The cultural approach to the teaching of social studies program for the seventh grade level was developed by the teachers of Montgomery, Alabama under an ESEA Title III grant. Major objectives of the program are to stimulate students to develop an awareness of their place in history by studying the cultures preceding them, and to encourage students to develop a method of analyzing cultures which would enable them to systematically appraise any society. Each student is provided with a student learning unit containing many resource materials. After gathering data through the use of readings and audio-visual materials, the student interprets and uses the data in many activities such as simulations, individual research, oral reports, and dramatic presentations. The curriculum begins with a study of the culture, community and history of Montgomery, Alabama, and then takes up tribal man and proceeds chronologically from that time forward. All major world cultures are included. The method of analyzing each culture, a three-step process, involves the student in locating the culture geographically and placing it in a time perspective, overviewing the culture and determining its principal characteristics and unique qualities, and examining the social, economic, political, religious, aesthetic, and intellectual aspects of the culture. Evaluation results indicate a larger gain in social studies knowledge for cultural approach students. (Author/RM)