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Overview:
Within Africa’s vast borders are many topographical features, such as deserts, mountains, plateaus, and rivers. In this lesson, students will study some of Africa’s diverse landscape and investigate how these features impact the available water supply, food sources, and population distribution of this unique continent. Three countries are highlighted in different locations with distinctive landforms: Algeria in North Africa, Ethiopia in East Africa, and the country of South Africa. From the Sahara Desert to the Great Rift Valley to the South African veld, students will compare topographical features and their effect on each country’s physical and human environments.
Connections to the Curriculum:
Social studies, language arts
Connections to the National Geography Standards:
Standard 1: "How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective"
Standard 3: "How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth’s surface"
Standard 4: "The physical and human characteristics of places"
Standard 15: "How physical systems affect human systems
Time:
3 to 4 hours
Materials Required:
Objectives:
Students will
- identify key countries in Africa (Algeria, Ethiopia, South Africa);
- compare and describe each country’s representative landforms: the Sahara Desert, the Great Rift Valley, and the South African veld (or grassland plateau); and
- evaluate the impact of each feature on the water supply, food supply, and population.
Geographic Skills:
Acquiring Geographic Information
Organizing Geographic Information
Answering Geographic Questions
Analyzing Geographic Information
S u g g e s t e d P r o c e d u r e
Opening:
Guiding Question: How does the topography of Africa impact the availability of water, food sources, and population distribution?
Begin the lesson by showing the students a world map. Ask a volunteer to identify Africa. Next ask volunteers to come up and identify Algeria, Ethiopia, and South Africa. On a piece of chart paper or on the board, write the words Algeria, Ethiopia, and South Africa horizontally across the top. Ask students to describe each country. Example responses may be the location of the country: "It is in the north." They may be about the number of cities, lakes, or rivers it has, or the proximity to an ocean. Record all responses on the board or on chart paper. Introduce the word topography and define it for students. Ask students what impact they think the topography of a place has on other elements of the physical environment, such as the climate, weather, soil, vegetation, animal life, water, etc. What effects do all these elements of the physical environment have on the people who live there?
Development:
Divide the class into three groups. Tell students that they will participate in a jigsaw activity to learn about the various countries and the impact of the topography of each. Distribute copies of the chart comparing various topographies in Africa ( PDF).
Assign each group a different country to research. If the groups are large, tell students that some group members will be researching and some will report information. Students can obtain information from the MapMachine and People and Places features. (Note to Teacher:
this activity is a great opportunity to familiarize your students with the MapMachine and People and Places features. They are useful resources for many multidiscipline subjects.) Give students adequate time to fill in the charts about their countries. After the time is up, ask a student from each group to present that group’s country with the information recorded on the chart. While one group is presenting, the other groups are completing their charts with the information provided by the presenting group.
Closing:
Once the last group has finished reporting, the entire class will have information on all three countries. Ask students to look over the information on their charts. What observations can they make? What do they observe about where Algeria’s cities are located? How about South Africa’s cities? If there is little water or available farming land, what happens to the population? How about the countries on the coast? What are the resources there? Have students make connections among the features of the three countries. Ask if the topography of one country might have an impact on the water supply, farmland, or food resources available in another country. Ask students to make the connection between the amount of available water and the number of people who live there. Where do most people live, on the coast and near rivers or in the dessert? Are more cities situated near places where farming and water is available or where it is scarce? Ask students where they would choose to live if they had to move to Africa. Why? What topographical features influenced their decision?
Suggested Student Assessment:
Tell students that now that they have their information and have seen pictures of the three countries, they need to plan a sightseeing trip to these countries. Students may choose any of the researched countries. In the description of the trip, students must give a list of things to see and do in the country they chose. Information about the location, topography, landforms, where to get food and water, and towns to visit should be included.
Extending the Lesson:
Inquiry Extension
Many places in Africa have enough water and good soil for farming, but some people are starving. Why? What else influences food resources and the population of a region?
Cross-Curricular Extension for Further Explanation
Are animals and plants affected by the topography of the land? If yes, what are some of the animals and plants that live in each of the regions? (Science)
Try This at Home
Be a farmer! Choose a crop that is found in Africa. Try to grow it at home. Make sure you choose a noninvasive species!
Adaptations
Give some students charts that are already partially filled in with information.
Instead of the jigsaw activity, complete the activity as a whole class.
For the assessment, students can draw things to see on the trip.
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