Date: October 1-5, 2007

 

SOL 4c Describe the characteristics of the West African societies and their interactions with traders. Students will demonstrate knowledge of European exploration in North America and West Africa by identifying the location and describing the characteristics of West African societies of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai and their interactions with traders.

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Resources:

Activity:

MAKE 3-POCKET BOOK FOR ALL THREE CULTURES OF AFRICA WITH STRIPS OF INFORMATION FOR EACH POCKET FOR REVIEW AND PRACTICE.

 

Study guide and group discussion questions referencing pages in USA-1

 

Longitude and latitude activities with partner problem solving

 

 

 

 

 Chapter 8

QUESTION:

WHAT EXPLORATION WAS HAPPENING IN AFRICA DURING THE EARLY EXPLORATION YEARS?

 

  1. Ghana, Mali and Sonhai were all strong empires at one point between the years 300-1600 A.D.

    2.  

  2. Powerful because they controlled trade.

    3.  

  3. Europeans were interested in Africa because of the African people and African goods.

 

WHO WAS THE MAJOR EXPLORER IN AFRICA?

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE HISTORY OF WEST AFRICA?

 

 

FLIPPER CARDS AND FLASH CARDS PART ONE

P. 38-39

What empire was dominant in for exploration and trade in the 1400s and 1500s?

How did the empires of Mali, Ghana, and Songhai become dominant empires?

Why were the Europeans interested in West African trade?

What was the main group of explorers to West Africa?

What did the Portuguese trade with West Africa?

What ocean did the Portuguese cross to get to West Africa?

 

 

Why is there not much known about the history of West Africa?

Name the imaginary line that joins points on the Earth’s surface that are all equal distance north or south of the equator

Name the line that stretches from the north pole to the south pole and is an angular distance east or west of the prime meridian.

How has the history of West Africa been preserved?

What resource did the Portuguese want from West Africa?

What is the imaginary line that runs east-west of the widest point on the Earth’s surface?

 

Set A

 

FLIPPER CARDS SET B P. 38-39

West Africa

Controlling trade in that area of the world

Wanted their resources

Portuguese

Metals, cloth and other manufactured goods.

Atlantic

No written records

Latitude

 

 

 

Longitude

Oral tradition

Gold

 

 

 

equator

 

 

 

 

 

 Study Guide and Notes

Chapter 8 African Trade

  1. What other country was a dominant empire during the 1400s and 1500s? ______________________

    2.  

  2. Name the 3 countries that dominated African trade.

 

    1. __________________
    2. ___________________
    3. ___________________
  1. How did the empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai become dominant in West Africa?

    2. _____________________________________________

    _____________________________________________

  2. Why were the Europeans interested in West Africa?

    3. ______________________________________________

     

    P. 2

    5. Name the main country to explore in West Africa.

    ________________________________________

  3. What did the Portuguese want in trade from West Africa? ______________________

    4.  

  4. The Portuguese traded ___________, __________, and ______________________________________ with West Africa.

    5.  

  5. The reason we do not know much about West African history is

    6.  

    ___________________________________________
    ___________________________________________

  6. The main way West Africa’s history is preserved is through _____________________________
  7. Oral tradition means __________________________
    __________________________________________

 

 

 

 40

 

Use the map and P. 40 to find answers to these questions:

GHANA:

  1. The smallest empire was _____________________
  2. It was a small ____________________ empire within the continent.
  3. It did not extend to the coast of the ______________ Ocean.
    4.

    MALI
  4. Mali is shaped like a _____________________.
  5. It extended from the ____________________ into the African continent.

    6.  

    SONGHAI

  6. The largest empire was __________________.
  7. It covered most of the area included in Ghana and Mali and extended to nearly ______________the width of Africa.

 

 

 

 

Ghana (Wagadu), the earliest known empire of the western Sudan, first entered the historical consciousness of North Africa near the end of the eighth century but probably originated long before. The empire's legacy is still celebrated in the name of the Republic of Ghana; apart from this, however, modern-day and ancient Ghana share no direct historical connections. Despite early texts that discuss ancient Ghana, such as The Book of Routes and Kingdoms by the eleventh-century Andalusian geographer Abu cUbayd al-Bakri, it remains very much an enigma. Famous to North Africans as the "Land of Gold," Ghana was said to possess sophisticated methods of administration and taxation, large armies, and a monopoly over notoriously well-concealed gold mines. The king of the Soninke people who founded Ghana never fully embraced Islam, but good relations with Muslim traders were fostered. Ghana's preeminence faded toward the end of the eleventh century, when its power was broken by a long struggle with the Almoravids led by Abdullah ibn Yasin. Ghana subsequently fell to the expanding Soso kingdom.

 

 

 

 

What do you think this map is about

 

P. 41

  1. Ghana was known for two important resources. These are:

    2. A ________________

    B ________________

     

  2. Explain what salt was used for in this empire.

    3. ___________________________________________________

    ___________________________________________________

  3. What was important about the region ofTaghaza?

    4. ___________________________________________________
    ___________________________________________________

  4. What people did most of the work in the salt mines?

    5. ______________________________________________

  5. Describe how the salt was transported and where it went.

    6. _______________________________________________
    _______________________________________________

  6. Why was this dangerous? ___________________________
  7. Where are the gold mines of Ghana? ___________________
  8. What group of people worked the gold mines? ______________
  9. Why did they use women and girls to work the mines? _________________________________________

    10. _________________________________________

     

    Describe how they mined the gold.

    __________________________________________________________________________________________________

  10. Explain how the Kings in Ghana controlled their wealth and power from gold.

    11. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  11. What was the gold tax? ______________________________
    _________________________________________________

    12.  

  12. How did this tax help the King? __________________________________________________________________________________________________

    13.  

  13. Who got rich? _________________________________

 

 

 

 

 

 

Primary Source Documents

 

  1. King Mansa Musa and gold picture from museum. Overhead. What does this picture tell you?

    2.  

  2. Primary Source – Map of Africa to show Songhai, Mali, Ghana

    3.  

  3. Timbuktu – mosque and books

    4.  

  4. Caravan –Picture of caravan in Sahara Desert

    5.  

  5. Navigational tools – museum pictures overhead

    6.  

  6. Read Aloud – Shelley’s Poem"Ozmandias" reflecting end of civilization (challenging piece for fifth grade)

    7.  

  7. Map – Age of Exploration – students note trade routes and what was traded in different countries.