Social Studies Course Design
Title of Lesson: Creation Myths From Around the World
Core Subjects: Social Studies
Secondary Subjects: Language Arts, Geography
Grade Levels: 5,6,7,8 (Varied by content depth and assessment)
Course Justification/Theory: One very interesting aspect of the human experience is the manner in which certain themes appear again and again over time, in literature, religion, mythology, and culture -- regardless of the geographic location, the economic status, and the time period. Perhaps it is the innate human need to explain and explore the known and unknown, but to have disparate cultures in time and location find ways of explaining certain principles in such similar manner leads one to believe that there is perhaps more to myth and ritual than simple repetition of archetypal themes. In a sense, then, to acculturate the future, we must re-craft the past, and the way that seems to happen is in the synergism of myth and ritual as expressed in a variety of forms. Myths and folktales are the world's oldest stories. People have told myths and folktales since language was created, keeping them alive and vital through the centuries by word of mouth. Myths and folktales are important in every world culture. A society without stories about its beginnings, its heroes, and its deepest values is like a person without a name, a family without roots. A myth is an anonymous, traditional story that explains a belief, a custom, or a mysterious natural phenomenon. The word myth comes from the Greek word mythos, which simply means "story." Myths had specific purposes in their cultures. In every culture, however, the main functions of myths were:
To explain the creation of the world and the universe.
To explain the human condition: how and why people were created, why they are flawed, why there is suffering in the world, why...
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