The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to the political and physical geography of Africa. Students are provided with unlabeled placards that display portions of Africa. Using maps, atlases, and other resources, the student will identify the countries found on his/her placard and answer questions about the area depicted. The student will also create a "Geographic Pursuit" question for the country (or one of the countries) depicted on the placard. These questions will be used in a game which can be an extension of the original lesson or a subsequent lesson.

Teaching Level: 6-10

1. Read, interpret, and make maps, charts and graphs to explain spatial relationships.

1. How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.
2. How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context.

Materials:

Map placard worksheets.

Map placards (To create: Project an image of Africa onto a large piece of construction paper. Trace image. Cut into 8-1/2" X 11" sheets. Number them. 20-30 will work.)

Maps, atlases, African reference material. (colored pencils if desired)

Procedures:

1. Introduction - Ask for a show of hands from all the students who believe that Africa is a country. Explain that while many people may perceive it as such, that it is in fact composed of many countries. Ask if anyone knows how many countries Africa contains. Ask for guesses. Divulge the number ( ). Ask if anyone can name any (list them on the board). Find out who can name the most (list them). Explain to the student that you do not expect them to memorize the name of every African country, but that in this lesson they will become familiar with some of them while helping to create a "Geography Pursuit" game for the class to play later.
2. Following the introduction, divide your students into pairs and give each pair an atlas, placard, and placard worksheet.
3. Instruct them to follow the direction found on the placard worksheet.
4. Have them signal you when they have completed the worksheet.
5. Check their work, award points, and give them another placard to repeat the process until all placards are used.
6. After all placards have been turned in, ask if anyone discovered any African countries that they bad not known of before hand (list them).
7. Explain that the placard worksheets they created will be used in a game of "Geography Pursuit" which they will play later. Encourage them to brush up on their Africa knowledge in the meantime.
8. When you have collected all of the completed placards from your students put them in order. This will help when you are ready to play the game.

Increasing or reducing the level of difficulty of the questions and/or the tasks of the questions can modify this lesson and/or the tasks required. For example to develop research skills and enrich the scope of the lesson, the student could be asked to also locate a news article which addresses an issue in a country depicted on their placard).

Instructions: Using maps, atlases, and any other provided materials complete the following.
____Points

Plot five cities on your map.
____Points

Look carefully at all the countries that are completely or partially shown on your Map Placard. Label each country. Look at the latitude and longitude lines on a map. Estimate the absolute location of the center of your Map Placard and write it there.
____Points

Plot a physical feature on your map.
____Points

Create two "Geographical Pursuit" questions for one of the countries shown on your Map Placard. Write each on the back of the Map Placard. List the easier one first. Don’t forget to provide the answers. Use maps, an atlas, or reference material for help. Example: Question: Which country is encircled by South Africa? Answer: Lesotho.
____Points

_____Total points

The "Geographical Pursuit" Game

Overview:

This one/two period exercise gives students the chance to test and refine their knowledge of African Geography while having fun in a friendly competition. The game board is created by taping to a wall the Map Placards used in the preceding lesson (tape them question up, transfer in LARGE print the number found on the opposite side, & arrange them in numerical order). After being divided into teams of four, students take turns trying to answer geographical questions about Africa. Each time they correctly answer a pair of questions from the back of a Map Placard, their team receives points and another part of the game board is revealed (Map Placard is reversed and retyped). When all of the questions have been correctly answered, a mural size map of Africa appears (complete with several cities and physical features labeled).

Arrange map placards. Divide class into groups of four by combining pairs from previous lesson. Arrange desks into groups of four, with one desk set ahead of the other three (this is the HOT SEAT--see example). Project the game rules on the overhead and explain them carefully before beginning the game. When the game is over, check for individual understanding by creating a quiz from the game questions.

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1. Choosing a Map Placard: The player on the Hot Seat from team 1 begins by choosing the number of a Map Placard. S/He then attempts to answer all the questions the teacher asks from that placard. The whole team may help in selecting the placard to pick, but not in answering the questions. (Can be modified).
2. Winning Points: The team wins one point for each question correctly answered, but only collects the points if all of the questions on the Map Placard are answered correctly. If the Team 1 player in the Hot Seat gives an incorrect answer, the player in the Hot Seat on Team 2 is given the chance to try to answer all of the questions. This continues until some team is able to answer all of the questions on the Map Placard and is awarded all the points for that placard. Reveal--turn over--the Map Placard when the questions have been answered. (Keep track of points on the board for all to see. If a team answers incorrectly, move on to the next team and repeat the questions. Adding more questions can modify the game.)
3. Winner: The team with the most points when the last Map Placard is turned over wins the game.
4. Sequence of players: One round of Geographical Pursuit is complete when every player on a Hot Seat has had a turn. After a round, new players take the Hot Seats. Teams may choose their players sequence, but every player on a team must have an opportunity to play before the first player goes again. Then you must stick with your sequence.
5. Calling a Bluff: In some cases, you may suspect that a rival team member is answering questions from a Map Placard that s/he wrote. If your team agrees, you can accuse that the rival team of Bluffing. If you’re right, you'll win five points. If you’re wrong, you'll lose five points. If you end up answering questions from a Map Placard you created because the player before you could not answer correctly, and you do not want to risk bluffing, you can pass. (Since there is no way to keep students from picking Map Placards they themselves created, this is a fun way to allow them to do just that and see how well they can bluff. You also give students who are uncomfortable with bluffing an honorable alternative).