surface works its way downhill within a watershed or drainage basin. For example, all excess rainfall that runs off within the Trinity or the San Jacinto River Basins will ultimately wind up in those rivers (and then Galveston Bay) if it keeps flowing downstream.

Development and Land Use/Land Cover

In urban and suburban areas, like metro Houston, there are a lot of impervious surfaces (like concrete roads, parking lots, sidewalks, rooftops) that don’t allow water to infiltrate. When the water can’t soak into the ground, it runs off. This means urban areas have high runoff, and the water flows quickly. We can see in the example below that after rainfall, the urban river’s flow (discharge) increases faster and peaks higher than the same storm that impacts a natural, forested watershed/drainage basin.

So, when does flooding occur in the stream?

River based flooding occurs when there is too much excess runoff and water for the stream’s channel to accommodate. This happens especially as more and more surface runoff reaches the stream. In urban/suburban areas, there is more excess runoff, and this becomes a problem for homes, cars, and people.

If the river continues to rise past bankfull stage, it spills out of the channel, and water spreads across the floodplain. The river is now flooding the landscape. If more rain continues to fall, the water level will continue to rise and flood more areas.

3. If the river continues to rise past bankfull stage, it spills out of the channel, and water spreads across the floodplain. The river is now flooding the landscape. If more rain continues to fall, the water level will continue to rise and flood more areas.

Once geoscientists and engineers know flood levels, they can map them.

Models can be built that replicate how water will flow across the landscape during a flood. Creating flood maps results in the ability to communicate risk and areas where the hazard is more or less likely to occur. But, flood maps are a snapshot in time and may not include new, record breaking events. To be more accurate, new maps should be drawn after events like Hurricane Harvey.

HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT

Additional Data Resources

Optional Exercise

Teachers and students can use the Google Earth tools here to look at changes in their own areas to discuss how flood risk may have changed over time:
SHSU NGS Google Earth Tools
Select Google Earth Examples follow of Changing Land Use and Development from the 1980’s and 2016 (right before Harvey).

Key Terms

Watershed/drainage basin: the land area which drains to a common point; water that falls over this area as precipitation ultimately makes it to a single river or lake outlet.

Infiltration rate: the depth of water that can enter the soil per unit time (typically measured in inches/hour).

Land use/land cover: What the land is physically used for (urban, forest, agriculture, etc.).

Discharge: The volume of water flowing per unit time.

Stage: The height of the water surface elevation in a river relative to sea level.

Slope: Change in land elevation over distance.

Articles/Readings and Videos for Further Discussion

Washington Post Video on Houston Flooding (~3.5 minutes)

60 Minutes Video on Dutch Flood Management (~15 minutes)

ProPublica Story – “Boomtown, Flood Town” on Houston and flood risk

NPR Story - “National Weather Service Adds New Colors So It Can Map Harvey's Rains”

Five Thirty Eight Story - “It’s Time to Ditch the Concept of ‘100-year Floods’”

Harvey’s Environmental Impact Story Map – Houston Advanced Research Center

Discussion Questions

1. Why is flooding so much worse in Houston compared to some other cities around the U.S. and world?
2. Using the videos above, how does Dutch flood management, where much of the country if below sea level, differ from Houston flood management?
3. Using the data and resources links for floodplain viewers, what are students risks of flooding given where they live?
4. Based on the articles, videos, and module slides, what are some things Houston can do to reduce flood risk? What variables that influence flooding can we not change?
5. Linking to Regional Geography - How have rivers and floodplains shaped development around the world?

Tourism

is defined as the activities of visitors outside of their usual environment for less than a year for any purpose (business, leisure, or other personal purpose) other than to be employed in the country/place visited.

Tourism Carrying Capacity

refers to the number of tourists a destination or attraction can support and sustain.

Physical Carrying Capacity

refers to the limits of a particular space.

Environmental Carrying Capacity

refers to the extent of tourism that can occur without negative environmental effects.

Perceptual Carrying Capacity

refers to the extent of tourism that can occur without tourist dissatisfaction.

Social Carrying Capacity

refers to the extent of tourism that can occur without local community dissatisfaction.

Resources

Is tourism killing Venice? – BBC News (video)

Super bloom frenzy: crowds flocking to massive SoCal poppy displays – ABC News (video)

Galapagos fights temptation of lucrative mass tourism – AFP News (video)

Boracay undergoes major clean-up – CNN Philippines (video)

Form an orderly queue: recreating the perfect Instagram photo in New Zealand – BBC News (article)

Trash and overcrowding at the top of the world – National Geographic (article)

Mallorca: the Spanish island telling tourists to stay home – Condé Nast Traveler (article)

Thanks, ‘influencers!’ Visiting national landmarks is now pure hell – Matador Network (article)

Discussion Questions

1. What types of carrying capacity have been exceeded in the cases discussed in the videos/articles?
2. Why should we be concerned about tourism carrying capacities?
3. What strategies can places use to manage carrying capacities?
4. As a tourist, what factors determine your perceptual carrying capacity?