Seventh Grade: Early World History SS070607

Seventh Grade: Early World History SS070607

Unit 6: Patterns of Adaptation: Reorganizing and Restoring Order After the Fall of Empires (500 CE – 1000 CE) Lesson 7

Lesson 7: Sub-Saharan Africa: The Gold and Salt Connection for Afroeurasia

Big Ideas of the Lesson
·  Sub-Saharan Africa was partly isolated by physical geography from the rest of Afroeurasia. Eventually, interactions with other regions developed as ships were used for trade along the east coast of Africa and the domestication of camels provided a reliable means to trade across the Sahara desert.
·  Early governments in Sub-Saharan African societies and kingdoms were organized around kinship such as family units and clans or tribes. This reflected a slightly different pattern of government than in some other parts of Afroeurasia.
·  Kingdoms in Sub-Saharan Africa, such as the Kingdom of Ghana, became connected more consistently to the rest of Afroeurasia through trade and gained wealth through their control of salt and gold being sent to Europe and Asia. Slaves were also sometimes part of this trade.
·  The Kingdom of Ghana, wealthy because of trade in gold and salt, built its government early on around kinship. As Ghana gained additional resources and territory, it developed a more formalized and regulated system and began to tax its people.

Lesson Abstract:

In this lesson, students explore the development of complex societies in Sub-Saharan Africa, such as the Kingdom of Ghana, and their connection to the rest of Afroeurasia through trade, despite important natural barriers like the Sahara Desert. Students begin the lesson with a map exercise to help them locate important geographic features of Sub-Saharan Africa and to examine their impact on travel and trade in this region. They next read and take notes on a secondary account of the broad historical patterns of human societies in this era in Sub-Saharan Africa. After watching a video clip about the Kingdom of Ghana, students read and respond to a secondary and a primary account of this kingdom. Finally, students pull together ideas from the three sources on the Kingdom of Ghana to complete a graphic organizer about the roots of its power.

Content Expectations[1]: 7th Grade – W3.1.1; W3.1.6; W3.2.3; E2.3.1; E3.1.1

6th and 7th Grades – H1.2.1; H1.2.2; H1.2.3; H1.2.4; H1.4.1; H1.4.2; G1.3.1; G1.3.2; G1.3.3; G2.1.1; G2.2.1; G2.2.2; G4.1.1; G4.2.1; G4.4.1;

6th Grade – W3.1.1; G1.1.1; G1.2.1; G1.2.6; G4.3.2; E2.3.1;

Common Core State Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies: RH.6-8.1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; WHST.6-8.4, 8, 9, and 10.

Key Concepts

adaptation

cultural diffusion

empire

ethnocentrism

kinship

perspective/point of view

Lesson Sequence

1. Begin the lesson by presenting the following statement and Turn and Talk question to students out loud. The teacher may also want to write it or project it on the board or screen.

“We’ve been learning about large empires, the collapse of empires, and then about new empires and kingdom taking their places... but we’ve been focusing mainly on one part of the world... the interconnected regions of Afroeurasia.

So... what do you think was happening in the parts of the world we haven’t really studied yet in this unit? Turn and Talk and make some predictions.”

Give students two or three minutes to talk, then have some students share their ideas. Move around the room as students talk. There is no need to identify “right” or “wrong” answers at this point; rather, the idea is to surface students’ thinking and have them make predictions.

After a few minutes, explain to the students that they are going to learn about a region that can be considered part of Afroeurasia, but that was also somewhat removed from a lot of the interaction in Afroeurasia that happened before Era 4. Tell the students they are going to learn about an area called Sub-Saharan Africa. Have students engage in a prior knowledge check on vocabulary and geography related to this area, by using the following Stop and Jot prompt: “What do you think the term Sub-Saharan means?” It may be helpful to project or write the question on the board so that the class can see it as they respond in writing. If students need help, prompt them to break the term into its two parts and think about each separate part. Ask a few students to share their ideas, and then display Word Card #33 for students to self-check their understanding.

2. Teacher Note: Students will need supplemental resources for this map work handout, such as an atlas, the internet, or maps in their textbook for use during this step.

Distribute “Student Handout 1 – Mapping Africa’s Historical Geography,” located in the Supplemental Materials (Lesson 7, Unit 6). Carefully review the instructions on the handout with the class. Direct students to use their resources to locate the geographic features and regions listed on the handout. Instruct students to label these places on the blank map, as well as create a map key for any symbols or colors they use. The “Detailed Map of Sub-Saharan Africa,” located in the Supplemental Materials (Lesson 7, Unit 6) may help as well.

3. When they have completed the map work, allow students to work in pairs or small groups to complete the “Map Work Analysis and Reflection Questions” page of the handout. Check in with groups as they work to monitor their understanding of the questions, and if necessary, do some think-aloud modeling with the whole class.

Students should reach the conclusions that East African and West Africa required different routes and means of transportation to connect with the rest of Afroeurasia. East Africa could connect over water through shipping, but West Africa is separated by the Sahara Desert, so some form of transportation like camels was necessary. Geography meant that different routes and technologies or resources were needed to get to and from these different regions.

4. Now explain to the students that they are going to read about some of the broad patterns that characterized large societies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Before they read, however, they are going to think back to previous lessons about the broad patterns in other parts of Afroeurasia.

Project or write the following prompt on your board/screen, direct students to Stop and Jot, and also tell them they will Turn and Talk about their ideas after they write:

Before we read, answer these questions on a separate piece of paper:

(a) We have been talking about patterns in Afroeurasia during this time period. What are some of those patterns? Think about the Tang Dynasty, the Abbassid Dynasty, or the Byzantine Empire, and how they developed or what problems they faced.

(b) Make a prediction: To what degree do you think that Sub-Saharan Africa followed these same patterns we have been discussing? Explain your thinking.

Once students have had time to write down some ideas, have them Turn and Talk either in pairs or small groups of three or four to share their ideas. Then have some of these teams share their ideas. Explain to the students that now, as they read, they should keep these ideas in mind so that they can evaluate their own predictions.

Now pass out “Student Handout 2: States and Societies of Sub-Saharan Africa 500-1000 CE,” located in the Supplemental Materials (Lesson 7, Unit 6). This reading describes the broad patterns of development in Sub-Saharan Africa during Era 4. Direct students to read each section and take notes in response to the prompts in the Notes column. Allow students to work collaboratively if you think that will be helpful. The goal again is not for students to jot down the “right” answer, but rather to have them engage with the ideas in the text and really think about them. Provide some time for students to process and share their notes, either at the whole class or small group level. Encourage students to help each other extend their thinking and add depth to their notes.

5. Explain to the students that they are going to watch a short video as a pre-reading exercise. Tell students that they will be focusing on a specific society, the ancient Kingdom of Ghana that developed as a powerful state in Era 4. Instruct students to watch the video and jot down three factors that helped the Kingdom of Ghana grow and gain power. Explain that the video will help prepare them for some readings by building important background knowledge.

Show students the video “The Ghana Empire” located at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x-IwaVhnmo. This clip is short enough that you can show it twice if you so desire. (If showing it twice, have students watch it once without writing, have them jot down some ideas after watching, then show it again and encourage them to add to their initial notes as they watch.)

Once students have jotted down some ideas, ask a few to share their thinking and briefly discuss what they learned from the video. Remind the students that such videos are accounts of the past, and just like written texts, have biases, leave things out, and should be questioned like any other source.

6. Distribute “Student Handout 3: The Kingdom of Ghana,” located in the Supplemental Materials (Lesson 7, Unit 6) to students. Explain that this is a secondary account of the Kingdom of Ghana that will help them prepare for a primary document account. Have students read the one page handout. Place students into pairs and have them to use the graphic organizer to identify and explain three factors they just read about that helped Ghana become a powerful kingdom (key locations along trade routes, access to key resources, and the development of an organized governmental system with the ability to control others via force).

Once students have had time to read and jot down ideas in their graphic organizer, have them compare their ideas from the reading to their ideas from their notes about the video clip. Have a few students share their comparisons. Remind students that comparing across accounts is an important historical reading process called corroboration (you may want to write or project this work on the board/screen to remind students).

7. Distribute “Student Handout #4 -Primary Document Activity,” located in the Supplemental Materials (Lesson 7, Unit 6). Read the instructions with the students, and highlight the historical background:

This account was written in 1068 CE by Abu Ubayd Al-Bakri, a historian and geographer from an aristocratic Muslim family living in Spain (which was then part of the Abbasid Empire). Al-Bakri relied on accounts of other travelers and traders as he never traveled to the places of which he wrote.

Make sure students understand that the author, Al-Bakri, never actually visited the Kingdom of Ghana, but used other people’s accounts to form his own. Explain to students that this account would then represent a summary of traveler’s reports and thus might leave some things out, emphasize some experiences over others, or be limited by those he interviewed.

Have students to read the primary source excerpts, and instruct them to take notes on the right side column of the table about important ideas about the Kingdom of Ghana found in this account. Review the note taking prompts with them and explain that they should take notes based upon these prompts.

When students have read the text and taken notes, direct their attention to the instructions at the bottom of the document table. They are to go back through the document and underline any evidence of ETHNOCENTRISM (judging another culture or society based on the belief that your culture is better than others). You may want to post this definition on the board or screen, or use Word Card #48 in some way, to help students keep the definition in mind as they underline.

Direct students to complete the Stop and Jot exercise at the bottom of the handout. As needed, use prompting and questioning to help students develop their thinking in this area. Students should understand that an author’s bias might shape his/her account and make the description of another culture more negative if they think their own culture is better.

Then direct students to the AP PARTY activity in the handout. Working with a partner, students should use the AP PARTY format to analyze the primary document and reach some conclusions about both the account and the Kingdom of Ghana. When students have answered the questions, give them time to share with another pair. Then, have the groups of four share their thinking with the class by having each group respond to one of the questions on the handout. Use this format to review all of the questions and check for understanding.

8. Distribute “Student Handout #5 – Graphic Organizer on Ghana’s Power,” located in the Supplemental Materials (Lesson 7, Unit 6). Ask students to use ideas from all the sources on the Kingdom of Ghana (the video, the secondary account, and the primary source excerpts) to complete the graphic organizer on the roots of the Kingdom of Ghana’s power. Direct students to go back through Handouts #3 and #4 on the Kingdom of Ghana to find examples of the characteristics or aspects of this empire that gave it power for each of the categories in the graphic organizer. Students should write these examples in the spaces on the graphic organizer, and then Turn and Talk about how this compares to other kingdoms or empires they have learned about.

9. Conclude the lesson by having students complete the Exit Pass as directed on the handout: