This site was made possible by a Grosvenor Grant from the National Geographic Society Education fund. These pages were created and maintained by:
Director of MAGE
This site was made possible by a Grosvenor Grant from the National Geographic Society Education fund. These pages were created and maintained by:
Director of MAGE
Africa Lessons Developed by the Project Africa Seminar
Lesson Format
Africa Seminar members are requested to use the lesson format template located below when they create and submit their lessons. You may view the lesson format as a web page here, and you may download your own copy of the format from the "Downloads" page. The format was created by Aaron Doering and is based on the idea of "Authentic Pedagogy".
Click here to view the lesson template as a web page.
The lessons below are provided as previews before you download them. Click on the blue, underlined links to identify lessons which may be useful to you. Then, then go to the "Africa Downloads" page to click on the title and transfer that lesson to your desktop. Also, please check the "Africa Links" page for numerous, Internet based and interactive, lessons not created by this seminar.
Click on this African continent icon when you see it in the left panel to return to the top of this page.
Annotated Lesson List begins below:
Region: Africa as Content This lesson, by Ann DeHoff of Eden Prairie, MN, has the goal of developing the concept of regions and then asking the students to apply this to the continent of Africa. Click on the blue, underlined links here to view parts of the lesson. The lesson is for secondary students. CLICK HERE for a region direction and scoring page. Download this lesson in MicroSoft Word format from the Africa Downloads page.
Introduction to East Africa is a lesson for secondary students by Sharon Myran Marcotte who teaches in Anoka, MN. Click on the blue, underlined links here to view parts of the lesson. The lesson includes some directions which uses the five themes , and applies that to East Africa. There is also a map in the download. Download this lesson in MicroSoft Word format from the Africa Downloads page.
Swahili Coast This lesson, by Bob Manning of Stillwater JHS in Stillwater, MN, is for middle school geography students. Its purpose is to use the Swahili Coast region to show an application of the 5 Themes of Geography. The region itself is defined in terms of location, the name itself, and the cultural characteristics that make it unique. An emphasis is placed on how the movement of people, goods and ideas has shaped it over time and continues to make this a dynamic culture. Finally, students will be able to explain what impact the movement theme has on their own lives.
Five Themes Template:: Developed by Anna Hoppe, Tamara Sather and Lindsay Gaida from Eden Prairie Central Middle School. This lesson is a Five Themes worksheet that can be used for any geographic reading or video. Designed for use in 7-8th grade classrooms.
Africa Travel Brochure: Developed by Tamara Sather, Lindsay Gaida, and Anna Hoppe from Central Middle School in Eden Prairie. This lesson serves as a final assessment for a unit on Africa, incorporating research from the internet (see links) and a variety of National Geographic Magazine selections on Africa. The students will research to create a travel brochure on an African country or region. This is designed for use in 7-8th grade classrooms.
Using Pictures to Tell a Story: Trekking Through the Green Abyss Developed by Lindsay Gaida, Anna Hoppe and Tamara Sather from Central Middle School in Eden Prairie. This lesson focuses on the second part of an article about J. Michael Fay’s trek through Central Africa. Students are asked to use the pictures to analyze the article for the Five Themes of Geography and then connect the pictures into a plausible story. This is designed for use in 7-8th grade classrooms.
Central African Rainforest: The Green Abyss: This lesson by Jane Conlin from Nativity of Our Lord School, will use the National Geographic Magazine article; The Green Abyss from March 2001. The students will gain a general understanding of conservationist Michael Fay and the Megatransect: 1,200 miles through the African Forest. In addition, the students will also explore the economic impact of the rainforest on this region, as well as, the views of the conservationists, logging industries the native people on how to utilize this resource. The lesson will conclude with a round table discussion on the pros and cons of developing this resource.
Djénné-
Eternal City of West Africa is a lesson developed by Chris
Ripken and Christian Gould of Centennial Middle School in Lino
Lakes, MN. It incorporates the use of a National Geographic
magazine in a three-part activity in which students will:
---Read a challenging article with the assistance of a reading guide.
---Describe the characteristics of the Djénnéke culture
using the acronym PIG EARS.
---Create primary sources that would contribute to an article such as
the one used.
PIGEARS is an acronym for helping students study Human Geography of any place and was developed for Middle School students by the authors. They have a PowerPoint presentation which is available at the downloads page. You will need PowerPoint on your computer in order to view the presentation.
You Want to Do What With My Forest? In Kelly Swanson's lesson, the students are going to be analyzing land use decision making models using two different locations. The first ones will be in northern Minnesota, the second ones will be in the forests of Gabon. Kelly teaches at Johnson Senior High School in St. Paul, MN.
To be a Nation State or Not to be a Nation State? In this second lesson from Kelly Swanson, the students will read the article “Zulu - People of Heaven, Heirs to Violence” by Peter Godwin in the August 2000 issue of National Geographic. Once students have read the article they will determine the factors that make up a state (see handout A). Students will be assessing the pro’s and cons of giving the title nation-state to such a group.
Demographic Transitions and Population Pyramids. In this lesson from Kelly Swanson, students will evaluate several countries in Africa and then place them into one of the four phases of the Demographic Transition. Population pyramids will be obtained from the International Database Site at the U.S. Census Bureau. This lesson is designed for high school use. The lesson is only available in html format.
Reaching Across Borders in Southern Africa is a lesson by Dave Hedenstrom who teaches at Franklin MS in Minneapolis. This lesson uses the National Geographic magazine article, “Without Borders: Uniting Africa’s Wildlife Reserves,” to explore some of the difficulties presented by the borders established by European colonizers, as well as some current efforts by people in southern Africa to bridge those difficulties.
Ten Lesson Unit on Africa by Jill Torres of Patrick Henry HS in Minneapolis begins with an examination of the students preconceptions and takes them through mapping skills, a trade simulation, an interdisciplinary examination of art, learning about west and east Africa, and ends up studying Imperialism. The lesson topics are:
- Introduction to Africa
- West African Kingdoms
- Mapping Africa
- Wonders of Africa
- Trade Simulation
- Culture and Civilization
- Swahili Coast--maps and terms
- Swahili Coast--East Africa
- Masks and Art in Africa
- Imperialism--the scramble for Africa
Africa Unit: Geography and Politics, by Deana Jaeschke from Central Middle School inWhite Bear Lake, MN, is a four lesson unit which involes learning about Geography and Political Science. It culminates with a simulation of the 1884 Berlin Conference. This is a teaching unit on Africa that emphasizes the understanding of the political geography of Africa. The unit was created for the use in an 8th grade World Geography class. The unit emphasizes student led discussions and simulations.The parts of this unit are:
1 Introduction
2 Physical Geography
3 Scramble for Africa: 1884 Berlin
Conference Simulation
4 Current Political Geography of
Africa
5 Berlin Conference Role Playing
Descriptions
6 Climate and Ecosystems
Presentation Directions
Five Africa Lessons for grades 9-12 by Rebecca Biel of Johnson HS in St. Paul, MN.
- Lessons 1-2 Comparing Colonial and Current Africa. Students will be critically assessing a colonial Africa map for European influence. They will then compare the colonial map to a present day map of Africa.
- Lessons 3-4 Imperialism. Students will be studying the civil war in the 1990’s between the Hutus and Tutsis for long term effect of imperialism on Africa.
- Lesson 5 Apartheid in South Africa
Libya: Geography and Significance, by Kim Cambell. This lesson incorporates a Power Point presentation, a National Geographic magazine article and groups to learn about Libya. You can download the lesson in AppleWorks 6 format, and the Power Point slide show from the downloads page.
Africa Lessons for grade 8 by Richard Jensen of Battle Creek Middle School in St. Paul, MN.
- Richard has developed five lessons and each one is annotated below. View all of the lesson by clicking on the title at the beginning of this annotation. When the page comes up, be sure to keep scrolling down to see the individual lessons and supporting materials. You will receive all five lessons (in Microsoft Word format) when you click on the title in the downloads page.
- Africa: Location (Grade 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. - Africa: Climate and Vegetation (Grade 8)
OVERVIEW: Africa has a great variety of climates. The climates of Africa can best be compared by graphing data for temperature and precipitation. - Making a Textbook Chapter from a Magazine Grade
8
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. - Problems of Independence: Grade 8
OVERVIEW: African nations were greatly unprepared for de-colonization. They were faced with and continue to be presented with many different problems. Interpreting a political cartoon is part of this lesson. - MANCALA: Grade 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.
NGS Africa Map: “Africa
Today” This excellent, critical thinking lesson
was developed for grades 6-12 by: Mary Crampton (Eden PrairieSchools),
Bob Marcotte (MAGE), Maureen Trepp (Field School in Minneapolis),
and JoAnn Trygestad (Rosemount Middle School). This lesson features
a stunning two-sided map contained (not included here) in the Sept. 2001
edition of National Geographic magazine. The precise detail,
fine coloring, and up-to-date information can help students understand
the values and problems of Africa.
The questions contained in the lesson can be used with individual students
examining the map, or in small or large groups. The questions model basic
and higher level thinking skills and many of them generate discussion
and predictions.
Geography and Culture
in Africa (five HS lessons with supplemental materials)
These five lessons, by Tom Odendahl of Roosevelt HS, St. Paul,
MN, is an introduction to a larger unit on Africa and early human history.
We will look at human behavior in a fictional account, compare socialization
in a couple of cultures and then follow human development on to early
civilizations.The lessons will download in MS Word format.
- Lesson #1: What can you learn from a map? (rubrick)
Students will demonstrate knowledge/understanding of the five themes of Geography with a visual product - Lesson #2: The Gods Must Be Crazy (film
worksheet)
Students will apply the 5 themes to a fictional African character’s life; consider how geography impacts the San people. - Lesson #3: Without Borders (National Geographic Article)
Students will describe how conflict shapes and is shaped by geography. - Lesson #4: Female/Male Socialization (chart)
Students will examine the roles women and men have in their own families. - Lesson #5: Growing Up In Acholi (worksheet)
Students will compare their families to Acholi families, pointing out similarities and differences.