THE CHALLENGE OF THE DESERT

• Use a story to make a list of basic human needs that must be met in any environment On the basis of a picture study, describe different ways people have devised to provide shelter in desert regions.
• From photographs, be able to infer that modem technology provides people with greater control over the harsh desert environment.

Suggested Time

2-3 class periods

Materials

Optional: photographic magazines dealing with desert societies.

Comments to the Teacher

Anthropologist Ina Corinne Brown has pointed out that "the most profitable way to look at culture is to see it as an adaptive mechanism, that is, to see what it does. In this sense a culture is a body of ready-made solutions to the problems encountered by the group. It is, as someone has put it, a cushion between man and his environment.*

In this lesson the students will be looking at culture in that sense. They will study pictures to determine a variety of ways people of different cultures have devised to fill one common need, shelter, in one kind of environment, the desert. The exercise should illustrate for the class the amazing ingenuity and diversity exhibited by groups in creating that "cushion" between people and their surroundings. Lessons such as this can help learners view cultural diversity as a sign of creativity in people, rather than merely note the "strangeness" of foreign cultures. Because of this generalized approach to culture, the lesson is a good introduction to the study of other cultures.

Beginning the Lesson

Introduce the lesson by having the class read the story of Charles Parker. This is a good opportunity for students to work in pairs, quietly assisting each other with the reading and the listing of needs and resources.

Ask volunteers to read their lists and write them on the board. The basic needs, of course, are food, water, and shelter. Parker's resources consisted of the items he took from the jeep and, we can assume, a knife. You might point out that he counted on only one resource from the desert itself-wild animals. Everything else was the product of "civilization."

Ask the class if they think Charles Parker was clever in his plans. (They will probably feel that he did well.) If the children want to speculate on what. happens to him, you might ask volunteers to write endings to the story; these can be read aloud later.

Next, ask what would have happened if Parker had not had the jeep, the food, the canteen. Could he have survived in the desert? How did the family of bushmen survive?

From this point you could talk about the harshness of the desert environment and ask if the children know of any groups that make the desert their home. They may have ideas from other courses, films, television, etc., or they may want to spend some time telling about desert survival stories they've read or viewed.

The story can be used as a way of introducing one or both of the following topics:

• types of environments, with the desert representing one of several major homes that make up the surroundings people live in;
• culture as the combination of institutions, customs, etc. that each human group has developed in order to adapt to and alter its surroundings.

You may wish to insert a text lesson on either of these topics before proceeding to the photo study.

The pictures can be used in a number of ways, depending on course needs. Here are a few ideas.

1. If reproduction of the pictures is not possible, you can use substitutes or let groups of students take turns studying picture Set 1. Have them list similarities and differences in the ways people have used what the environment offers for shelter. They will notice obvious differences first: e.g., tents rather than adobe or mud huts. Encourage them to observe and describe in detail.
2. Use a map of desert regions in any good atlas. Note the different parts of the world represented by the photographs.
3. Simple research assignments can be used to build on natural curiosity: a. Do people five in other desert regions on the planet? How are their homes similar or different? b. Divide the class into groups. Each can prepare a report on other cultural aspects of the desert societies pictured: food, clothing, work, family.
4. Color photographs or slides are, of course, much more vivid for picture study. Let the students help prepare a bulletin-board display or slide show of desert settlements around the world. Back issues of the Smithsonian and National Geographic are useful sources. If you have, or can borrow, a camera, the class can help create its own slide show.
5. Use picture Set 2 to let the groups discover how modem technology provides much greater ability to alter the harsh desert climateöLas Vegas, of course, representing some sort of extreme in human alteration of the environment Ask volunteers to describe ways in which modem technology has made life in the desert easier (houses, roads, swimming pools, stores, air conditioners, etc.). Students who have lived in or traveled through the Southwest can add their observations. Of course, if your class is located in and or semi-arid country the lesson becomes one of observing immediate surroundings.

You might conclude the lesson by asking the students which kind of desert settlement they like most and why. Some may feel that cliff dwellings or nomadic life is more fun. Others will prefer the convenience of the transformed desert.

For evaluation and review, you can use these basic questions:

• In what ways does the desert place limits on how people live? (This may need rephrasing for some students: e.g., Why is the desert a harsh environment?)
• What are some different ways people have used to provide shelter in desert regions?
• Does your own environment limit the way you five? How?
• Does modern technology give people power to shape their environment? Explain.
  

Extending the lesson

As suggested, the lesson can be used to introduce the study of human cultures.

Science classes can also be used to study ways in which plants and animals have adapted to desert life.

*Ina Corinne Brown, Understanding Other Cultures (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1963), p. 5.

THE STORY

Stranded

Read the following story. When you have finished, go back over it and make two lists. In List 1, write all the things Charles Parker needed in order to stay alive. In List 2, put all the items, or resources he could use.

Charles Parker had not seen the rock until it was too late. Then there was a sickening thud as the jeep struck it. Now he stood on the burning sand and looked at the damage. One wheel, raised off the ground, was still spinning slowly. He could tell at a glance that the axle was bent beyond repair.

It had seemed so easy to travel alone across that part of the Kalahari Desert. In a few hours, he would have found one of the mining camps.

Now, suddenly, the simple trip had turned to danger. He gazed around the landscape of endless sand and rock. He knew he must be at least 15 miles from the nearest settlement. How was he going to survive?

Should he stay with the jeep? At least that offered some shade. And maybe an airplane would spot it.

No, he crossed off that idea. No planes flew over that barren stretch of desert. He was better off to start walking. Maybe he could make it to a camp or a road.

Parker checked his supplies. One tin of biscuits, four ounces of dried meat, a half-canteen of water. That would be enough to last three days at the most.

He pulled the canvas tent off the jeep. He could use this to protect himself from the sun. He would have to travel at night.

He waited until the sun was low and then set to work. He drained the water from the radiator into the canteen. The rust-red liquid filled it.

Next he took apart the spare tire and pulled out the inner tube. He cut a hole in it with his pocket knife and put the rest of the radiator water into this "water bag."

He took apart another tire and let the air out of that inner tube. He could carry this with him and later make a slingshot from it. With luck, he might kill some wild game, such as a lizard or bird. There were a few scrubby plants around but he could not tell which might provide food.

Parker was not ready. One last idea came to him. He unscrewed the jeep's mirror and put it in his pocket. It might come in handy to signal for help. If there was any help to be found.

It was nearly dark now. He began walking slowly toward the west, where he could see a row of low hills. The sand was still warm beneath his feet. He wondered what his chances for survival were.

Less than 20 miles away, a family was preparing an evening meal. Charles Parker did not know about them and they knew nothing of him. The family squatted around a small fire, roasting meat. They drank water from large containers which were ostrich eggs. Near them lay their spears and knives.

This was a family of Kalahari bush people. They had always lived in this desert. As far back as their legends went the bush people had always lived here. Hundreds of years ago, they had learned to survive in the desert.