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Overview:
It is often far easier to give information in an unlimited number of words than to be limited. However, accurate brevity is often required. This lesson thus has two primary objectives. The first is to give students a basic sense of who the Pygmies of Africa are and what their lives are like. The second is to help students develop the skill of synthesizing and organizing information from many sources to identify, in a single paragraph, the important points that "tell the story." Students will conduct research on Pygmy tribes, such as the Mbuti and Baka, and then write and compare news articles describing what they discover.
Connections to the Curriculum:
Geography, language arts, computer skills
Connections to the National Geography Standards:
Standard 4: " The Physical and Human Characteristics of Places"
Standard 10: "The Characteristics, Distribution, and Complexity of Earth's Cultural Mosaics"
Standard 12: "The Processes, Patterns, and Functions of Human Settlement"
Standard 15: "How Physical Systems Affect Human Systems"
Standard 18: "How to Apply Geography to Interpret the Present and Plan for the Future"
Time:
Two to three hours
Materials Required:
Objectives:
Students will
- locate on a map where many African Pygmies live;
- identify basic characteristics of Pygmy culture;
- identify unique physical characteristics of Pygmies; and
- identify, summarize, and synthesize critical information from articles and photographs.
Geographic Skills:
Asking Geographic Questions
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:
Find articles from a timely news story that will be of interest to the students, and that differ significantly in the number of words used. Ask students who they think might read the short story and who might read the long one. Why? Ask them which they think is harder to write and why. If you have access to an encyclopedia report on fleas, share that with the students and then tell them about the famous summary (authorship debated) of the entire history of fleas on earth in just three famous words: "Adam had 'em." Ask students to think of times when they might benefit from being able to find and summarize important information from many expansive written works (e.g., term papers, book reviews, business reports). Explain that in this lesson they will be asked to read articles and look at photographs of African Pygmies such as the Mbuti, Baka, and Babenzélé, and that they will then be asked to try to capture, in as few words as possible, what is unique about them, relating what is essential about their nature and their lives.
Development:
Activity 1:
Ask students to imagine that they have met someone who is studying Africa and who has just heard the word "Pygmies" for the first time. This person has asked them to prepare an informative short report on one or more of the distinct Pygmy tribes. To do this, have the students explore the articles and photos below and take notes about the culture, lifestyle, physical characteristics, and other details about Pygmies. Discuss the term "pygmy" with students as a general term that refers to many different tribes sharing similar characteristics and lifestyles, but note that groups generally prefer to be referred to by their tribal names, rather than simply as "pygmies." As students conduct their research, encourage them to distinguish between the cultures and characteristics of the distinct tribes about whom they read.
When students have completed their research, divide them into pairs or small groups to share and discuss their notes. Ask them to describe the unique characteristics of these peoples.
Gabon's Great Leap
Across Africa on Foot
Megatransect: 1,200 Miles Through the African Forest
Funny First–take
Africa's Wild Heart
Pucker Up
Congo Encounter
PBS Africa Series: Rainforest People
PBS Africa Series: Rainforest Music
National Geographic Magazine: Africa MegaFlyover—Charting the Last Wild Places on Earth
Activity 2:
Have students work independently to draft summaries—in news article style—of their research. Place no upper limit on the length of the articles, but require that they consist of at least two paragraphs.
When students have completed their drafts, have each person switch articles with another student and edit each other's work to make the articles more succinct. Challenge them to write as succinct but thorough a piece as possible, in as few words as possible—no more than one paragraph.
Closing:
Have the student whose original work was edited down to the fewest words share his or her original paragraph with the class. Ask the student who edited the piece to read the edited version as well. Ask the class to identify significant aspects of Pygmy life and/or physique that they think are missing. Ask others to read their paragraphs aloud, and ask the class to decide which is the shortest review that best summarizes the Pygmy people of Africa.
Suggested Student Assessment:
Divide the class into two teams. Give the following questions to each group and have them scan the articles and photo captions for the answers. The first team with all the correct answers wins.
Questions and answers:
- Why are Pygmies short? (Pygmy babies are unable to process the hormones needed for normal growth.)
- What is sometimes responsible for breaking down the Pygmy tradition of song and dance? (alcohol)
- What is the average height of an adult Pygmy? (4'6")
- What did one of the authors see Pygmies rubbing on their bodies as they sang and danced for a successful hunt? (phosphorescent fungus)
- What did the Pygmy elders demand in return for helping the National Geographic explorers chronicle the forest? (a medical clinic)
- Why are laws against poaching in the new parks a problem for Pygmies? (because those lands are the traditional Pygmy hunting grounds)
- What bit of modern technology is a Pygmy who is tracking a gorilla named Rose shown holding in his hand? (a combination GPS and palm pilot)
- What is it that one National Geographic photographer says the Pygmies do "at the drop of a hat"? (dance)
- Where do African Pygmies live? (in Gabon and Congo, and throughout central Africa)
- Two of the websites make different predictions about African Pygmies, technology, and the ability to adapt to the modern world. Find those two sites and summarize the different points of view (Megatransect: 1,200 Miles through the African Forest remarks that "The Bambendjellé Pygmies . . . can't handle the modern world very well. They just break down," while Gabon's Great Leap argues that "Modern technology gives them a way to work with the global community.")
Extending the Lesson:
Have students research the aborigines of Australia and write a paper comparing them to African Pygmies. Ask them to discuss their differences and similarities, comparing and contrasting how each is prepared to deal with modernization and technology.
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