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Overview: This unit uses the National Geographic magazine article, “Without Borders: Uniting Africa’s Wildlife Reserves,” to explore some of the difficulties presented by the borders established by European colonizers, as well as some current efforts by people in southern Africa to bridge those difficulties. It continues with the class establishing a correspondence with a Peace Corps volunteer in the field in Africa. The option of bringing in a guest speaker relating to the southern Africa region is also suggested. The unit concludes with a short summary paper which can be used as an evaluation. Objectives:
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Grade Level: Middle school or high school proficient readers and
writers Subjects: Social Studies
(Geography, History, Political Science, etc.); Science (wildlife
and environmental issues) Required Materials
Prerequisite Knowledge:
Optional Technologies:
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Suggested Procedure (Pedagogy): Activity 1:
Pre-reading (approximately one 45-minute class period) -
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Opening -
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1. Tell students they are going
to be reading an article about humans and wildlife in southern Africa. Ask students to brainstorm for a minute about
what they might expect to see in the article. You might choose to write responses on an overhead transparency
or blackboard. You might
wish to have students take some time to write down their responses
before they share them. -
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2. Hand out Sept. 2001 National
Geographic magazine (ideally, one per student). In order to
help students focus on this article only, you might give them paper
clips and have them mark the beginning and end of the article (be
sure to have them include the Mandela interview). -
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3. Without telling them the title
or page number, tell students they need to locate a full-length
article in the magazine which is about southern Africa.
Give them a minute or two to locate the article, “Without
Borders.” -
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Development -
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4.
Hand out the “Without Borders” study
guide packet. Have students look at the title and write definitions for the following
terms in the title, using prior knowledge or dictionary: borders; uniting; wildlife reserves. After most students have responded on paper,
ask them to share answers and write their responses on overhead
or chalkboard. -
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5.
Have students look at the photographs in the article. Have them each choose 3 pictures to respond to on their study guide
packets. For each picture
they choose, have them generate at least one question about the
picture and write it down. Also
have them draw the picture or a detail from the picture the best
they can in a short time. -
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6.
After several minutes, solicit responses from the students
as to which photos they had questions about.
Begin with the first photo and move on from there.
For each photo you discuss, after students have asked questions,
ask a student to read the caption, then ask the class, “Does this
answer the question?” If
not, tell students that it’s okay and that maybe the question will
be answered as they read the article. For the purposes of time limits
or of sustaining interest in the lesson, you might not get to every
picture. (The purpose of the pre-reading activity is primarily to
generate interest and stimulate any prior knowledge students might
have). -
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Closing -
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7.
Tell students, “For our next activity we’re going to read
parts of this article and see what it’s about in more detail.” Activity 2: Reading
the article (approximately 45 – 90 minutes, depending on needs of
students) -
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Opening -
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1. If beginning the activity on
a different day than the first activity, take some time to review
what students did yesterday. -
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2. Pass out Sept. 2001 National
Geographic magazine to the class and have them open to the “Without
Borders” article. Tell students they are going to read parts
of the article and answer questions in their study
guide packets. -
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Development -
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3.
Have students read the sections of the article noted on the
study guide packet, and have them answer the questions, followed
by discussion of the questions. This could be handled in a number of ways,
depending on the abilities and the maturity of students. Students could take parts reading each section
aloud to the class. Mature
students might be able to read the article in small groups. With struggling readers, the teacher can alternate
with students in reading paragraphs aloud, in order to maintain
the momentum of the article. It
is probably best to read one section at a time, then answer and
discuss the questions before moving on.
(For more advanced or more motivated learners, have them
read the entire article and do an additional activity, for example
listing unfamiliar vocabulary, taking notes, making an outline,
etc.) -
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Closing -
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4.
Tell students, “Now that we have taken an in-depth look at
how some African communities are dealing with some problems relating
to political borders, you are going to look at some examples of
how Africans are finding solutions to challenges within their communities. -
Activity 3: Web Activity (approximately 45 – 90 minutes
depending on skill of students) -
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Opening 1.
Review the previous activity with
students, having them summarize the main points. 2.
Tell students, “Today you are going
to visit some internet sites where you will explore some examples
of people in African communities helping themselves. -
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Development -
3. Have students situated at computers with internet
access. (If computers are
not available, print paper copies of needed web pages and have them
available for students to use). -
4. Hand
out the packet entitled “Web Activity: Helping African Communities
Help Themselves.” Have students follow the directions on the
sheet and guide them as necessary.
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- Closing -
5. Have students discuss the different projects
they read about, and what they thought about the problems and solutions. Are the problems similar to or different from
the types of challenges Americans face?
Are the solutions similar to or different from the types
of solutions Americans might use?
Why do you think this is?
etc. -
Student
Activity—Online: See activity 3
above. URLs: -
Activity
4: Establish a correspondence with a Peace Corps volunteer working
in Africa -
TEACHER
WORK TO BE DONE SOME WEEKS IN ADVANCE: Using the Peace Corps “World Wise School” website as
a resource, contact a Peace Corps Volunteer working in Southern
Africa who has signaled a willingness to establish an educational
correspondence with classrooms.
Determine whether to have each student write independently,
or to send a letter as a group. Determine whether the correspondence will be
by traditional mail or, in some cases possibly by e-mail. ALTERNATIVE PLAN: Instead of corresponding
with a Peace Corps volunteer, perhaps the teacher or students know
someone else who is in a similar position working in Africa, or
perhaps a native African, who could provide similar types of information
for the students. -
Opening Discuss with students
some ways in which they could get a more detailed look at what’s
going on with development work in Africa today.
Explain that while the class can’t afford to take a field
trip to Africa, the next best thing would be to establish a correspondence
with someone actually working there.
Explain to the class to the class the particular plan which
has been devised (individual letters, classroom letter, etc). and
which country/countries and community/communities the person or
people are working in. -
Development -
1. Explain to students that before they write their
letter or letters to a Peace Corps volunteer, they will need to
some research about the particular country and/or community in which
that volunteer works. Explain
that they will be using a Research
Guide to help them focus their research efforts. -
2. Have students do research using the Research Guide. This could be done in class or as homework.
Explain that the main purpose of doing the research is to
be able to formulate informed questions when corresponding with
the Peace Corps volunteer. (It
may be necessary to explain some of the concepts before beginning
the lesson, depending on students’ prior knowledge).
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Closing -
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Student Activity—Online: See activity 4
above. URLs: http://www.newafrica.com/profiles/ African country profiles www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
CIA World Factbook www.countryreports.org Country profiles http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html
Library of Congress Country
Studies http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/
U.S. Department of State Background Notes www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations
Tourism oriented http://www.atlapedia.com/ Country profiles http://www.infoplease.com/countries.html
Country profiles Suggested Assessment: Various types of
assessments are possible, depending on the needs of the students,
teacher, and school. Options include writing a response paper, answering
test questions, creating a response project, discussing larger questions,
etc. RESOURCE BAR Definitions
Environment: natural
surroundings Conservation: the
act of preserving natural resources such as plants, animals, land
and water. Wildlife reserves/sanctuaries:
land set aside by a national government or other authority
in order to protect wildlife Poaching: the
illegal hunting of animals Borders: a dividing
line between two countries Frontier: same
as a border Transfrontier conservation
area: a wildlife reserve which crosses a border between two or
more countries Development: making
things better for people Sustainable development:
making things better in a way that people can keep doing over a
period of time without destroying the environment Colonialism: the
systematic establishment of colonies; in this case, the establishment
of European colonies in Africa beginning in the late 1800s Peace Corps: agency of the U.S. government which sends volunteer
workers to help other countries in their development Geography Standards
This lesson fits
with the following national geography standards:
Web Links for
Teachers and Students See activities
above. Discussion Questions
Is the conservation
of wildlife important? Why
or why not? How do you balance
the need to make a living the need to protect the environment? What local issues
are similar to the issues faced by the people and countries in the
article and on the web sites we looked at? What local solutions
are people finding to these problems? How does the experience
of “our” Peace Corps volunteer compare to what you expected it would
be? What is the best
way to help people in need around the world, or in our own communities? Extension Activities
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Do additional research on the web regarding transfrontier
conservation areas n
Do additional research on the web regarding how African
communities are helping themselves |
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Credits Dave Hedenstrom, Social Studies teacher, Franklin Middle School, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
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