CLASSROOM

Lesson 1

Divide students into groups of four or five, and ensure that each group has a copy of a Mercator’s map of the world and a political map of the world.

Ask them first to look at the political map, and compare the size of Africa to Europe, North America and Greenland. Ask them to report back on their findings.Then ask them to look for the same comparisons on the Mercator’s map. Ask them to analyse the differences, and report back to the class.

Class discussion and brainstorm: How big is Africa really? How many countries can you name. How many capital cities can you name. Who lives in Africa? Ask a student to draw a mindmap of all the ideas on the board.

Now return to the political maps and ask the students in groups to describe the borders of states in Europe. Then in Asia. What do they notice? Now ask them to describe the borders of states in Africa and what they notice there. Ask for suggestions about the differences.

Now go to Africa in History /C002739/AfricaSite/LMAfricainhistory.htm and read out the article in class. Ask the students to investigate the Country Profiles section /C002739/AfricaSite/1Countries.htm for the next lesson, so that they are able to give an ouline of one country.