LOCATION IN AFRICA

by Richard Jensen of Battle Creek Middle School

St. Paul, Minnesota

THEME: LOCATION

GRADE LEVEL: 8

OVERVIEW: To participate fully in the study of any region the student must have a working knowledge of the physical and political geography of the region.

SUBJECTS: Geography

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

Classroom Atlas

National Geographic Map Africa Today/ Africa’s Natural Realms

Blank paper

Colored pencils

OPTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES:

OBJECTIVES:

Define latitude and longitude range of Africa

Describe the relative location of Africa

Identify, locate, draw and label the countries of Africa

Identify, locate, draw and label the significant physical features of Africa

Classify the countries of Africa by region

PROCEDURE:

OPENING: What is the absolute location for Africa? This should elicit discussion of finding the latitude and longitude range for Africa.

DEVELOPMENT

What it the point of Africa that is furthest north? What is its latitude? What point of Africa is the furthest south? What is the latitude? This is the latitude range. What part of Africa is furthest east? What is the longitude? What part of Africa is furthest west? What is the longitude? This is the longitude range. Where is Africa compared to Europe, North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Antarctica?

CLOSING: Now that the students have been introduced to the location of Africa they will know enough to begin to use classroom maps, atlases, textbooks, or online resources to make their maps.

STUDENT ONLINE ACTIVITIES:

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT

The student’s maps should be accurate to scale and location of countries and physical features.

Color should be used to illustrate the different regions of Africa.

Symbols should be consistent and logical.

RESOURCE BAR

DEFINITIONS:

latitude range- area covered by of a region measures in degrees from north to south

longitude range- area covered by of a region measures in degrees from east to west.

Sahel- place in Africa that forms a border between the Sahara and the savanna

Rift- a deep crack in the earth’s surface

GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS: 1, 2, 3, 8

WEB LINKS FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS:

www.africaonline.com/site/

www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa.html

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

How much of Africa is north of the equator? How much of Africa is in the middle latitudes? What natural advantages and disadvantages does each region possess?

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

Students identify the natural advantages and disadvantages of several countries.

CREDITS:

Richard Jensen

Battle Creek Middle School

St. Paul, Minnesota

LOCATION IN AFRICA

Objective: Create a political and physical map of Africa.

Draw the prime meridian and the equator on your map. Draw the map of Africa on a sheet of blank paper. Draw in the borders of the countries. Label the countries.
Draw and label the following physical features.

OCEANS	MOUNTAINS AND PLATEAUS	RIVERS AND LAKES	DESERTS	OTHER LANDFORMS
Mediterranean Sea	Atlas Mountains	Nile River	Sahara	Great Rift Valley
Atlantic Ocean	Ahaggar Mountains	Niger River	Kalahari	Qattara Depression
Straits of Gibraltar	Ethiopian Plateau	White Nile	Namib	Serengheti Plain
Mozambique Channel	Mount Kilimanjaro	Blue Nile		Congo Basin
Indian Ocean		Orange River		Sahel
Red Sea		Limpopo River		Cape of Good Hope
Gulf of Guinea		Congo River
		Zambezi River
		Lake Chad
		Lake Nassar
		Lake Tanganyika
		Lake Nyasa
		Lake Victoria

3. Color the countries to show four regions of Africa.

North Africa	East Africa	West Africa	Central and Southern Africa
Algeria	Burundi	Benin	Cameroon
Egypt	Djibouti	Burkina Faso	Central Africa Republic
Libya	Eritrea	Cape Verde	Democratic Republic of the Congo
Morocco	Ethiopia	Chad	Republic of the Congo
Tunisia	Kenya	Coite D’ Ivoire	Equatorial Guinea
Western Sahara	Rwanda	The Gambia	Gabon
	Seychelles	Ghana	Sao Tome and Principe
	Somalia	Guinea	Angola
	Sudan	Guinea-Bissau	Botswana
	Tanzania	Liberia	Comoros
	Uganda	Mali	Lesotho
		Mauritania	Madagascar
		Niger	Malawi
		Nigeria	Mauritius
		Senegal	Mozambique
		Sierra Leone	Namibia
		Togo	South Africa
			Swaziland
			Zambia
			Zimbabwe

4. Be sure that your map has a title, compass rose, scale and a key.

CLIMATE AND VEGETATION IN AFRICA

THEME: Location, Place and Region

GRADE LEVEL: 8

OVERVIEW: Africa has a great variety of climates. The climates of Africa can best be compared by graphing data for temperature and precipitation.

SUBJECTS: Geography, Mathematics

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

Internet access

National Geographic classroom map: Africa’s Natural Realms

OPTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES:

OBJECTIVES:

Identify one location in each of the four regions of Africa

Research the average monthly temperature and precipitation for each location

Use a climate graph to graph the data

Analyze the climate graph to determine the likely vegetation for each location

PROCEDURE:

OPENING:

What is the climate where you live? Describe the climate? Look at the map of Africa. Are there places in Africa that have a climate like yours.

DEVELOPMENT:

Students conduct their research and complete their climate graphs.

CLOSING:

Students analyze the graphs to determine what is the most likely vegetation in each region. Then using vegetation maps determine the accuracy of their predictions.

STUDENT ONLINE ACTIVITIES:

Conduct research on the average monthy temperature and precipitation.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT

The graph should serve as the assessment.

RESOURCE BAR

DEFINITIONS:

Precipitation- moisture that falls to the ground

Climate graph- a graphic organizer that uses line and bar graphs to compare average monthly temperature and precipitation.

GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS: 8 and 15

WEB LINKS FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS:

www.worldclimate.com- database of climate information for locations around the world

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

How much of the precipitation you have described in your graph falls as snow?

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

Predict the likely population density of your locations based on temperature and precipitation. Compare you predictions with a population density map and explain any differences.

CREDITS:

Richard Jensen

Battle Creek Middle School

St. Paul, Minnesota

Africa Location and Place

You have been given the temperature and rainfall data for one city in each of the four regions of Africa.
Use the data to draw a climate graph. Use your textbook, classroom atlas, and maps to find; absolute location, climate, and describe the vegetation in the area.

North Africa

	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEPT	OCT	NOV	DEC
F°	54.3	57.0	62.4	69.4	75.9	81.0	82.6	82.0	77.4	73.0	65.3	69.8
IN	.3	.2	.1	.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	.1	.2

City: Cairo, Egypt

Absolute Location:________________________________________________________

Climate:_________________________________________________________________

West Africa

	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEPT	OCT	NOV	DEC
F°	80.0	81.9	82.6	82.0	80.8	78.6	77.2	77.5	25.3	26.0	27.0	26.5
IN	1.0	1.7	3.8	5.8	9.9	16.3	10.0	2.7	6.0	7.7	2.6	1.0

City: Lagos, Nigeria

Absolute Location:________________________________________________________

Climate:_________________________________________________________________

Vegetation:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

East Africa

	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEPT	OCT	NOV	DEC
F°	67.1	68.4	69.1	68.5	66.6	63.9	62.2	63.0	65.5	67.5	66.7	66.2
IN	1.8	1.7	2.9	6.3	4.7	1.2	.5	.5	1.0	1.7	4.7	3.0

City: Nairobi, Kenya

Absolute Location:________________________________________________________

Climate:_________________________________________________________________

Central and Southern Africa

	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEPT	OCT	NOV	DEC
F°	75.7	76.1	74.7	71.4	67.1	63.5	63.0	64.8	66.9	68.9	71.4	73.9
IN	4.7	5.0	5.2	3.3	2.2	1.3	1.4	1.9	2.9	4.3	4.6	4.7

City: Durban, South Africa

Absolute Location:________________________________________________________

Climate:_________________________________________________________________

MAKING A TEXTBOOK CHAPTER FROM A MAGAZINE

THEME:

Reading for writing.

GRADE LEVEL:

OVERVIEW:

National Geographic Magazine is an underused but excellent source of information. The objective of this lesson is to supplement an article from the publication with the sorts of materials that are common to most classroom textbooks.

SUBJECTS:

World Geography and Reading

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

Student copies of National Geographic, October 2001.

Classroom atlas

Africa Map

OPTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES:

Online versions of the magazine

OBJECTIVES:

Identify and define words that cannot be defined in context.

Identify place names and people from the article that are necessary for understanding.

Identify main ideas.

Identify and present a solution to a problem posed in the article.

Collect and graph data related to the article.

Analyze a map.

PROCEDURE:

OPENING: Have the students look at several textbooks and list the tools that are presented to prepare the students for reading, aid while reading and assess reading when completed. Provide the students a copy of the magazine and have them make a list of what reading tools are presented. The students list what tools would need to be written to provide the reader with tools for reading National Geographic.

DEVELOPMENT: Students read an article from National Geographic and write the materials that would be required to change the magazine article into a textbook chapter. This should take no less than four class periods.

DAY 2- Separate the students into groups of 3-5. Students read the article and identify any words that could not be defined from context and list place names and people mentioned in the article that are central to understanding the article.

DAY 3-Student groups identify the main ideas of the article. The students rewrite these main ideas in the form of questions.

DAY 4-Student groups use the vocabulary /people and places list and their main idea questions to write a section review.

DAY 5-The student groups write a section quiz.

CLOSING: Students exchange materials and use them as they would a standard textbook chapter.

STUDENT ONLINE ACTIVITIES:

Students will need to conduct research to write their graph and map exercises.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT: Students will exchange completed materials and use them as they would a regular textbook reading.

RESOURCE BAR

DEFINITIONS:

GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS:

1,2,3,9,18

Minnesota Reading Standard –Middle Level Content Standard: Nonfiction

WEB LINKS FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS:

worlclimate.com-data for graphs

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

What are the tools that textbook publishers provide to aid the student in reading?

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

Apply the same procedure to other nonfiction and fiction materials.

CREDITS:

Richard Jensen

Battle Creek Middle School

St. Paul, Minnesota

MAGAZINE PROJECT OVERVIEW

Rationale: National Geographic Magazine has long been an informative and interesting chronicler of geographica The problem is that the magazine has been underused as a classroom resource. Our objective is to utilize one article from the regular publication and treat it as a textbook. We will create the textbook support materials that are common to classroom textbooks but not part of the normal publication.

You have been formed into a group for the purpose of reading and analyzing a magazine article for the purpose of producing textbook support materials.

You group will produce the following items;

A list of vocabulary words, place names, and people mentioned in the article that can not be defined or understood from context.
A list of pre-reading questions that identify the main ideas in the article.
A section review that, in a textbook, would check for understanding of main ideas, vocabulary, and introduce or reinforce some specific skill. Your section review must include;

Definitions-these are the words from your vocabulary list.
Identifications- these are the essential people and places mentioned in the article.
Reading for Meaning Questions-These questions refer to the main ideas in the article.
A question that asks the reader to solve a problem.
Questions that require the use of a graph. This section should relate to the article and will require some research.
Questions that require the use of a map. The map should relate or expand upon the article and will require research

4. A Section Quiz. The quiz should have variety of multiple choice, true and false, matching, and short answer questions. The quiz should be written to test for knowledge of main ideas, supporting details, vocabulary and key terms.

Problems of Independence

THEME: Reading Political Cartoons

GRADE LEVEL: 8

OVERVIEW:

African nations were greatly unprepared for de-colonization. They were faced with and continue to be presented with many different problems.

SUBJECTS: Geography, History, journalism

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

Bill Mauldin cartoon Chicago Sun Times July 1, 1962, reprinted in; I’ve Decided I Want My Seat Back by Bill Mauldin

OPTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES:

OBJECTIVES:

Identify a current African problem
Draw a political cartoon that illustrates the success or failure of African governments in managing a post-colonial problem

PROCEDURE:

OPENING: By the early sixties African countries gained their independence. They were in many ways unprepared for government.

DEVELOPMENT:

Present the cartoon mentioned in required materials. Explain that editorial cartoonists often use symbols to communicate ideas. What are the symbols in this cartoon? (The “black gang” entering the deserted bridge of a ship. The “black gang” was not necessarily made up of black people but refers to being covered with coal dust. In this case it was intentional considering black Africans were gaining the bridge. The bridge is the other obvious symbol.)

This cartoon is pretty old. How well do you think African leaders have done since the end of colonialism? What kinds of problems do African countries have today? Write the answers to these questions on the board. This should provide a list of problems for the students to research.

CLOSING:

Students choose a problem, conduct research and then draw an editorial cartoon that illustrates the success or failure of Africans in dealing with that problem.

STUDENT ONLINE ACTIVITIES:

Research online news sources.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT

Students exchange cartoons.

RESOURCE BAR

DEFINITIONS:

GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS: 17 and 18

WEB LINKS FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS:

www.africaonline.com- list of African newspapers

www.ogaden.com/cartoon.htm- collection of current editorial cartoons form African newspapers

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

Compare the success of African countries with any others that gained independence during the same time period.

CREDITS:

Richard Jensen

Battle Creek Middle School

St. Paul, Minnesota

MANCALA

THEME: Leisure Activities

GRADE LEVEL: 6-8

OVERVIEW:

Most cultures have board games that can be classified into different groups. Africa is the home of the Mancala group. This lesson is also designed to reinforce basic math skills.

SUBJECTS:

Geography, Technical Writing, Mathematics

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

Mancala game boards

Rules for Mancala- http://www.centralconnector.com/GAMES/mancala.html

OPTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES:

Limited by the imagination of the students

OBJECTIVES:

Students will participate in a traditional Africa pastime.

Students will write the instructions for the construction of a Mancala board and pieces.

Students will calculate the costs of making their game board and pieces.

PROCEDURE:

OPENING:

Most cultures have some form of board games. These games are often classified as race games, war games, positional games, dice games, domino games and mancala games. Africa is the originator of mancala games

DEVELOPMENT:

Students are given game boards, pieces, and rules to various forms of the game. Students play as many variations as time allows. Students are given the task of designing a game board and pieces.

CLOSING:

The students read each others instructions to determine if they can be followed.

STUDENT ONLINE ACTIVITIES:

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT

Students exchange instructions and use them to make a game board and pieces

RESOURCE BAR

DEFINITIONS:

GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS: 4

WEB LINKS FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS:

www.centralconnector.com/GAMES/mancala.html-web site of a game company with rules to various forms of mancala

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Which classroom design would be the least expensive to make? Which would be the most durable? Which is the most authentic? For which time and place?

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

Students make modifications to the game.

CREDITS:

Richard Jensen

Battle Creek Middle School

St. Paul, Minnesota

DESIGN A MANCALA GAME

You know how to play the mancala. You know what the game board and pieces look like , their number, and function. Your task is to design a game board and pieces. You will need to write detailed instructions for constructing your game. You will also complete the chart below to show materials, amounts, costs for each and total cost. Your total material cost can not exceed $1.50.

Material	Number	Cost for each	Total	Total Cost



				>$1.50

Conclusions on the Use of National Geographic in Classroom

National Geographic Magazine is a great magazine that is been difficult to use in my middle school classroom. The main problems lie in the cost of classroom sets and the number of accommodations that are necessary. In the end, the magazine is useful if the teacher is willing to make the accommodations and a way to overcome the cost can be found.

National Geographic is a great but expensive magazine. The greatest strength of the magazine is the photography. Because the students need the pictures the teacher is stuck with collecting classroom sets. Student donations are unlikely to produce the number required, seminars that provide materials like this are rare, and robbing the mail boxes of subscribers is illegal. A useful publication would be one that collected articles from the magazine in their published format on a particular region or theme. This sort of publication would greatly increase access to the magazine, however the teacher and students still have the articles to contend with.

The articles in National Geographic are well written and richly illustrated but require significant accommodations to be used in my classroom. The length of the articles and the vocabulary can be intimidating. These obstacles can be overcome in a variety of ways but uses up already stretched instructional time. One obvious solution is to use these materials in reading classes to teach reading skills. The articles are written in a variety of styles and would stretch the skills of most middle school students while supporting the content area.

In the end , National Geographic is a resource that I would want to use more often in my classroom. The difficulties of cost can be overcome by more efficient publication. The articles in the magazine can be difficult to read. This obstacle is one that teachers work against all the time and can also be solved with standard reading instruction.

Richard Jensen

Project Africa