How Big Is Africa - Curriculum Guide

"How Big is Africa ?" Curriculum Guide How Big is Africa? Curriculum Guide Teachers may select from any or all of the following six lessons to help provide educational context for the poster, "How Big is Africa?". Preview Lesson LESS0N ONE: PERCEPTI0NS AND PR0JECTI0NS Objective: For studeпts to compare Afгica to otheг coпtineпts in the world while assessing how the pгojection used influences оuг perceptions. Gгade level: Gгades 4-8 (Рагt А) and Grades 9-12 (Рагt В) PartA In small groups, or as а class, have students consideг the following questioпs. 1. Look caгefully at each of the projections of the woгld inAppendix А. 2. Wгite а bгief statement which comparesAfrica to each of the other continents. For ех. "Afгica is lагgег thanAustralia but smaller thanAsia." 3. Does your perception of the size of each of the continents differ accoгding to which pгojection you are looking at? 4. What is the most accurate way of seeing the relative size of the contiпents? [globe] Why? Part В Read the following paragraph on the Peters Мар contгoveгsy and discuss whether or not you think this projection should Ье used more often. Amo Peteгs, Geгman map makeг, historian and journalist, developed an equal area map projection in the еагlу 1970's in order to counter the commonly used "Eurocentгic" Meгcator map projection. Не stated, "In оuг epoch, relatively young nations of the woгld have cast off the colonial dependencies and поw fight fог equal rights. It seems important to me that developed nations are no longer at the center of the woгld, but are plotted accoгding to their true size." Не points out that on the Mercator map Europe's 3.8 million square miles аге made to арреаг lагgег thaп SouthAmerica's 6.9 million square miles. Peters initially wгote а contгoveгsial world history text and found that "the quest for the causes of аггоgаnсе and xenophobia has led me гepeatedly back to the global map as being primaгily responsiЫe for foгming people's impression of the world." It is important to note that the Mercator projection is гагеlу used today except for the puгpose it was oгiginally designed for navigation. Of course, many Mercatoг maps can still Ье found in use Ьу graphic designeгs, in older classroom mateгials and as inexpensive wall maps. Caгtogгaphers have cгiticized the Peters map in part due to its distortion of the shapes of continents- one cartogгapheг went so far as to descгibe the effect as being, "the resulting land masses аге somewhat гeminiscent of wet, гagged, long winteг undeгweaг hung out to dry on the Arctic Circle." While each continent is гeflected accuгately in teпns of area pгoportion, the overall effect of the maps is not а realistic portгayal of the eaгth. Caгtogгapheгs argue that numeгous pгojections developed since the Мегсаtог pгojection (such as the RoЬinson and the Goode) succeed in achieving а more гealistic image without а Europe centeгed focus. In fact, equal агеа pгojection pгojections had existed since 1772 but the pгess, the United Nations, the Woгld Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches heгalded the Peteгs map as а way fог the thiгd woгld to Ьгеаk away fгom colonial constructs. Thus, timing was eveгytl1ing; many nations of the woгld had just achieved independence fгom colonial poweгs within the pгevious decade. Peteгs as an accomplished journalist, knew the агt of geneгating puЬlicity. Тhеге ensued an on-going debate оvег the use of this map between caгtograpl1eгs on the one hand and people who believed the map would change people's peгceptions about the Third World on the other. Using the Poster * LESSON TWO: HOW BIG IS AFRICA? Objective: Fог students to examine closely the map/poster provided. Fог elementaгy students in particular to explore the differences between continents, countries, and states and to teach that size is not а key determinant of whetheг а place is а state, countгy or continent. Gгade Level: Gгades 1-12 Depending upon the age level of students, display the poster and pass out the maps (Appendix В) and explore the following ideas. (Веfоге looking at the map, you may want to have students speculate about the relative size of Africa, China, Europe and the US.) For еагlу elementaгy students: The places pictured inside the map of Afгica include а continent, two countгies and two states. Which are which? Discuss and look at the maps to evaluate whether or not size affects whether places are continents, countгies, or states. Аге the continents all the same size? Сап countries Ье larger than continents? Which two areas are closest in size? [ China and the United States] Find out the size of Alaska and соmраге that with the size of small countries in the world. Compare the number of countгies in Europe with the number of countries in Africa. For uррег elementaгy/ middle gгade students: How big is 11,608,000 squaгe miles? (what are other ways you could describe this size. (For example, Afгica is 6,767,798,095 (that's almost 7 billion! !!) football fields. If you were to give each person on eaгth, almost 6 billion, land in Africa, you could give eveгyone theiг own football field! ) With what sizes are you familiar so that you сап compare easily in your mind how big this is? (for ех. if you are living in Califomia, how many California's fit into Africa?) How many times would tl1e United States (or China, or Europe) alone fit inside Africa? Find out the square mileage for your home state. How many times would it fit inside Afгica? For high school and middle school: Why does it matteг that we know how Ьig Afгica is? Follow-up: Calculate the relative size of various empiгes at similar times. For example, the Mali empire in the lЗ00's was the size of western Europe alone. It went from the Atlantic coast to the Nigeг гiver and then included many of the trade towns of the western Sahara deseгt. Соmраге this to the Carolingian empiгe in Europe, the Inca empiгe, or the Mongol empire around the same time. LESSON THREE: HOW LONG WOULD IT Т АКЕ? 2 Objective: For students to get а sense of relative distances in Africa compared to other continents. Grade Level: Grades 4-9 1. Complete the following measuгements using а globe ог atlas using tl1e appropriate scale and eitheг string (in the case of the globe) ог ruleгs (in the case of the atlases.) The places chosen are the distant points on а north / south or а east / west axis within each continent. They are not necessarily the faгthest points but do give а sense of the distances involved. Continent Name % of Eaгth' s land Point to Point Africa Asia Oceania Europe Noгth Ameгica South America Antarctica Cairo to Capetown Jerusalem to Tokyo Darwin to Melbouгne Lisbon to Uralsk Churchill to Veracruz Caracas to Pueгto Williams (no permanent cities) 20.6% 29.5% 5.2% 6.5% 16.3% 11.8% 10.1% Est. Mileage (ог lan) [Approx. 4800 (7730)] 2. Choose one other set of points in Africa and one other continent to compare. 3. What do these measurements say about the size of Africa relative to other places? PossiЫe Follow-up Activities for history classes: * lnvestigate early exploration of Africa. What did АгаЬ (e.g. lbn Battuta), Asian (e.g. Zheng Не), and European (e.g. Vasco de Gama) travelers believe about the size of the continent and how did this shape their perceptions of the peoples and regions of Africa? * Cecil Rhodes was а British explorer and businessman in the 19th century. His greatest dream was to build а telegгaph line and гailгoad from the Саре of Good Норе, in southem Africa, to Cairo Egypt. Explore the reasons why such а tгanscontinental гailroad has neveг been completed in Africa. LESSON FOUR: WHY DOES SIZE MATTER? Objective: For students to recognize the diversity of Africa and see why undeгstanding the size of Afгica matters in avoiding making generalizations about "Africa" as а whole. Grade level: Grades 4-8 ТНЕ FACTS: SIZE AND CLIMA ТЕ: Africa is the second largest continent in the world 15% of it is considered deseгt (hot with little rain) 1 О % of it is considered tropical rainfoгest (tropical wet) 35% of it is considered savanna/ grasslands (steppe) The rest of Africa includes Mediteгranean climate, mountain climate, tгopical wet and dry, гainy and mild and wet and mild. POPULA ТION DIVERSIТY Тhеге are over: 800 ethnic groups in Afгica This includes Asians, Europeans and АгаЬs, wlю have permanently settled there, in some cases, for centuries. 1ООО languages аге spoken in Afгica (40 of which have тоге than one million speakers) 3 Over 40% of Africans practice а wide variety of traditional religions. There are also many foпns of Christianity and Islam, as well as some Hinduism, practiced in Africa. AGRICUL TURAL DIVERSITY The following crops are only the main ones grown in diffeгent regions of Africa. There are many more not listed here. Note the different climate needs for eacl1. RICE- Grown in sub-tropical climate areas, paddy rice is found in the Nile river delta lands of Egypt, in Madagascar, and in West Africa in coastal mangrove swamps. WHEAT- As а traditional crop in Noгth Africa and Ethiopia, these were the main sources of wheat consumed- during the Roman Imperial times. Noгthern Africa was then the "bread market" of the world. Wheat is now also grown in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Kenya as well as in some iгrigated areas of Nigeria. MAIZE (C0RN) - Corn is а widespread crop in Afгica grown in tropical, sub-tropical and tempeгate latitudes. It is found throughout Eastern and Western Africa as а local crop and is expoгted from Zimbabwe and South Africa . S0RGHUM AND MILLET- Grown in dгу savanna lands, these grains are often the main staple crop. Rоот CR0PS- These are widespread throughout the tropics including the savanna and equatorial lands and include yams, sweet potatoes, and cassava. OIL PALM- А local staple in West Afгica which requires hot humid conditions with constant temperatuгes and heavy rainfall year гound. ТЕА- Теа also requires unifoпn temperatuгes year round though lower than palms and not as wet, often in highland areas. Introduced as cash crops in East Africa, especially Kenya, tea is now also grown in some paгts of West Afгica. СОСОА- Requiгing tropical climates, сосоа is а major crop in Ghana, Ivoгy Coast, Togo, Benin, Cameroon and Nigeria. C0FFEE- Thought to have originated in Ethiopia, coffee thrives in tropical (often highland) climates (20 degrees N and S of the equator) including Ivoгy Coast, Ethiopia, and Uganda. WINE- Grape vines are chaгacteristic of Mediteпanean climates including poгtions of the South Afгican coast, as well as Algeгia, Tunisia and Morocco. SUGAR- Sugaгcane is produced in tropical climates. In addition, it is exported from South Afгica, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Malawi. ТОВАССО- Grown throughout tempeгate and tropical areas, this product originated in Noгth Ameгica but is produced for export in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Nigeria and Tanzania. CoттoN-Cotton is widely grown in tropical and sub-tropical regions in areas that are rain fed and under iпigation. Egypt and Sudan аге the main produceгs in Africa. SISAL- These trees produce а coarse fiber for making горе or twine. As а dгought resistant plant, it can survive without large amounts of water. Tanzania, Kenya, Angola, Madagascar and MozamЬique produce 40% of the world's supply. 1. Write а shoгt essay on l10w these statistics help to show the diversity of Afгica. Since Africa is so laгge, coveгing many climate zones and encompassing over 800 million people, this diversity is to Ье expected 2. Using the infoпnation here, as well as additional research if needed, develop а paper scavenger hunt where classmates would have to discover where ceгtain items are grown or found in Africa using climate, political and vegetation maps of Africa. 3. Teachers may wish to comЬine а study of climagraphs with this activity. LESSON FIVE: AFRICA'S NOT А COUNTRY Objective: For students to recognize that it is hard to generalize about Africa, because its diversity is great and each of its 53 countгies is unique. 4 Grade level: Grades 4-9 In many places in west Africa, traditional storytelling is done Ьу а griot- а professional огаl historian who has leamt the histories and stories of his/heг family of past centuries to recent times from ancestors. Often in the course of telling the stoгy, the audience is encouгaged to inteгject which assures the telleг that all аге still awake. The following fictitious story was written to illustrate the misuse of the teгm "Afгica" in the course of оuг daily lives. As the teacheг reads tl1e story aloud, students should inte1ject witl1 the word WHERE? wheneveг they believe the term is used to repгesent тоге of Afгica than is intended. Fог the benefit of the teacheг, the тоге pгecise агеаs аге listed in paгentheses wheгe possiЬle. NOTE ТО TEACHER: Teacl1eгs may wish to remove the hints fгom the paгagraph and pгovide each student with а сору of the рагаgгарh that they can геаd individually first and tl1en along with the teacheг afteг. Уou may wish to give them а sense of how many mistakes theгe аге to find. The impoгtant thing fог students to гealize that these generalizations may indeed Ье true of а few places in Afгica but they do not гepгesent the whole continent. As I sat down at bгeakfast this moming, I poured myself а bowl of сосоа puffs and thought of what my geography teacheг had talked about in class yesteгday. Much of the chocolate we eat is fгom Afгica. [ Ghana and Nigeгia] While eating, I picked up the newspapeг and discoveгed that the Pгesident will Ье tгaveling to Fгance, China and Africa [wheгe?] in upcoming months. Му fatheг dгove me to school and he, as always, listened to the news on the гadio. I heaгd that in the country of Afгica [wheгe?] famine and ethnic conflict continue to Ье а majoг concem. In geogгaphy class today we had an Afгican guest speakeг. I asked him why it was always so hot in Afгica [ where? - Remembeг this may Ье true of some locales at some times of the уеаг but theгe is also much cold weatheг in highland агеаs (snow on Mt. Kilamanjaгo as well as ice in winter months on the high plateaus of Southem Afгica.] . One of my fгiends said that when hег family traveled to Afгica [wheгe?] that hег mother had woпied about tropical diseases in Afгica [ wheгe? peгhaps some equatorial агеаs but not everywhere] . Later that day, in science class we talked about nuclear eneгgy and leamed that Africa [ Madagascar, South Afгica, Zaire] has laгge deposits of uranium used in creating energy. Afteг school, I relaxed in fгont of the television watching old movies on Nickelodeon and dгinking а Coke. I гemembeгed my geogгaphy teacheг having said that the cola flavor comes from kola nut tгees grown in Afгica [ numerous west African countгies]. I watched an old Taгzan movie and wondeгed about the Afгican [ wheгe?] jungle [the teгm "гainforest" is тоге accurate and is only found along the coast and inland along the Zaiгe гivег basin]. I also thought about what our guest speaker lшd said today, "Afгica is so diveгse that it is hard to make geneгalizations about this continent." PossiЫe Follow-up: Teachers may want to pгovide ехtга cгedit for students who bгing in fuгtheг examples of such гefeгences they hеаг on the news, in commercials ог in conveгsations. The more they аге encouraged to гecognize the proЫem, the тоге attuned they will Ье to avoiding geneгalizations about the continent of Afгica. LESSON SIX: COUNTRY CUTOUTS Objective: Fог students to create theiг own "How Big is Africa" map emphasizing гelative size of countries compared to the size of Africa. Grade level: Grades 3-7 Note to teachers: 5 You may wish to enlarge the cut-outs to facilitate younger hands cutting out tl1e shapes. Don't wопу too mucl1 about perfection in cutting however. In fitting Russia onto the continent, there is а natural break at the Urals where students can cut Russia in two parts, dividing European Russia from Asian Russia. Using Appendix С and the following information, students can make tl1eir own "How Big is Africa." F or ease of calculation, all numbers have been rounded off to the nearest thousand. Total area of Africa = 1 1,608,000 square miles Saudi Arabia 83 1,000 sq. miles 1. India 1,269,000 sq. miles 2. Brazil 3,286,000 sq. miles 3. Argentina 1,073,000 sq. miles 4. Canada 3,848,000 sq. miles 5. France 2 10,000 sq. miles 6. Mexico 756,000 sq. miles 7. Australia 2,965,000 sq. miles 8. Russia 6,59 1,000 sq. miles 9. USA 3,7 18,000 sq. miles 10. 1. Select from the cutouts to fi.11 the continent. Note that different combinations can Ье used to fi.11 Africa. 2. For а special math effort, figure out which countries to use to come closest to the total square miles in Africa- 1 1,608,000. 3. How many times can you fit India inside of Africa? How many times can you fit France inside of Africa? PossiЫe Follow-up: Have students color in the cut-outs or research climate, resources, religions, and languages which could then Ье put onto the maps using symbols. They could then compare these characteristics to specific places in Africa.