Subject: Social Studies
Topic: Medieval Africa
Grade Level: 7th
Student Lesson name and URL: Medieval African Kingdoms
 http://ctap295.ctaponline.org/~jboston/student/s_index.html

California Social Studies Standards:
7.4 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the sub-Saharan civilizations of Ghana and Mali in Medieval Africa.

                  1.Study the Niger River and the relationship of vegetation zones of forest, savannah, and desert to trade in gold, salt, food, and slaves; and the growth of the Ghana and Mali empires.
                  2.Analyze the importance of family, labor specialization, and regional commerce in the development of states and cities in West Africa. 
                  3.Describe the role of the trans-Saharan caravan trade in the changing religious and cultural characteristics of West Africa and the influence of Islamic beliefs, ethics, and law. 
                  4.Trace the growth of the Arabic language in government, trade, and Islamic scholarship in West Africa. 
                  5.Describe the importance of written and oral traditions in the transmission of African history and culture. 

National Standards:
 World History:

•       Understands major global trends between 300 and 1000CE 
•       Understands the growth of states, towns, and trade in sub-Saharan Africa between the 11th and 15th centuries 

•       Understands and knows how to analyze chronological relationships and patterns 
•       Understands the historical perspective 

•       Understands the characteristics and uses of maps, globes, and other geographical tools and technologies 
•       Understands the concept of region 
•       Understands how geography is used to interpret the past 

•       Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies of the writing process 
•       Demonstrates competence in the stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing 
•       Gathers and uses information for research purposes 
•       Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies of the reading process 

 Technology: 

•        Students understand the ethical cultural and societal issues related to technology
•       Students use techology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity
•       Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources.

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Instructional Objectives

•  Examine the geography of West Africa 
•  Evaluate the geographic and political factors that made the kingdoms/empires of  West  Africa great centers of trading 
•  Research an empire of Ancient Western Africa 
•  Identify the factors that made these empires great 
•  Assess the impact and economic significance of West African rulers' adoption of Islam 

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Getting Started

Students will participate in a problem-based learning situation in which they are applying for a job with TimeWrinkle.com, a futurist company which can transport customers to any place and any time in history. Students will work in teams to create a promotional product (TV commercial, poster, PowerPoint slide show, etc.) that would promote travel to one of the ancient civilizations of Western Africa. Students will judge each others products to determine which team is "hired".

Have students begin by using a KWHL chart to record what they know about each of the West African Kingdoms. They should make one chart for each kingdom.  Help students make a brainstorm web showing ideas for information that a travel promotion might contain such as: major cities, political leaders, religion, education, the economy, or climate. 

Divide students into research teamsof three to five people, depending on class size. If possible, allow the team members divide up the tasks depending on how many people are on each team. For example, one person might be the historian who records information about the other two kingdoms. Another person might be in charge of collecting graphics, pictures, and other visual material for use in the project. An alternate way is to have the teams divided  into "experts" on the various aspects of the culture, such as religion, economy, and government.
One suggested division of labor would be to have each student select one topic to cover from the first section below (traveler's guide) and three to five topics from section two (experiences offered).

I. TRAVELER'S GUIDE
     a. Weather and climate (what to pack or not to pack).
     b.  Place to go on land (mountains, deserts, valleys, and plateaus).
     c. Places to fo on water (rivers, falls, lakes, and oceans).
     d.  Wild animals to see (or avoid).  Liability release in case the client is eaten? Innoculations to avoid catastrophes from insect or snake bites.
     e.  Vegetation, crops, medicines.

II. EXPERIENCES OFFERED
     a. Cooking (everyday meals or special occasions).
     b. Food gathering (hunting, fishing, farming, herding).
     c.  Clothing  (making, wearing - everyday or special occasions).
     d.  Making and wearing of adornments.
     e.  Dancing, music, instruments, drums.
     f.  Attending ceremonies (birth, coming of age, weddings, funerals)
     g. Honoring common customs and traditions of daily life.
     h. Attending religious events dealing with gods and spirits (Purification may be required).
     i. Making and using masks.
     j. Witnessing warfare (weapons, armor, strategies).
     k. Healing and medicine, use of magic.
     l. Observing or taking part in arts and crafts.
     m. Meeting different people - social classes.
     n.  Visiting homes and villages (architecture).
     o.  Listening to the village griot tell myths and legends.
     p. Participating in the local economy (shopping, trade).
     q. Visiting royalty.
     r. Witnessing the tragic decline and fall of the empire.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Activities

Day 1 through Day 5
Homework : Read pages 104-157 in your textbook, Across the Centuries.
Use your reading to fill in some of the gaps in your KWHL chart.

Library/classroom research:
Using the resources listed on the materials page, collect information for your presentation. 

Day 6 through Day 8
Use your class time to work with your team in developing your presentation. 
 
 
 

Final
Each team will present a 10 minute travel promotion.  It can take the form of posters with a brief oral report, a powerpoint or video commercial, a travelogue, or any other form of presentation that you have cleared with your teacher. 
The project must have a bibiliography which follows MLA style.  Students may use the following document to help  (MLA bibliography style sheet) or use Noodle Tools to help format the bibliography. 
 
 

Days 9and 10
Teams will be given ten minutes to present their travel promotion. Rubrics will be filled out by classmates and the teacher. (See the section on "Assessment")
 
 

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Assessment
Students' general knowledge about the Medieval kingdoms of Sub-Saharan Africa will be assessed using a multiple choice test. (Test; answer key).

Students will be assesed on their projects using a rubric. (Grading rubric)

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Results
See results of the pretest and post tests given to students (Results)
 
 

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Web Resources & Supplementary Materials

Introductory Activity

Ancient African Civilizations
This article describes the civilizations that flourished in Africa before the arrival of European colonial powers.
 
 

Enabling Activity
 

Africa Overview:

African Voices
 This Smithsonian site is wonderfully rich graphically and has a huge, well organized compiliation of resources on the history of Africa from ancient times to now. 

West African Gallery
West Africa has long been the home of hundreds of kingdoms over the years.   Of these, four gained enough power over time to be called Empires.

Multi-media Africa Archives
Here are pictures and maps of modern and historical Africa.

Timeline of African History to 1500
This is a timeline of West African History with links to supporting information.
 
 

Ghana:

Civilizations in Africa: Ghana
Although it originated in the late fourth century, Ghana only
became a major regional power near the end of the millenium.
Although the state was originally formed by Berbers, it was built
on the southern edge of Berber populations. Eventually the state
became dominated by the Soninke, a Mande speaking people living
in the region bordering the Sahara.

Ghana in 1067 C.E.
This is a concise, easy to read description of Ghana in 1067 C.E.
 
 
 

Mali:

Dogon People
According to oral tradition, the Dogon people of south-central
Mali originated near the headwaters of the Niger River.

Mansa Musa
Mansa Musa captured the attention of the Arab world when he left
his home in Mali to make a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324.

Sundiata
Sundiata's forces killed Samanguru and destroyed his forces in
the Battle of Kirina in 1235.  Sundiata then became mansa, or
king of a new empire which we know today as Mali.

Annenburg/CPB Projects Exhbits Collection:Collapse of Empires
 Explores the collapse of four ancient civilizations, including Mali and Songhai. 

Mali
This site includes a short history of Mali, information on its African neighbors, interactive tests, links, an art gallery, maps and links to Songhay.

Islamic History of Timbuktu
Description: Here is an extensive investigation into the Islamic legacy of this legendary African city. It includes information about many famous travelers who visited and wrote about Timbuktu. 

Mali and Songhai
Article on the decline of the kingdoms of Mali and Songhai, as well as the smaller kingdom of Ghana before them, were once great trading kingdoms famous for their gold. Yet despite their greatness, they each declined for similar reasons.
 

Ancient Mali
Mali Empire, empire in West Africa that rose to dominance in the 13th and 14th          centuries. The Mali Empire was the second and most extensive of the three great        successive empires, which included the Kingdom of Ghana and Songhai. The Mali      Empire served as a model of statecraft for later kingdoms long after its decline in the  15th and16th centuries.
 
 

Songhai:

Abomey Historical Museum: History of Benin
Covers the history and kings of medieval Benin

Mali and Songhai
Article on the decline of the kingdoms of Mali and Songhai, as well as the smaller kingdom of Ghana before them, were once great trading kingdoms famous for their gold. Yet despite their greatness, they each declined for similar reasons.
 
 

Books:

Brooks, Larry. Daily Life in Ancient and Modern Timbuktu (Cities Through Time)
Runestone, 1999.

Conrad, David. The Songhay Empire (First Book). Watts, 1998

Green, Rebecca L.  The Empire of Ghana.  Watts, 1998.

Herr, Myra.  West Africa : Ghana (Ancient and Living Cultures).  Goodyear Pub Co., 1992.

Koslow, Philip.  Ancient Ghana : The Land of Gold. Chelsea House, 1995.

Koslow, Philip.  Centuries of Greatness : the West African Kingdoms, 750-1900                 Chelsea House, 1995.

Koslow, Philip.  Songhay: the Empire Builders (The Kingdoms of Africa). Chelsea House, 1995.

McKissack, Patricia and Fredrick.  The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali and Songhay : Life in Medieval Africa. Holt, 1995.

Thompson, Carol.  The Empire of Mali. Watts, 1998.
 
 
 

Culminating Activity
Each team will present a 10 minute travel promotion.  It can take the form of posters with a
brief oral report, a powerpoint or video commercial, a travelogue, or any other form of resentation that has been cleared with the teacher.  Rubrics will be filled out by
 classmates and the teacher. 

The project must have a bibiliography that follows MLA style. Students may  use the following document to help them (MLA bibliography style sheet) or use Noodle Tools to help format the bibliography. 

 MLA bibliography style sheet

Noodle Tools
This is an online tool created by Debbie Abilock, librarian at Senda Nueva School, for creating MLA formatted bibliographies.
 
 
 

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