Want to help me design my students next project? AFRICA 7th grade

[greenbriar]

They are going to choose a country...Niger, Zimbabwae ect...

and will research things about their choosen place

IE:

Topography
Population
Death/Birth rate
Climate
Animals



What other things would you be interested in?

I am going to have them put these facts on a "soccer ball shaped object and then hang them in my room


I will have them include current issues such as genocide, AIDS ect...


There are many standard research items but I don't want to list them all because I am looking for fresh ideas and want to see what you all come up with.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Hmmm.. The traditional "Major crops and industries" Maybe also art, music, languages??

[Doctor_Horrible]

2. 21st century slavery, relief efforts/organizations, history of major events, etc... nt

[coffeenap]

3. Here are some:

Who formulated their borders?
Form of current government.
Languages spoken.
Types of houses and belongings.
Urban vs. rural. What percentage of each?
Art-current and traditional
Music-current and traditional
Foods--current and traditional
Fashion--current and traditional

Good luck-fun project!

[midnight]

4. How about favorite foods?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. Cultural history

Are there tribes? A monarchy? How much is known of their history?

[sandnsea]

9. Is it patriarchy or matriarchy

I agree on culture. I don't think there's enough focus on how cultural heritage influences current interactions.

[Kip Humphrey]

6. Ideas for a sustainable Africa.

[femmocrat]

7. The art and music of the region.

African art is beautiful and they could create a project in the style of their assigned country or region.

[luvspeas]

17. I second art and music...

With extra credit for examples of art and music that addresses social and government ills. I think they could find examples in every country, including using art to help the children of Darfur, South African anti-apartheid music, Fela, plays that address HIV/AIDS taken to communities without electricity. I think for as beautiful the African arts are, the real beauty is in how they are intrinsically linked to the struggle for freedom.

[ret5hd]

8. 1) Colonial history...

2) Major industries (mining?) ties to original colonizing powers.

3) Colonizing powers methods of retaining power (ie: pitting hutus vs tutsis) and the remnant effects of this today (genocide)

[jwirr]

10. It would be interesting to learn about what they produce: food items,

manufacturing etc. When you look at the production/population ratio and then look at the export/debt levels they will be learning about the problems these countries face.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

11. Ceremonies

around life events....birth, marriage, death. Go get 'em, students!

[iamjoy]

12. Religion

what religion is predominant? What other religions influence their culture?

Also - type of government (democracy, dictatorship, socialist, etc)

Oh yes, and some information about earnings, living expenses, etc.

[liberal N proud]

13. Natural resources and exports

Look at how natural resources effect the wealth or poverty of the nation.

[greenbriar]

14. All great ideas...keep em coming

they will need to do 11 different categories

I may make a list of all of the ideas and let the kids choose the 11 they want?

not sure yet how I will do it

[lunatica]

15. the study of the Chimps by Lady Jane Goodall

The Study of Apes by Dianne Fossey

The finding of Lucy, our hominid ancestor in Ethiopia

http://lucyexhibition.com/lucys-discovery.aspx

the monuments of Ancient Egypt along the Nile River with some history of Ancient Egypt
They already have animated movies like Moses and Ramses and they can look into the building of the pyramids, the afterlife rituals, King Tut's tomb all of which will give them a mental anchor regarding human civilization

http://guardians.net/egypt/tut1.htm

[greenbriar]

16. remember, each student (or pair) will have a different country so they can't get too specific

as not all areas have the same issues

[luvspeas]

18. Women's rights in relation to men's

that's all.

[rrneck]

19. Sounds like you're making

cultural globes. When you get the stuff on it, they could create some way to understand the relationships between the things they have selected. How does agriculture relate to religion? Religion to politics? Politics to health? Health to agriculture? Agriculture to natural resources? They could design walking paths (a la Marco Polo) among all those influences as though one were a tourist. That way, they could see how a culture designs and then responds to the physical and cultural environment.

If there are too many options make a sort of "Chineese Resturant Menu" for them. Something from column A (politics), something from column B (agriculture), column C (topography) and so on.

[greenbriar]

21. oh I like that

yes, the "globes" will have 12 spots with one spot used for the Name of the country they are researching and a drawing of the flag...maybe the shape of the country and their name...



I love the "chinese Restaurant Menu" idea!!!

I also love the relationship angle

[rrneck]

27. Thanks! Glad to help.

[MadHound]

20. Their colonial history and quest for independence

You really can't understand modern day Africa without understanding the effects of the colonial era and system. Most of modern Africa's problems stem from the effects of the colonial era.

[ColbertWatcher]

22. Where do they get their drinking water?

Are there schools?

Do they have the internet?

Exchange info with a student from there and see what they want to know about each other.

[greenbriar]

23. I would love to do the exchange idea, but we don't have time

we have 1 and 1/2 weeks to do this project

sigh............

[ColbertWatcher]

31. That's horrible.

Sadly not unexpected though.

(if it's not American, who cares?)

[Diane R]

24. The Peace Corps in Africa

I'm serious.

There are scores of Peace Corps Volunteers currently in Africa. My son is one of them, living in Swaziland until October 2010.

I think your students could learn a lot if you asked them to find out what tasks Peace Corps kids do in their chosen country. For examply my son't assignment is to help educate the population about AIDS and HIV, and help assist the countrie's 70,000 orphans whose parents died from AIDS.

Other countries have volunteers working on water, education, etc. I think finding out what tasks the PC do would help the students understand what life really is like in that country. Learning about the challenges those volunteers encounter would help them understand the kind of government and social structure in a country.

I would give each kid the assignment that they are to pretend they have been sent to one of the countries as a PCV, and it is their task to find out what kinds of needs the people have, and how they would go about assisting them, what challenges they might encounter, and what their living conditions might be. I have a Master's Degree in Education, and I actually think this could be a fabulous learning unit for Africa.

This assignment just might motivate one of your students to be a Peace Corps volunteer someday!

[greenbriar]

26. AWESOME idea

and very interesting

[TuxedoKat]

25. I was thinking of how they

were affected or not by colonialism and the slave trade would be interesting.

Some other ideas:

Fsmous persons born there -- musicians, artists, politicians, writers, etc.
Famous persons who lived there, explored there, visited there -- Schweitzer, etc.
Music, books, films, etc., inspired by Africa
Archeological history
History of religion in Africa or missionaries
Medical issues
Geological marvels

[katanalori]

28. In what respect OP?

Is the project for Africa the Continent or Africa the Country? (snark)

[tabatha]

29. Wildlife, hotspots.

Biodiversity, etc.

http://www.enviroliteracy.org/

[greenbriar]

30. thank you all

you have given me some wonderful places to start to help me come up with a fresh idea

[LeftyMom]

32. Overlay maps (print or draw on transparencies) of scarce resources and conflict areas.

That's generally instructive in any part of the world.

[SoCalDem]

33. PBS kids "my world" album..might have some insight

http://pbskids.org/africa/myworld/index.html

[BlooInBloo]

34. You might consider teaching them that Africa is not a country.

[greenbriar]

35. Africa the Continent has the country of South Africa in it

they already know that Australia is both a country and a continent

[Terran]

36. Are they up to a little economic history?

Like how the country was affected, positively and negatively, by colonialism; and how it manages today.

[greenbriar]

37. might be a little deep for them

just to clarify,

we know that Africa is a Continent, each group or pair will choose one country within Africa to do their research