Lesson 1: Land and Water

1)  The Four Regions of Africa

A.  North Africa is marked by rocky mountains and vast stretches of deserts

B.  West Africa is the most populated and consists mainly of grasslands

C.  East Africa has many mountains and plenty of plateaus

D.  South Africa is flat with some thick rainforests and dense swamps

2)  Africa’s Major Landforms

A.  The Plateau Continent

I.  Africa is called the Plateau Continent because it has many areas of high elevation

II.  Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest place in Africa, is in the eastern region

B.  Coastal Plains Edge the Continent

I.  Coastal plains edge around most of the continent, sometimes it is very thin

II.  The coastal plains usually end in an Escarpment, or a steep cliff, when going inland

C.  The Great Rift Valley

I.  The Great Rift Valley formed millions of years ago as two continents pulled apart

II.  It cuts through Africa for about 4,000 miles, and most of the Africa’s major lakes are there.

3)  Africa’s Rivers

A.  The Nile

I.  The Nile is the longest river in the world and is almost twice as long as the U.S. is wide.

II.  The Aswan High Dam was built by Egypt to control flooding and generate electricity

B.  The Congo

I.  The Congo River is the second longest river in Africa, and it flows through thick forests

II.  People along the river grow Cassava plants as well as catch fish to eat

C.  The Niger and Zambezi

I.  The Niger and the Zambezi Rivers are respectively the third and fourth longest rivers in Africa.

II.  They provide fresh water for farms and ways to travel between countries

Homework: Of all of the landforms in Africa, which do you think is the most amazing? Why? 6 Sentence Response.

Lesson 2: Climate and Vegetation

1)  What Influences Climate

  1. Distance From the Equator
  2. Being close to the Equator means that most of the continent is very warm.
  3. Africa is the only continent that can have both summer and winter at the same time
  4. Higher, Cooler: The Role of Elevation
  5. Mount Kilimanjaro is constantly covered in a blanket of snow year round.
  6. Ethiopia has a higher elevation than Somalia does, so Ethiopia is more comfortable than Somalia.
  7. Unpredictable Rainfall
  8. Some places in Africa get 100in. of rain a year, while others get little to none at all.
  9. Farmers in dry areas can never be sure if they will be able to grow their crops

2)  Vegetation

  1. Tropical Rain Forests
  2. In the Tropical Rain Forests it rains nearly all the time, and plants grow well there because of it.
  3. When farmers have cut down trees to grow crops, the rain washes all the good dirt away.
  4. Tropical Savannas
  5. Tall grasses, thorny bushes, and tall trees all grow in the savanna regions of Africa
  6. The savanna has two main seasons, a wet and a dry season. Farmers only grow in the wet season there.
  7. Deserts in Africa
  8. The Sahara Desert in North Africa is almost as large as the United States.
  9. The Namib and Kalahari Deserts are filled with rocks and small areas of some grass and bushes
  10. Nomads make their living in the deserts herding small animals and roaming from place to place

3)  Building Good Health

  1. Disease carrying insects are a major problem to the health and well being of people in Africa.
  2. A bite from the tsetse (TSET see) fly can kill a cow and cause Sleeping Sickness in humans.

Homework: Create a list of at least 12 different items you would take with you on a vacation trip to a particular region in Africa.

Lesson 3: Africa’s First People

1)  Hunter – Gatherers

  1. The earliest Africans survived by gathering fruits, nuts, and root plants.
  2. They also hunted animals for meat, used their skins for clothing, and their bones for tools.
  3. There is evidence that some of them were even making and using stone tools.

2)  Farming and Herding

  1. Later on, many of the first Africans started planting and growing crops to eat.
  2. Once they moved into areas where plants grow well they also started raising animals too.
  3. Early Africans then started to settle into areas instead of roaming from place to place.

3)  Civilizations on the Nile

  1. Egypt
  2. Egypt started as a group of villages along the fertile banks of the Nile River.
  3. The Egyptians had advanced papermaking, architecture, and mathematics.
  4. Nubia
  5. South of Egypt was the city of Meroe, the home of the Nubian Kingdom.
  6. Meroe was probably the first place in Africa where iron was made.

4)  The Bantu Migrations

  1. Around 500 B.C. the West Africans were using iron tools. As a result their population increased.
  2. Because of the increased population, a group called the Bantu began to migrate away looking for new land.
  3. Many of them moved into Central and Southern Africa. Many people today still speak the Bantu language.

Homework: Recreate a cave painting like the ones that we saw in the lesson today. Show what the life of an ancient African was like with your drawing. Use at least 3 colors.

Lesson 4: Kingdoms and Empires

1)  Askum

  1. If the city of Askum was still around today, it would be located around Ethiopia and Eritrea.
  2. It was a city known for it’s bustling trade. Many people went there for all of the different exotic goods.
  3. The trade routes helped spread Christianity too, until Arabs took control of the region’s trade.

2)  West African Kingdoms

  1. Ghana
  2. Ghana was in a perfect place for trade. It was located between the Senegal and Niger Rivers.
  3. The kings of Ghana grew rich from the taxes they charged on goods like salt and gold.
  4. Ghana lost control of their trade routes, and that let the kingdom of Mali take over.
  5. Mali and the Spread of Islam
  6. The word Mali means “where the kings live,” and the word Mansa means “Emperor.”
  7. Mali’s most famous ruler, Mansa Musa, based his laws on the Quran, the Islamic religious book.
  8. Mansa Musa went on a holy pilgrimage to Mecca. His 60,000 person entourage gave out gold along the way.
  9. Songhai
  10. After Mansa Musa’s death, Mali lost popularity. The Kingdom of Songhai took them over.
  11. Songhai was the last and greatest African kingdom, and it lasted until 1591.

3)  East African City-States

  1. Kilwa
  2. Kilwa was one of the first City-States, a powerful city that controls the surrounding area.
  3. The city was beautiful and well constructed thanks to the huge taxes the city collected
  4. Great Zimbabwe
  5. Great Zimbabwe was another important city-state located near the Limpopo River.
  6. At one point Great Zimbabwe had about 200 gigantic stone buildings covering the area.

Homework: What do you think was the reason behind Mansa Musa’s elaborate pilgrimage to Mecca? 6 Sentence Response.