Download West and Central Africa Today LESSON ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Chapter 13 – West and Central Africa
Name ___________________________
Key Learning: The five themes of geography can be used to understand the
geographical and cultural aspects of the West and Central Africa.
Unit Essential Question(s):
How do the five themes of geography help us understand cultural differences?
How do West and Central Africa’s geography, climate, and natural resources affect
the way people live?
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Concept:
Concept:
Concept:
Chapter Atlas
History of West and
Central Africa
West and Central
Africa Today
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Lesson Essential
Questions:
Lesson Essential
Questions:
Lesson Essential
Questions:
What are the physical
features and climate patterns
in West and Central Africa?
How has physical geography
shaped West and Central
African history?
How have struggles with
poverty, disease, and
violence affected the regional
cultures?
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How have people adapted to
and changed the region’s
environment?
How has European
colonialism affected West
and Central Africans?
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary:
Sahel
savanna
arable land
desertification
deforestation
malaria
salt trade
Atlantic slave trade
middle passage
colonialism
imperialism
Pan-Africanism
infrastructure
corruption
griot
African Union
Section 1 – Chapter Atlas
LESSON ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
1. What are the physical features and climate patterns in West and Central
Africa?
2. How have people adapted to and changed the region’s environment?
KEY IDEAS:
1. Desertification occurs when farmers use the land and it changes from
___________ land to desert.
2. Farmers in Chad live mostly in the _____________.
3. People in northern Chad adapted to the lack of arable land by becoming
_______________ who raise ______________ and crops in oases.
4. ________________ and _______________ describes the climate along the
equator in Africa.
5. Cutting down trees faster than they can grow back is one way that the
people of West and Central Africa have changed the _________________.
KEY TERMS:
Sahel - a semiarid, fairly dry area that lies between the Sahara and regions to the
south that receive more rainfall.
savanna - flat grasslands with scattered trees that can survive dry spells.
arable land - land fit for farming.
deforestation - loss of forest cover that occurs when the trees in an area are
removed faster than they can grow back.
desertification - change from arable land to desert.
malaria - a life threatening disease caused by parasites & spread by mosquitoes.
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Section 2 –History of West and Central Africa
LESSON ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
1. How has physical geography shaped West and Central African history?
2. How has European colonialism affected West and Central Africans?
KEY IDEAS:
1. The region’s great __________________ drew European nations to want to
colonize Africa in the 1880’s.
2. European colonization changed life in West and Central Africa by drawing
__________ without regard to the location of ethnic groups in the area.
3. Arab traders changed the culture of the region by bringing _____________
____________________________________________________________
KEY TERMS:
salt trade - the West African’s trade of gold for the Arab’s salt.
Atlantic slave trade - bringing enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to
work on colonial plantations
middle passage - the voyage across the Atlantic that formed the middle leg of
the triangle.
colonialism - a policy by which one country seeks to rule other areas.
imperialism - policy of creating an empire by taking over other areas.
Pan-Africanism - a political and social movement to unite black Africans
around the World.
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Section 3 – West and Central Africa Today
LESSON ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
1. How have struggles with poverty, disease, and violence, affected the regional
cultures?
KEY IDEAS:
1. Some problems faced by governments in West and Central Africa include
__________________, ___________________, ________________, and
__________________.
KEY TERMS:
infrastructure - the body of public works, such as roads, bridges, and hospitals,
that a country needs to support a modern economy.
corruption - the use of power for personal gain.
griot - musician storytellers.
African Union - formed to promote unity among African states and to foster
development and end poverty.
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Select one of the 5 themes of geography (movement, region, location,
human-environment interaction, and place) and explain how
geographers would use this theme to describe West & Central Africa.
(**Pages 6 – 7 can help you if aren’t sure about the 5 themes of geography**)
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