Curriculum Activities

THEME 1: "SENSE OF PLACE"

We all need a sense of place, something to remind us of our own community and our connection to the world. As global geographers, students will gain a clearer understanding of their place -- at home and around the world. By comparing Africa to other continents, to the US, and to individual states, students will develop a sense of place about Ghana and Africa. They will collect essential facts about the country, and continent, which will serve as a foundation for future world studies.

Laying the Groundwork

Ask students:

• What images come to mind when you hear the word Africa?
• Where did those images come from? (e.g., movies, magazines)
• How could we find out if these are accurate?
• Let’s talk about how large Africa is compared to the US. Our home state.
• What would you like to know about Africa?

Construct a KWL Chart

On the board:

• Make four columns. Title the first column "What We Know/Have Heard;" second column, "What We Want to Know;" third column "What We’ve Learned;" fourth column, "Questions We Still Have."
• Fill out the first two columns with the class and leave the others to fill out at the end of the unit.

FRESHMAN GEOGRAPHER (Grades K-4)

Exploration

Materials needed: How Big is Africa? poster

• The places pictured inside the map of Africa include a continent, two countries and two states. Can you name them all?
• Make comparison statements about them. (Africa is bigger than...)
• How would you figure out how many times the U.S. can fit inside of Africa?

How many?

• Do the same with your home state and Ghana using the Lonely Planet Web site.

Look at a map of Africa from The University of Texas Library Online:

• How many countries are there in Africa?
• How many states are there in US?
• Find where Ghana is located in Africa

Create a profile chart for Ghana:

• Brainstorm the kinds of information (such as, number of people, climate, agriculture crops) that would help you learn more about Ghana and write them on the board.
• Brainstorm categories for these items and put them into groups.
• Form classroom groups and assign categories for each group to research.
• Report each group’s findings by creating a combined profile chart on the board.

Helpful sites:

Lonely Planet

The Republic of Ghana Web site

The University of Pennsylvania African Studies Center: Ghana Page

Making Connections

• Complete the information in your KWL chart.

Branching Out

How will you explain to or show your Ghanaian school partners what you’ve learned about how their country compares with yours? What kinds of materials or examples will you send them to share this?

• Reproduce a map of Ghana and your home state (same scale!) and paste in your state as many times as it will fit. Decorate it with state flower, bird, and other things. Send this to your school partner.

JUNIOR GEOGRAPHER (Grades 5-8)

Exploration

Materials needed: How Big is Africa? poster

• How would you figure out how many times the US can "fit" inside of Africa?

Calculate this.

• Do the same with Ghana and your home state using the Lonely Planet Web site.
• How big is 11,668,545 square miles? What are other ways you could describe this size? (For example, Africa is over 11 billion football fields!)

Point to Point:

• Using a globe or atlas and the appropriate scale – either string (for the globe) or ruler (for the atlas) – determine the distance for:
• Africa - Cairo to Capetown
• Asia - Jerusalem to Tokyo
• Europe - Lisbon to Uralsk
• North America - Churchill to Veracruz
• South America - Caracas to Puerto Williams
• What do these measurements say about how the size of Africa compares to other places?

Africa’s diversity:

• Africa is the second largest continent in the world, 15% of it is considered desert, 10% tropical rainforest, 35% savanna/grasslands. The rest of Africa includes Mediterranean climate, mountain climate, tropical wet and dry, rainy and mild, and wet and mild.
• Brainstorm other types of information (such as ethnic groups, agricultural crops) that would help you better understand the diversity of Africa.

Look at a map of Africa from The University of Texas Library Online:

• Locate Ghana on the map of Africa and brainstorm ideas about how its location might affect such things as livelihood, agriculture, industry.
• Look at the map of Ghana in your classroom and discuss how the geography and climate of the country changes from north to south, and where major bodies of water are located.
• Brainstorm questions such as why the capital is located where it is; how life is different in different parts of the country; which areas are agriculturally rich or poor; and other questions that will help you learn more about Ghana.
• Brainstorm types of information (such as, population, ethnic groups, climate) that would help you better understand and answer the above questions (e.g., population, average temperature and rainfall).
• Categorize this information into groups (for example, people, government, environment)
• Form groups and assign categories for each group to research.
• Report each group’s findings by constructing a profile sheet on the board.

Helpful sites:

Lonely Planet

The Republic of Ghana Web site

On the Line: Virtual Journey of Ghana

The University of Pennsylvania African Studies Center: Ghana Page

Making Connections

• Complete the information in your KWL chart.
• Choose another country in Africa and compare it to Ghana.
• How would you explain to someone why we can’t make generalizations about Africa?
• How will you explain to or show your Ghanaian school partners what you’ve learned about how their country compares with yours? What kinds of materials or examples will you send them to share this information?

Branching Out

Map projections and perceptions:

Divide the class into three groups and assign each group a Goode, Mercator, or Peter’s world map. Using their map, each group should answer these questions:

• How many continents are there?
• What appears to be the largest continent?
• List the continents in order of size – largest to smallest.

Helpful sites:

Peters Projection World Map

Mercator Projection World Map

Brock University Computer Science Department: Mercator Projection

Maps in Minutes

Diversophy.com

About.com

• Discuss findings. Are there differences in the size and scale of the continents depending on whose map projection you are looking at?
• Research and find the size of each continent, in square miles, and list them in order of size from largest to smallest.
• Compare this list to the list you made from looking at your maps. Is there a difference?

SENIOR GEOGRAPHER (Grades 9-12)

Exploration

Materials needed: How Big is Africa? poster

• How would you determine how many times the U.S. can "fit" inside of Africa?

Calculate this.

• How big is 11,668,545 square miles? What are other ways you could describe this size? (For example, Africa is over 11 billion football fields!)
• Determine how many times your home state "fits" inside Ghana using the Lonely Planet Web site.

Point to Point:

• Using a globe or atlas, and the appropriate scale -- string (for the globe) or ruler (for the atlas) – determine the distance for:
• Africa - Cairo to Capetown
• Asia - Jerusalem to Tokyo
• Europe - Lisbon to Uralsk
• North America - Churchill to Veracruz
• South America - Caracas to Puerto Williams
• What do these measurements say about how the size of Africa compares to other places?

Africa’s diversity:

• Africa is the second largest continent in the world. Fifteen percent of it is considered desert, 10% tropical rainforest, 35% savanna/grasslands. The rest of Africa includes Mediterranean climate, mountain climate, tropical wet and dry, rainy and mild, and wet and mild.
• Brainstorm other types of information (such as, ethnic groups, agricultural crops) that would help you better understand the diversity of Africa.

Look at a map of Africa from The University of Texas Library Online:

• Locate Ghana on the map of Africa and brainstorm ideas about how its location might affect such things as livelihood, agriculture, and industry.
• Look at the map of Ghana in your classroom and discuss how the geography and climate of the country might vary from north to south, and where major bodies of water are located.
• Brainstorm questions such as why the capital is located where it is; how is life different in different parts of the country; which areas are agriculturally rich or poor; and other questions that will help you learn more about Ghana.
• Brainstorm types of information (such as, population, ethnic groups, climate) that would help you better understand and answer the above (e.g., population, average temperature, and rainfall) questions.
• Categorize this information into groups (for example, people, government, and environment)
• Form groups and assign categories for each group to research.
• Report each group’s findings by constructing a profile sheet on the board.

Helpful sites:

Lonely Planet

The Republic of Ghana Web site

On the Line: Virtual Journey of Ghana

The University of Pennsylvania African Studies Center: Ghana Page

Making Connections

• Complete the information in your KWL chart.
• How would you explain to someone why we can’t make generalizations about Africa?
• How will you explain or demonstrate to your Ghanaian school partners what you’ve learned about how their country compares with yours? What kinds of materials or examples will you send them to share this?

Branching Out

Empire visions:

• Calculate the relative size of various empires at similar times. For example, the Mali empire in the 1300’s was the size of western Europe alone. Compare this to the Inca empire, and the Mongol empire that existed around the same time.

Helpful sites:

World Book

National Museum of African Art: The Mali Empire

The University of Calgary: The Conquest of the Inca Empire

Geocities: The Mongol Empire

Mapmaker’s dilemma:

Divide the class into three groups and assign each group a Goode, Mercator, or Peter’s world map. Using their map, each group should answer these questions:

• How many continents are there?
• What appears to be the largest continent?
• List the continents in order of size – largest to smallest.

Helpful sites:

Peters Projection World Map

Mercator Projection World Map

Brock University Computer Science Department: Mercator Projection

Maps in Minutes

Diversophy.com

About.com

• Discuss findings. Are there differences in the size and scale of the continents depending on whose map projection you are looking at?
• Research and find the size of each continent, in square miles, and list them in order of size from largest to smallest.
• Compare this list to the list you made from looking at your maps. Is there a difference?
• Which map is most commonly used? Why? What are the reasons for using each?
• Which map do you think gives the fairest representation of each continent?
• Go to Diversophy.com to learn more about the map controversy and the Peter’s world map.
• All maps are distorted. Explore the map maker’s dilemma at NationalGeographic.com.

Stereotypes:

• Stereotypes often substitute for knowledge and cross-cultural understanding. Go to DiscoverySchool.com for a lesson that focuses on understanding stereotypes.

• How would you go about examining your own stereotypes of Africans?