Virtual Field Trip of West Africa

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GOOGLE EARTH

Open Ended

What do you know about West Africa?

Open Ended

What questions do you have about the geography of West Africa,
or what are you wondering?

Hotspot

This map represents the 5 major regions of Africa.

Click on Southern Africa.

Hotspot

This map represents the 5 major regions of Africa.

Click on Northern Africa.

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This map represents the 5 major regions of Africa.

Click on Western Africa.

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This map represents the 5 major regions of Africa.

Click on Eastern Africa.

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This map represents the 5 major regions of Africa.

Click on Central Africa.

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This is a map of modern day Africa. Click on the following when you find it:

Gulf of Guinea

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This is a map of modern day Africa. Click on the following when you find it:

Atlantic Ocean

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This is a map of modern day Africa. Click on the following when you find it:

Sahara Desert

Hotspot

This is a map of modern day Africa. Click on the following when you find it:

Atlas Mountains

Look at this map and locate the following:

The Empire of Ghana
The Great Zimbabwe Empire
The Mali Empire
The Kingdom of Aksum
The Songhai Empire

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​Ancient African Kingdoms

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Open Ended

Click on the map to zoom in. Use the map key to describe the climate of West Africa.

Visit Google Earth

LOOK

AROUND

WATCH
VIDEO

Open Ended

Record at least four details from your observations of the Sahara.

Open Ended

From the video, describe the process of transporting salt slabs
across the Sahara?

VIEW

Draw

The Niger River passes through 4 modern day countries: Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria.

Draw a line and trace the path of the Niger River.

Open Ended

Look deeply and closely at the Niger River 360-degree view. List as
many details as possible.

Open Ended

What did you notice about the surroundings that might be different today than during antiquity?

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VIEW

WATCH
VIDEO

Hotspot

Djenne-Djenno was an important trading center as it was located at the junction on the Niger River and had land routes that connected trade from the Sahara Desert and Sudan Regions.

Locate and click Djenne on the map.

Open Ended

From the video, what did you observe or learn about the way the
town of Djenne was built?

Open Ended

What might have been the videographer’s purpose in creating this
video? What evidence supports this theory?

WATCH
VIDEO

Hotspot

Timbuktu was the starting point for the trans-Sahara camel caravans. These caravans consisted of around 1,000 camels and moved good northward.

Locate and click Timbuktu on the map.

WATCH
VIDEO

Open Ended

From the videos, does any new information you learned challenge
or support your prior knowledge of Timbuktu? Describe what you
learned.

Reflections...

Open Ended

Go back to the questions you asked at the start of the virtual field
trip. What answers did you find? What new questions do you have?

Open Ended

What did you learn about the geography of West Africa, and how
did you learn it?

Poll

How much did you enjoy this virtual field trip of West Africa?

• Loved it!

• Liked it!

• Neither liked it nor disliked it.

• Disliked it.

The End...

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