Download Chapter 3: Geography and Early History of Africa

Name ____________________________________________Hour____Date________________________
Chapter 3: Geography and Early History of Africa
Section 1: The Shape of the Land
VAST CONTINENT
1. Africa is the world’s ____________________ largest continent.
2. Africa contains more independent ____________________ than any other continent— ___ in all.
3. The regions of Africa are: (don’t use the book for this; teacher to provide)
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
LANDFORMS
4. Most of Africa is a ____________________
5. In places, ____________________, or steep cliffs, divide the plateau from the __________________
6. As rivers flow from the plateau to the coast, they tumble over a series of ____________________, or
large waterfalls, and rapids.
7.
Slicing through the eastern part of the continent is a giant ____________________, or break, in the
Earth’s crust called the ____________________
8. The Great Rift Valley extends from the Red Sea to the____________________________________
9. The valley is actually a series of ____________________
10. The Rift Valley contains some of Africa’s most ______________ and is rich in _________________
RIVERS
11. Africa’s rivers provide fish, water for irrigation, transportation and a source for _________________
12. Energy provided by moving water is called ____________________
13. Flowing 4,160 miles northward is the ____________________ , which is the longest
14. The Nile River has been altered by the building of the ____________________ in 1970.
15. The river that drains the rain forests of Central Africa and carries an enormous volume of water is the
____________________
16. In western Africa the ___________________________ provides irrigation to grow rice and millet and
transportation to the many people in the region.
17. The river that rushes over Victoria Falls in southern Africa before reaching the sea is _____________
NATURAL RESOURCES
18. Africa’s rivers are a source of ________________________________________. For more than 2,000
years, people in Africa have sifted through riverbeds to uncover ____________________
19. Today African nations sell many other valuable resources to the industrial world including:
a) ____________________
b) ____________________
c) ____________________
d) ____________________
20. Although Africa is rich in natural resources, those resources are ____________________
Part B: Practice – Write the term next to the correct definition
Hieroglyphics * Sleeping sickness * Tropics * Swahili * Kariba Dam * Desertification *
Aswan Dam * Drought * Sahel * Hydroelectric power * Escarpment * Cataract * Great
Rift Valley * Sahara Desert * Pharaoh * Leaching
____________________ -A steep cliff. In Africa, these divide the plateau
from the coastal plain.
____________________- A large waterfall. In Africa, as rivers flow from the
plateau to the costal plain, they tumble over these.
____________________- Energy provided by moving water.
____________________- A giant fault in east Africa extending from the red
Sea to the Zambezi River.
____________________- Built in 1970, the massive dam is located on the
Nile River.
____________________- Located on the Zambezi River right near Kariba
lake.
____________________- The Area between the Tropic of Cancer and the tropic
of Capricorn.80% of Africa is in the Tropics.
____________________- The dissolving and washing away of the soil’s
nutrients by constant heavy rains.
____________________- Prolonged periods of little or no rainfall.
____________________- The change of semi-desert land into desert land.
____________________- The largest desert in the world. It extends across
much of North Africa.
____________________- The region south of the Sahara affected by
widespread desertification.
____________________- A widespread disease in the savanna. You fall
asleep and never wake up.
____________________- The language of East Africa that blends some Arabic
words into the regions basic Bantu languages.
____________________- A ruler of ancient Egypt.
____________________- Ancient form of Egyptian writing that used pictures
and symbols to represent words and sound
Part C – Review. Create and answer 4 review questions using your reading web, guided review, and
key terms.
Section 2: Climate and Diversity
21. Africa is the most
of all the continents.
22. Varying greatly from one part of Africa to another is its
23. To a large degree, it is
that determines climate on the
continent.
THE ROLES OF LATITUDE AND ELEVATION
24. Eighty percent of the continent is in the
25. The tropics is the name of the area between the
26. The coolest regions of Africa are found in the
RAINFALL
27. A major feature of African climates is a pattern of
28. When rain falls on areas south of the Equator, areas to the north experience a
29. When rain falls on areas north of the Equator, areas to the south experience a
30. African rainfall is distributed
FOUR MAJOR CLIMATE ZONES
31. Africa has four major climate zones:
a) T
b) T
c) D
d) M
TROPICAL WET CLIMATE REGION
32. Characteristics of the African tropical wet region are:
a) rain
thrive
b) hot and
year round
c) temperatures average around
d) annual rainfall is commonly
inches
e) plant growth is
f) soil is
due to a process called
g) poses many problems for
i) insects that carry
ii) insects that attack
iii) dampness causes even everyday items to become
TROPICAL WET AND DRY CLIMATE REGION
33. The largest climate zone in Africa is the
a) vegetation type is a African grassland called a
b) covers almost
c) home to
d) warm
e) the summer is the
f) the winter is the
g) rainfall totals in this region are not as high the farther one is away from the
h) rainfall on the savanna is
i) prolonged periods with no rain called
j) overgrazing of livestock contributes to
are common
, the turning of
semi-desert land into
k) The area that has experienced widespread desertification is the region known as the
which separates the savanna from the
DESERTS
34. Covering about 40% of Africa are
a) the three biggest deserts are the
i) the largest desert is the
ii) has been as much as a
as a barrier
b) not quite as dry as the Sahara is the
c) on of the driest places on Earth is the
MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE ZONES
35. The climate that is quite similar to Los Angeles, California is
can be found only on the
and it
tip and along the
coast of Africa.
a) summers are
b) support many kinds of
c) attracted settlers from the continent of
CLIMATE AND HEALTH
36. Many disease-carrying
breed in
a) One million children are killed each year by
b) The
which is spread by
fly is responsible for
sickness, a disease
which infects both people and their
c) River
is transmitted by flies is some parts of Africa.
d) Affecting millions of Africa is
, which is spread by
that carry parasitic worms.
POPULATION PATTERNS
37. Today, the rapidly growing population of Africa is about
a) the three things that really impact where people live in Africa are
b) many areas have few people because of the
ADAPTING TO THE LAND
38. Africa is home to an immense variety of
39. Today, the majority of Africans live in the
40. Most of those on the savanna are
41. African cities throughout the continent are
LANGUAGES
42. Africans speak more than
43. Swahili is a language that is mixture of some
languages of East Africa.
different languages.
words and the basic
Section 3: Early Civilizations of Africa
TRACKING THE EVIDENCE
44. Located on the edge of the Great Rift Valley in Tanzania is
45. Remains of humans dabbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbting back nearly 2 million years were found at Olduvai
and have lead some scientists to suggest that Africa was
RECORDS ON STONE
46. Archaeologists have studied paintings on
that show the tools, weapons, and hunting and food-gathering methods of
NILE VALLEY CIVILIZATION
47. Not long after the agricultural revolution the earliest civilization in Africa developed in the
about
years ago.
48. By about 3,000 B.C., powerful rulers had emerged and united
49. The rulers of ancient Egypt were called
RELIGION AND GOVERNMENT
50. The Egyptians were
51. The chief god of the Egyptians was
52. The god of the underworld and the Nile was
and his wife
53. A belief in life after death was central
54. The Egyptians built huge
and filled them
with food, clothing, and
that they needed in the afterlife.
55. To the Egyptians, the pharaoh was a
, descended from
56. The pharaoh had total power over the
a) helping the pharaoh run the government was the
b) to pay the costs of government, officials collected taxes in the form of
THE GIFT OF THE NILE
57. Each river, the river flooded and spread rich Nile
58. When the flood waters retreat, Egyptians plant fields of
59. When desert sun dries the fields, Egyptians use a
, a simple water hoist,
to spread water from ditches and ponds onto their
60. Four months after the planting, the crops are ready for
61. Egyptian farmers kept only
of the harvest and the rest goes to the pharaoh’s
ACHIEVEMENTS OF EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION
62. Egyptians left remarkable monuments to their
a) built huge
b) developed a form of writing called
c) produced a calendar with a
d) doctors studied the
KINGDOM OF KUSH
63. Trade flowed along the
between Egypt and neighboring peoples in and
to the south.
64. Traders and conquering
spread Egyptian culture southward.
65. By 750 B.C., Egyptian power had weakened and
of Kush
led his forces north and conquered the Egyptian civilization in the Nile Valley.
66. Kushite rule over Egypt was
a) The Kushites developed their own
b) Kushites learned to make
c) Kushites profited from
d) After 1,000 years the once powerful kingdom of Kush
e) Despite the __________________ by the Assyrians, Kush continued to _________________.
f) The Kush built a capital at __________________ on the banks of the Nile.
THE KINGDOM OF AXUM
67. The kingdom of
emerged on the high plateaus of modern-day
a) Axum was an important center of
b) About A.D. 350, King
of Axum conquered
c) King Ezana had converted to ______________________ earlier in his reign.
d) The Christian culture left behind in Ethiopia by the Axumites survived and today they still have
their own sacred
language called
Label Egypt, Thebes, Meroe, Kush, Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea