Understandings

• Africa is a storehouse of mineral wealth.
• Population growth rates are among the highest in the world.
• The majority of people are subsistence farmers.
• The percentage of urbanization is among the lowest in the world.
• Africa is home to a wide variety of ethnicities, each with a rich cultural heritage.
• Most countries in Africa gained their independence from colonial powers after the 1960s.

Learning Activities

A choropleth map shows the relative quantity of a numerical variable such as per capita GDP with color.  The darker the color the higher the value of the variable. In this exercise students “research” a subregion of Sub-Saharan Africa to obtain data for one variable, then create a choropleth map based on that data, and determine correlations among variables through the comparison of maps they created. Students then suggest geographic reasons for the patterns they observe.

Making Choropleth_Maps (7A)

Push and pull factors are the driving forces behind migration. In this learning activity students examine hypothetical headings and determine whether a push or pull factor is described. They extend their learning by categorizing the factor as either social, political, economic, or environmental. As with many of these exercises there are multiple correct answers but some define wrong answer.

Migration Scenarios (7B)

Maps from the Arizona Geographic Alliance

• Africa outline map
• African Regions
• Africa’s Resources

ArcGIS Online Maps in the NPS Organizational Account

• Electricity Access
• Infant Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Living Languages in Africa
• SubSaharan Africa Data
• African Independence Timeslider click play to see the sequence of independence)

The map below shows the distribution of infant mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa.