Cultures and Religions of the Himalayan Region

Diana Creamer
Teaching reading and mathematics through the use of geography

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We're all the same. We're all different.

A paradox is a sentence that seems to be saying two opposite ideas, but is really true. The sentences above are like that. If you took an imaginary trip down a block of the world that had all nationalities in it, you'd find all sorts of people wearing all sorts of different clothes and speaking different languages. Some of them would look strange to you. They would be looking at you and thinking that you looked strange, too. But the strangest thing is that all of the people staring at each other share 99.9 percent of their DNA. DNA is the stuff that makes a person who he or she is. There are 6,000,000,000 people on earth and all of them have DNA that is 99.9% the same. They have lots of differences, but most of the differences are because of where they live or how they were raised. But underneath, we're all the same.

Customs are the ways in which people in a particular area do something. For example, when you were little and you lost a tooth, your mother told you to put it under your pillow. Then the tooth fairy would come and give you some money. If lots of your friends believed the same thing, it became a custom. Can you think of other customs you and your friends have? Write some of them here:

1. ___________________________________________________________________________

2.___________________________________________________________________________

If you lived in another country, something other than a tooth fairy would come to get your tooth. It might be a rat, mouse, squirrel or dog. In Africa, you throw your tooth onto the roof. You don't even get any money if it stays there. You only do it to make sure you get another tooth. If you lived in South America your mother might make a necklace out of your tooth. In other places, you bury your tooth, throw it out the window or put it in your bedroom slipper. Wouldn't it be fun to see how other cultures celebrate holidays or other festive times? Clink on these links to see how other cultures celebrate holidays:

Chinese New Year
Tibetan New Year
Puerto Rico

Some people use geometric designs to celebrate events. People in countries such as Asia, North American and South America use mandalas to mark special events. Mandalas are geometric designs that represent the universe as the people who made them see it. Make or color a mandala by either creating a design and coloring it or using one of the designs here.