1. Provide each student with a journal to be used during the course of this lesson. (This may be as simple as stapling some pages together.) One section should be reserved for questions they have on the topic of Africa, and another section for what they learned about Africa.

2. Ask students to take a few minutes and write on the first page of their journal what comes into their minds when they think of Africa.

3. As a class, ask students to share what they wrote in their journals, and record students' responses on chart paper. (Save students' responses, as they will be used again in the lesson.)

4. After students have finished responding, go back to each response and ask the question, "Where in Africa?" (For example, if one of the responses is "elephants roaming free" ask "Where in Africa? In what country(s) on the continent of Africa do elephants roam free?")

5. Ask students to give examples of the differences between the state they live in, and other states in the union.

6. Look at a world map to see how large the African continent is compared to the area of the United States.

7. Ask students if there is such a difference in environments in the United States, how much diversity must exist on the African continent?

8. Make certain that students are aware that Africa is a continent made up of 53 countries.

9. Initiate a class discussion about the different ethnic groups that make up the United States.

10. Ask the class how much more diversity might exist on a continent the size of Africa.

11. Give the students a few minutes to write in the "What they learned" and "What they want to know" sections of their journals.

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1. Draw a large outline map of Africa to place on the classroom wall. A map of Africa may be found on the following site:
http://www. hmnet.com/africa /1africa.html


2. Assign students a country in Africa. (You will need to assign some students more than one country.)

3. Ask each student to find a couple of pictures that are representative of his or her country's terrain (i.e. deserts, jungles, mountains, lakes, pyramids in Egypt).

The PBS AFRICA Web site is an excellent place for students to begin their search. Dozens of countries are profiled within the context of their geographic region. Access the regions by going to
http://www.pbs.org /africa/ explore.
Country listings can be found by using the left-side navigation maps and pull-down menus. Students may also search the following site to help find information on Africa:
http://www.yahooligans. com/Around_the_World/ Regions/ Africa/Countries/

Students may also look for sources in their local and school libraries. (National Geographic Magazine is always an excellent resource.)

4. Students will select one or two photographs that are representative of their country's landscape to place on the class map. (They may choose to print, photocopy, or draw the picture to place on the map.)

5. Refer back to the class-generated list from the background section of this lesson. Find "where" in Africa the items on the list are referring to, and place the word(s) on the corresponding country(s).

6. Provide time for students to write in their journals.





Continue to learning activities 2 & 3