africa research project middle school

Exploring Africa

The  Exploring Africa!  curriculum is divided into units, modules, and learning activities. Each unit covers a major topic or theme in the study of Africa, which is then divided into thematic, disciplinary, regional, or country modules. Each module is comprised of learning activities, which are each aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The learning activities in each module vary in length of time needed for completion. Both students and teachers should feel free to navigate through the units, modules, and learning activities autonomously, or communally with a class, study partner, or teacher. Feel free to select one or two learning activities from a module, or complete all of the learning activities in the order in which they are presented.

For students,  Exploring Africa!   can be a wonderful learning tool, right at your fingertips. You may guide yourself through the informative lessons and interactive learning activities.

For teachers, we offer an Exploring Africa Lesson Plans digital booklet in our store if you want to bring  Exploring Africa! into your classroom. The Exploring Africa Lesson Plans digital booklet consists of numerous lesson plans designed around our curriculum, and includes homework sheets, information sheets, and additional helpful text and information to supplement your lesson plans. Each lesson plan is only one way to teach this curriculum, so please feel free to adapt each lesson to your unique classrooms as needed. Once you have purchased the lessons you can access them here:  https://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/curriculum/lesson-plans-3

Unit One: Why Study Africa

Unit Two: Studying Africa through the Social Studies

Unit Three: Studying Africa through the Humanities

Unit Four: Regional Perspectives

Unit Five: Country Case Studies

Additional Curriculum

South Africa: Overcoming Apartheid, Building Democracy

The African Studies Center and MATRIX digital humanities center at Michigan State University have created an online curriculum resource about South Africa with multimedia primary materials, including many interviews and video clips.

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Did you know that Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent? Asia is the first. Africa has just under twelve million square miles and covers about 6% of the Earth's total surface area. It also accounts for almost 15% of the world's population with one billion people.

The African continent has 54 sovereign states. The largest of which is Algeria. The smallest country is Seychelles. Of course Africa is also a vast country with both desert and jungle areas. It has more than 3000 protected areas and that doesn't include marine protected areas and reserves. It is home to thousands of unique species and is often thought to be home to the origin of humans. In short, Africa is a tremendously rich continent full of history, wildlife and culture.

Teaching Resources for Africa

Teaching your children about Africa can be a very fun unit. There are so many topics to discuss and facts to discover. You might start with a short unit on Swahili. Teach your young students about the geography of the country about the biodiversity and the vast wildlife. You can also enjoy a unit on the variety of cultures and traditions in Africa. Finally, it may be a nice unit to lead into a unit on conservation and protecting natural resources.

However, you decide to approach teaching about the amazing African continent, Teacher Planet has the resources you need. Use the lesson plans and teaching resources to bring order to your unit. Use the clip art, worksheets, hands on activities and printables to really help your children embrace the knowledge.

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Social Justice Books

Critically reviewed selection of multicultural and social justice books for children, young adults, and educators.

Booklist and Resources for Teaching About Africa

This list is based on books reviewed and recommended by Africa Access . Visit their website for a detailed database with critiques of hundreds of children's books and texts on Africa. They host an annual Children’s Africana Book Award .

The criteria used to guide our book selection on Africa are outlined in the article I Didn't Know There Were Cities in Africa! by representatives from Teaching for Change and Africa Access.

Titles that we recommend are featured below . The ones with reviews are noted with an asterisk ( * ). Some titles are recommended with a caveat. At the end of this page is a list of titles on this theme, with reviews, that we do not recommend .

Elementary | Middle | Young Adult | Adult | Learn More | Not Recommended

Africa Is Not a Country *

By margy burns knight, jim knight, anne sibley o'brien (illustrator), african proverbs for all ages, by johnnetta betsch cole and nelda lateef (illustrator), akie & ebuka got into trouble, by uzoma ezekwudo and zulfikar rachman (illustrator).

B Is for Baby

By atinuke, angela brooksbank, babu's song, by stephanie stuve-bodeen, aaron boyd.

Baby Goes to Market

The Best Beekeeper of Lalibela: A Tale from Africa *

By cristina kessler, bintou's braids, by sylviane a. diouf,  shane w. evans (illustrator), bottle tops: the art of el anatsui *, by alison goldberg and elizabeth zunon (illustrator), boundless grace, by mary hoffman, caroline binch (illustrator), the boy who harnessed the wind *, by william kamkwamba, bryan mealer, elizabeth zunon (illustrator), bundle of secrets: savita returns home, by mubina hassanali kirmani, catch that chicken, by atinuke and   angela brooksbank (illustrator), the day of ahmed's secret, by florence h. parry  and ted lewin (illustrator), the day gogo went to vote, by elinor batezat sisulu, sharon wilson (illustrator), desmond and the very mean word, by desmond tutu, a. g. ford (illustrator), by karen lynn williams, catherine stock (illustrator), grandpa cacao: a tale of chocolate, from farm to family *, by elizabeth zunon, hands around the library: protecting egypt's treasured books, by karen leggett abouraya and susan l. roth (illustrator).

Hector: A Boy, A Protest, and the Photograph that Changed Apartheid

By adrienne wright.

Kwame Nkrumah Midnight Speech for Independence

By useni e. perkins and   laura freeman (illustrator).

Lion Lights: My Invention That Made Peace with Lions

By richard turere and shelly pollock.

Mama Africa!: How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song

By kathryn erskine, charly palmer (illustrator).

By Eric Walters, Eva Campbell (Illustrator)

My Father's Shop

By satomi ichikawa, out of print.

My Name Is Sangoel

By karen lynn williams, khadra mohammed, catherine stock (illustrator).

My Rows and Piles of Coins

By tololwa m. mollel.

Nana Akua Goes to School *

By tricia elam walker and april harrison (illustrator).

Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Abridged by chris van wyk, paddy bouma (illustrator), nile crossing *, by katy beebe and sally wern comport (illustrator), on my papa's shoulders, by niki daly.

One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia

By miranda paul.

One Wish: Fatima Al-Fihri and the World's Oldest University *

By m. o. yuksel and mariam quraishi (illustrator).

Room for Everyone *

By naaz khan and mercè lópez (illustrator).

Seeds of Change: Planting a Path to Peace

By jen johnson, sonia sadler (illustrator).

Sing to the Moon *

By nansubuga nagadya isdahl, sandra van doorn (illustrator).

Songs in the Shade of the Cashew and Coconut Trees

By nathalie soussana, jean-christophe hoarau (another primary creator), judith gueyfier (illustrator).

Sunflower Sisters

By monika singh gangotra and michaela dias-hayes (illustrator).

Too Small Tola *

Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted a Million Trees *

By franck pravot.

When I Get Older: The Story Behind "Wavin' Flag" *

By k'naan with sol guy, rudy gutierrez (illustrator).

When Mama Braids My Hair

By monique duncan, africa is my home: a child of the amistad *, by monica edinger, robert byrd (illustrator), between sisters, by adwoa badoe, children of the quicksands, by efua traoré, crossing the stream *, by elizabeth-irene baitie, the door of no return *, by kwame alexander, a gift from childhood: memories of an african boyhood, by baba wagué diakité, the kaya girl, by mamle wolo, the kidnapped prince: the life of olaudah equiano, by ann cameron, the mzungu boy, by meja mwangi, nearer my freedom: the interesting life of olaudah equiano by himself, by monica edinger and lesley younge, once upon a time in ghana: traditional ewe stories retold in english, by anna cottrell, agbotadua togbi kumassah.

One Shadow on the Wall *

By leah henderson, onyeka and the academy of the sun, by tolá okogwu.

Orange for the Sunsets *

By tina athaide, out of bounds: seven stories of conflict and hope, by beverley naidoo, the red pencil, by andrea davis pinkney.

Royal Kingdoms of Ghana Mali & Songhay: Life in Medieval Africa

By patricia mckissack, sundiata: an epic of old mali, by d t niane.

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky

By kwame mbalia.

Walking Home *

By eric walters.

When Morning Comes *

By arushi raina, when stars are scattered *, by victoria jamieson and omar mohamed, the world beneath *, by janice warman, young adult, abina and the important men, by trevor r. getz, liz clarke.

Akata Warrior

By nnedi okorafor, all rise: resistance and rebellion in south africa, by richard conyngham , by chimamanda ngozi adichie, aya: life in yop city, by marguerite abouet, aya: love in yop city, by marguerite abouet, clement oubrerie, a bigger picture: my fight to bring a new african voice to the climate crisis *, by vanessa nakate, burn my heart.

Children of Blood and Bone (Children of Orisha #1) *

By tomi adeyemi, ghana must go, by taiye selasi.

Gold of Our Fathers (Darko Dawson Mystery #4) 

By kwei quartey, half of a yellow sun.

Home Is Not a Country *

By safia elhillo.

How You Grow Wings

By rimma onoseta, king shaka *, by luke w. molver, mother to mother, by sindiwe magona.

Shaka Rising – A Legend of the Warrior Prince *

Soldier Boy

By keely hutton, by kwame alexander with mary rand hess, sugar town queens *, by malla nunn, unbowed: a memoir, by wangari muta maathai.

War Girls *

By tochi onyebuchi.

We Kiss Them with Rain *

By futhi ntshingila.

When Morning Comes

Zenzele: a letter for my daughter, by j. nozipo maraire, africa counts: number and pattern in african cultures, by claudia zaslavsky, africa is not a country: notes on a bright continent, by dipo faloyin, born in blackness: africa, africans, and the making of the modern world, 1471 to the second world war, by howard w. french, central africans and cultural transformations in the american diaspora, by linda m. heywood (editor), jan vansina (foreword by), mistaking africa misconceptions and inventions, by curtis a. keim, representing africa in children's literature: old and new ways of seeing, by vivian yenika-agbaw.

• An excellent reading for teachers and parents to discuss is I Didn't Know There Were Cities in Africa! (Teaching Tolerance, Fall 2008). Submitted by Teaching for Change in collaboration with Africa Access, this article critiques the stereotypes in popular children's books and films, helps educators reflect on their own classroom, and provides a list of recommended titles.
• Africa Access : Literature recommendations, student research projects, and a detailed database with critiques of hundreds of children's books and texts on Africa. Coordinates the annual  Children’s Africana Book Award .
• African Studies K-12 Outreach Programs : University based programs which provide resources and professional development for teachers.
• H-AfrTeach : A discussion list which provides a forum on teaching about Africa at all educational levels.
• Masifunde Sonke Book Project : An education initiative of South Africa Partners promotes children’s literature from the new South Africa. For each book purchased in the United States, South Africa Partners donates a second copy of the same book to a rural or township school in South Africa.
• What Do We Want Children to Learn About Africa?  This short article by Margy Burns Knight shares disturbing examples of how contemporary resources for children, including a National Geographic classroom poster, exotify Africans. The article includes the outline for a professional development activity.

Not recommended

• The Banana-Leaf Ball by Katie Smith Milway
• Gbagbe  by Robtel Neajai Pailey
• The Mangrove Tree by Cindy Trumbore, Susan L. Roth
• Nelson Mandela  by Kadir Nelson
• Walking for Water: How One Boy Stood Up for Gender Equality by Susan Hughes

Learn about our criteria for selecting and reviewing titles at Social Justice Books. Feedback on these lists and suggestions for additional titles are welcome.

Most of the books on these lists are linked for more information or purchase to Bookshop (an indie bookstore platform) and / or Powells.com (an independent, unionized bookstore). A small percentage from book sales through these links goes to Teaching for Change.

If you value this book list, please help us promote it and create more book lists.

Donate Today

Connecting Africa

Introduction.

The cradle of civilization and one of the most complex areas on Earth, the continent of Africa is vast both geographically and culturally. A study of the geography and issues of Africa prepare students to better understand its richness and significance. This lesson is designed to give students a fundamental understanding of the physical and human geography of Africa, as well as the opportunity to explore issues facing it.

Guiding Question

• How do human and physical characteristics of Africa influence its economic interdependence?

Learning Objectives After completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to:

• Describe elements of the human and physical environment
• Detect errors in reasoning and decide on an alternative
• Construct, support, and defend a position

Product/Performance Design a new highway route and support it with reasoned argument in the form of:

• Small map of rejected route
• Rationale for rejection of route
• Chart of countries on rejected and proposed routes
• List of countries and capitals on proposed highway
• Magazine cover and article about the region large map showing physical and political places with proposed route
• Memo to World Bank including design and support of new route

A conference of African leaders has adopted as its top priority the building of a highway across the continent from Tunis, Tunisia to Cape Town, South Africa. The purpose of the highway is to foster political cooperation among the African nations and to promote economic development, trade, and tourism.

The highway will be financed by the World Bank, which, together with the African leaders, has recently rejected an initial proposal for the highway put forward by a competitor of your company and is now seeking alternate proposals.

You have been asked to submit to the World Bank a proposal for a better route for the highway. You will study a series of maps, data, atlases and other references to explain why the first route was turned down and create a new and improved route with reasoned support for it.

Enclosed is a request for proposal from the World Bank.

Proposal Package

You will design a new highway route and support it with reasoned argument in the form of:

• Chart of countries on REJECTED route
• Chart of countries considered for PROPOSED route
• List of countries and capitals on proposed highway (between 13 and 25)
• Magazine cover and article about the region (economics and tourism)
• Large map showing physical and political places with proposed route

Each of these components and the corresponding criteria are explained in the applicable section.

Proposal Piece 1a. Analysis of Rejected Route

Below is an outline map of Africa and a list of cities connected by the initial proposal for the transcontinental highway.

Draw the route of the initial proposal on the map and list reasons why you think it was rejected. To help formulate your reasons, consult atlases, lists of construction costs (below), and the purposes of the road. An online atlas is available at World Atlas . Additional sources of information include the CIA World Fact Book and InfoPlease .

Construction Costs: Terrain and climate influence the cost of road construction. Listed below are types of terrain ranked in order of expense for road construction, from most to least expensive:

• rainforest/jungle
• bridge over major rivers

Roads are more expensive to build in humid, subtropical climates than in Mediterranean climates. You can find climate zone information at Blue Planet Biomes .

Draw the rejected route on the map using this order of cities:

Map of rejected route

Proposal Piece 1b. Rationale for Route Rejection

Using the atlases and other rationale, state three reasons that the World Bank and African leaders might have rejected the proposed highway. Include specific data you obtained and note the sources. Keep in mind the purpose of the construction of the highway:

• Encourage economic development and trade among countries
• Promote tourism
• Promote political and economic cooperation between countries
• Stimulate economic development
• Develop a transportation system

Determining the probable Reasons for rejection of the initial proposal:

• Physical Geographic Reasons:
• Human Geographic Reasons:
• Other Factors:

Proposal Piece 2. Information about the Routes

Now, you will complete analytical charts of the countries include in the rejected and proposed routes. Using the templates below, note the important elements in each category for the country listed.

Proposal Piece 2b. Chart of Proposed Route

The chart below will form the basis of your choices for countries through which to plan your proposed route. Remember that you may have countries on this chart that you do not end up choosing. Print as many copies of the chart page as necessary for your analysis. You may have duplication of countries from the previous chart.

After you have completed the chart, use the following criteria to analyze the countries for inclusion in your proposal.

The route must:

• Cover a major portion of the continent
• Connect major population centers
• Cross a minimum of 13 countries and a maximum of 25
• Pass through at least one capital city on the Atlantic Ocean and one capital city on the Indian Ocean

Think about:

• Topography (control construction costs)
• Climate (try to avoid harsh areas)
• Environment (build where it would cause the least damage)
• Location of natural resources (What will you need to build and how will you get it there?)
• Location of major/capital cities (ensure contact with highest number of people)
• Tourist attractions (infusion of foreign capital, improve balance of trade)
• Political considerations (War? Refugees?)
• Health issues (tsetse fly, dengue fever, AIDS, Ebola — avoid where possible)

Proposal Piece 2c. List of Countries/Capitals Connected by Proposed Hightay in Order

Proposal Piece 3. Magazine — Issues in Africa

You will design a magazine cover and write an article about an issue in Africa that includes a possible solution.

Proposal Piece 3a. Magazine cover

You will use Big Huge Labs to create the cover.

• Select an original title for the magazine.
• Select a title for the cover story.
• Select an image about the issue you selected. Be sure to use an image in Creative Commons . Do not use copyrighted material.
• Include the price of the magazine (put the amount in an African currency).
• Include the date of the magazine.
• The cover should be neat, attractive and colorful.
• You may wish to have titles of additional articles on the cover.

Proposal Piece 3b. Magazine Article

Select ONE of the following issues in Africa (there may be others — if you are interested in an issue you don't see here, you may choose another).

• Discuss the issue in Africa that was selected for the cover story.
• Be sure to include why it is an important issue and how it has affected the people, a country, or the continent.
• Be sure to include solutions to help solve the issue.
• The title of the article is the cover story (see step 3a above).
• Write the article using the same format that you would find in a magazine. It will need to be at least one page with two columns. You may illustrate your article, but make sure you cite your source and make sure that you add the extra text to make up for it (pictures don't count toward the length of the article). Don't forget your byline (the author who wrote the article).

Proposal Piece 4. Large Map of Proposed Route

Considerations for your route:

The map should

• Be at least ½ of a poster board
• Be well-colored, neat, and attractive in appearance
• Appropriately convey the route
• Contain a legend
• Be accurate and easy to interpret
• Be labeled well (spelling counts)

The route must

Think about

Proposal Piece 5. Memo to World Bank

Memo: Final Proposal for Route across Africa

To: The World Bank From: ________________________________ Subject: Alternate Proposal for Route across Africa

After considering the data and the rejected highway route, I have designed an alternate proposal, which is included here in map form, accompanied by supporting documentation. The proposed highway meets the following criteria:

• Crosses a major portion of the continent.
• Connects major population centers.
• Crosses _____ countries.
• Passes through the capital city of ________________________ on the Atlantic Ocean and the capital city of _________________________ on the Indian Ocean.
• Is practical and crucial to the economic development of Africa.

I have emphasized the influence of the physical and human geographic features of the continent in designing our proposal.

Keeping in mind the purposes of the highway, I submit the four specific reasons this proposed route is superior to the rejected plan. I am including reasons concerning physical, cultural, and economic geography, and ________________________ (personal choice).

Include reasoning for the highway with these in regards:

• Personal Choice

Respectfully Submitted, ________________________________________

This series of lessons was designed to meet the needs of gifted children for extension beyond the standard curriculum with the greatest ease of use for the educator. The lessons may be given to the students for individual self-guided work, or they may be taught in a classroom or a home-school setting. Assessment strategies and rubrics are included at the end of each section. The rubrics often include a column for "scholar points," which are invitations for students to extend their efforts beyond that which is required, incorporating creativity or higher level technical skills.

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Africa Project

Subject: Geography

Age range: 11-14

Resource type: Unit of work

Last updated

19 June 2020

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Project based on Africa. Includes challenge on each task to stretch. Based on a homework to take 2 weeks but can be broken down into lessons for a SoW.

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We are pleased to let you know that your resource Africa Project, has been hand-picked by the Tes resources content team to be featured in https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/blog/end-year-projects-geography in June 2024 on https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/blog. Congratulations on your resource being chosen and thank you for your ongoing contributions to the Tes Resources marketplace.

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• Our Mission

Teaching African History and Cultures Across the Curriculum

Africa is much more than pyramids, slavery, and colonialism, and incorporating deeper study of the continent has many benefits for students.

“We do teach about Africa—our school covers units on ancient Egypt, slavery, and colonialism” is a notion often heard in curriculum discussions in American schools. While significant, these topics are a minuscule drop of water in a vast sea of knowledge about Africa.

As Dr. Jonathan Weaver eloquently states , “The only dark part of Africa is our lack of knowledge about it.” To prioritize global education and antiracist practices, here are four strategies to expand the curricular range across grade levels.

Teach About Africa’s Immensity

Africa is immense in all ways. Modern Africa comprises 54 countries, each with its own political history, cultural influences, and social intricacies. There are vast nations like Algeria and small island-states like Seychelles. Astoundingly, Africa counts more than 1,000 ethnic groups, who speak more than 2,000 languages (a number that soars to 3,000 if it includes dialectical varieties). We can identify at least 85 precolonial kingdoms.

Whether you’re just starting to teach about Africa or have experience doing so, adopting a stance of learning about this immense continent with students can be useful. A good place to start is with geography, making use of maps to build students’ geo-literacy to understand the relationships between representation, size, scale, and human diversity. Ask the question, “How big is Africa?” and use this How Big Is Africa? curriculum to help students learn about how mapping projections have reduced the continent’s size.

Identify Africa as the Heart of Humanity

Historically, Africa was considered by outsiders to be the periphery of the world . And the list of stereotypes held about the continent, rooted in long-standing racism, is long. Our students’ cognitive schema are influenced by these powerful messages that still operate in society. One way to provide a counter-narrative that humanizes and celebrates the continent and its people is to emphasize that Africa is the evolutionary birthplace of humanity.

In addition, the continent showcases pioneering advances in civilizations, such as the mastery of iron technology, and is critically significant to world history. Teach the ways that African history intersects with the histories of other continents. Precolonial African history is especially important because African countries’ modern borders were established by colonial powers, a fact that hides the (much longer) history of great societies and kingdoms that have spanned the continent.

One easy strategy to nurture your students’ reverence for African history is to study UNESCO World Heritage sites that help contextualize Africa’s global significance. Examine the Burkina Faso iron-smelting ovens that date back to the eighth century BCE to teach the mastery and intensification of iron smelting in Africa, or study monuments like the monolithic churches of Lalibela.

Connect to Africa Across Disciplines

The geographical, cultural, linguistic, and political diversities of the continent constitute an invitation to interdisciplinarity. Elementary social studies frameworks can draw on African contexts to study geography, migration, interactions between humans and their environments, the circulation of ideas and culture, and political geography and modern countries’ borders. Many teachers are now exploring layered interactive maps to develop inquiry about the intersection of places and culture.

French and English literature teachers can internationalize their scope of texts and choose from a solid corpus of excellent anglophone and francophone African novels, including Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and  Les Bouts de Bois de Dieu  by Ousmane Sembène. Africa is easily integrated with math and science when educators teach about the history of the development of scientific and mathematical ideas that have African roots. Science teachers can connect with world history content when they teach about the emergence of environmental conservation as a reaction to the effects of colonial exploitation of land and resources.

Resources from African Studies Centers across the United States, many of which are National Resource Centers (NRCs), can help make the work of integrating Africa into the disciplines easier. At NRCs, outreach staff support instructional design plans with specific resources.

Teach Africa to Affirm Identities

Linking curriculum with aspects of African culture promotes global education for all students. In an era in which we are existentially threatened by climate change and political dangers, it is a vital educational approach to promote our students’ sense of unity and respect. Teaching about African history, politics, and culture supports our students’ developing identities as global citizens.

Additionally—and crucially—Africa has deeply shaped the cultural context of the United States, especially that of African American and African diasporic students. Given persistent racial injustice in education and the existence of curricula still plagued by Eurocentric perspectives, there’s an urgency to embrace Black Lives Matter at School and equity and antiracism approaches in the classroom.

This means that teaching about Africa can be part of an antiracist practice, as it enables historically marginalized student groups to become visible in a multi-perspective curriculum that affirms their identities and dismantles narrow, one-sided perceptions of their cultures.

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Lessons from Africa: A Supplement to Middle School Courses in World Cultures, Global Studies, and World Geography

Related Papers

Merry Merryfield

The International Journal of African Historical Studies

Jane Parpart

Gérard L. F. Chouin

The Big Question underlying this class is twofold: How can we explain the mental images we carry of Africa and Africans? How can history address our collective consciousness and help us apprehend Africa and Africans more elaborately? Africa is, in fact, a contested idea. From a province of the Roman Empire to a continent often perceived today as essentially united beyond the mere belonging to the same landmass, the idea of Africa has a history of its own, expressed differently in the Atlantic and Mediterranean worlds, in the Indian Ocean, in the Islamic world, or on different parts of the continent itself. This course aims to deconstruct the ‘invention of Africa’ in the western scholarship tradition, explore its fabrics, and critically analyze how we think Africa and Africans today were historically constructed. We will explore new ways to free ourselves from inherited clichés and build a more balanced yet critical representation of reality. This course stands at the crossroad between the Arts and the Social Sciences. We will read and reflect on materials written by philosophers, historians, anthropologists, geographers, political scientists, and IR scholars. This course fulfills the COLL 100 requirement. The purpose of COLL 100 is to introduce first-year students to one or more of the essential questions and concepts, beliefs, creative visions, theories, and discoveries that have shaped our understanding of the world. COLL 100 asks students to develop and practice communication skills beyond the written word and into visual, oral, digital, and/or multi-media expression. To fulfill the communication skills requirement, students will 1) respond to the readings online and engage in conversations with peers, 2) prepare a Loom video presentation based on the readings; 2) produce group posters illustrating the theme “The Representation of Africa in American Movies;” 3) Prepare and present to the class research projects using digital tools (Loom and SWAY/Website).

Vivian Oblivion

Rochonda Nenonene

Epifania Amoo-Adare

These teacher guidelines accompany GlobaLink-Africa; a unique, multimedia on-line curriculum that meets the challenges of new technologies and enables students to think critically about globalization and its relationship to Africa, Africans and US-Africa policy. GlobaLink-Africa curriculum provides a critical literacy of space that explicates four key concepts of globalization—Emergence, Interdependence, Dynamic Systems, and Time-Space Compression—as experienced by 16 fictional characters of African descent, whose narratives are research-based. Ideas raised in these 16 stories of globalization-in-action are further elaborated by comments, critiques and questions put forward by 2 fictional guide characters that take contesting positions on the many facets of the unfolding globalization phenomenon. GlobaLink-Africa Teacher Guidelines provide descriptions of the purpose, rationale and best use of the online curriculum, which clearly illustrates the bi-directional, multiple and contradictory effects of transnational economic and cultural flows on local African socio-political relations and spatiality. GlobaLink-Africa is a fine example of curriculum as a spatial text

Sipho Nyembe

I. OVERVIEW The Big Question underlying this class is twofold: How can we explain the mental images we carry of Africa and Africans? How can history address our collective consciousness and help us apprehend Africa and Africans in more elaborate ways? From a province of the Roman Empire to a continent often perceived today as essentially united beyond the mere belonging to the same landmass, the idea of Africa has a history of its own, declined differently in the Atlantic and Mediterranean worlds, in the Indian Ocean, in the Islamic world, or on different parts of the continent itself. Africa is, in fact, a contested idea. This course aims at deconstructing the 'invention of Africa' in the western scholarship tradition, at exploring its fabrics and at critically analyzing how ways we think about Africa and Africans today were historically constructed. We will further explore new ways to free ourselves from inherited clichés and construct a more balanced yet critical representation of the reality. This course stands at the crossroad between the Arts and the Social Sciences, and we will read and reflect on materials written by philosophers, historians, anthropologists, geographers and political scientists and IR scholars. This course fulfills the COLL 100 requirement. The purpose of COLL 100 is to introduce first-year students to one or more of the significant questions and concepts, beliefs and creative visions, theories and discoveries that have shaped our understanding of the world. COLL 100 asks students to develop and practice communication skills beyond the written word and into the realms of visual, oral, digital, and/or multi-media expression. To fulfill the communication skills requirement, students will 1) deliver class presentations based on the readings, 2) produce group slides/posters illustrating the theme "The Invention of Africa." 3) prepare and present to the class research projects using digital tools.

Akin Alao , Tunde Babawale

rican values have been relegated and neglected; and the ulespread underdevelopment of African societies has been partly a tributed to this development. Explanations for the relegation and neglect of African values are diverse, ranging from slavery to colonialism, and Westernization, which have combined to fuel the radox of inequality between Africa and the West. In this context, • frica is generally perceived as the least developed continent in he world. Some schools of thought have suggested that attention be paid to the internal dynamics of the African social structure and its interface with the Western developmental agenda as a ajor issue in addressing the continent's underdevelopment. This paper therefore examines the necessity of reviving African values a a viable alternative to the disarticulated development in Africa. Drawing on close reviews of archival materials and previous anthropological studies of African cultures, the paper demonstrates that the adoption of Western...

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Quickmart: Sustaining Growth in a Challenging Economic Environment

In July 2023, Peter Kang’iri, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Quickmart, Kenya’s second-largest retail chain, sat in his Nairobi office reviewing the company’s first half financial results before the weekly executive committee (EXCO) meeting. The company was in the second year of its five-year plan, following its most profitable year ever in 2022. Quickmart’s five-year plan was to increase its revenues by 82% to $541 million by opening 50 new stores. It was targeting to have 105 stores in Kenya by 2026 and had opened three new stores in 2023 which increased its national presence to 58 stores in 16 counties by July 2023. However, Kenya’s challenging economic environment was negatively impacting consumer spending, and Quickmart’s growth plans were at risk. Furthermore, Kang’iri feared that Quickmart could face financial challenges as it increased its store numbers since other Kenyan retailers had failed after growing to 65 stores. Given these challenges, Kang’iri knew he would need to reconsider how best to meet the company’s ambitious growth targets.

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The Returns to Skills During the Pandemic: Experimental Evidence from Uganda

The Covid-19 pandemic represents one of the most significant labor market shocks to the world economy in recent times. We present evidence from a field experiment to understand whether and why skilled and unskilled workers were differentially impacted by the shock, in the context of a low-income economy, Uganda. We leverage a panel of workers and firms, tracked from 2012 to 2022, including high frequency surveys over the pandemic. In 2013, workers were randomly assigned to receive six months of sector-specific vocational training, in one of eight high productivity sectors. We document that over the pandemic, employment and earnings margins follow V-shaped dynamics, whereby the outcomes of treated (skilled) workers are more severely impacted by lockdowns, they recover more quickly between lockdowns, and remain resilient to the shock as the economy recovers. Cumulatively over the pandemic, skilled workers spend 61% more time than controls employed in one of our study sectors, and their total earnings are 17% higher. We explore supply- and demand-side mechanisms through which the returns to skills are maintained through the crisis. We document that skilled workers are more exposed to the shock because they are more likely to be laid off during the first lockdown as firms respond to the rapid, severe and uncertain shock by immediately laying off higher earning workers. However, skilled workers recover quickly because of their greater accumulation of sector-specific experience pre-pandemic, and the certifiability of their skills that allows them to switch employers in the same sector during the crisis. Our findings have implications for understanding the returns to skills acquired through vocational training in good economic times and times of crisis.

MStudio and Djoli: Accelerating Startup Growth in Francophone Africa

Djoli, a procurement platform, was one of the startups launched and supported by MStudio, a startup studio in Côte d'Ivoire, in 2023. After a year of operations, Djoli must look beyond MStudio, which had supported them financially and in kind in exchange for equity, for seed capital which they needed to expand. The options before them presented some challenges but they must make a decision.

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Johannesburg Staff

Pippa Tubman Armerding

Pippa Tubman Armerding joined Harvard Business School in 2017 as Executive Director for the HBS Africa Research Center, opened this year in Johannesburg, South Africa. Pippa’s work spans sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on the development of cases and support for faculty research in the region. She also plays an important role in establishing and fostering relationships with companies and alumni in Africa on behalf of HBS.

A lawyer and strategist with 20 years of experience as an attorney and business professional operating across Africa, Europe and North America, Pippa has held a number of leadership roles with large multinationals working across the continent. Prior positions includes serving as Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs for Microsoft South Africa, and Director of Pan-African Strategic Initiatives for Coca-Cola South Africa.

As a graduate of Harvard College, Pippa has been an active alumnus, serving in a number of volunteer roles for the alumni community in South Africa. In addition, Pippa holds a JD from New York University, specializing in international law, and is fluent in French. Raised in Liberia, Pippa returned to Africa 13 years ago and has since lived in South Africa and Kenya.

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Elementary Lesson Plans & Activities

General introduction to africa.

• Are there any animals in Africa? Who has seen them? A lesson & poster that brings real people’s voices to weigh in on these questions. The goal of the lesson is to push back agains the frequent images of exotic animals are used to represent Africa in the media, literature, and in our schools. This is a dangerous mischaracterization and is very unrepresentative of the continent. In fact, most Africans see wildlife in zoos! We have produced an elementary-appropriate poster and accompanying lesson plans to help teachers combat this stereotype (Kindergarten-6th grade).
• Bingo: U.S. – Africa Connections Game T his activity is designed for middle school students who focus on finding peers who can answer ‘yes’ to many of the Bingo sheet questions, and then uncover how elements of their daily lives–food, music, language, games, etc.–are all connected to Africa and/or the African diaspora. It is an excellent way to ‘bring Africa home’ for most students (3rd-6th grade).
• Using Visuals to Teach abo ut Africa

Visuals are key for student learning—more important for learning about Africa than perhaps for any other region of the world. This resources includes two lessons plans for recognizing bias through photos and for highlighting similarities across cultures. 

• Teaching about Africa through Artifacts  Our Artifact Map contains a catalogue of over 60 artifacts that we currently hold (in our online library as well), from several regions of Africa including West Africa, Eastern/Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Teachers can use this resource to click on any artifact on the map (images included) and find a list of resources for the classroom about the artifact’s origins, background, and history.
• Discover Africa: A Travel Blog Project For this project, students write a series of travel blog posts that track their experiences and movements across the continent, highlighting their knowledge of African human and physical geography. The project focuses on representative and in-depth accounts of specific locations, rather than a broad and unrealistic generalization about the continent.
• Creating Your Own Travel Kit If you are interested in developing your own country-specific or thematic travel kit, this lists a few suggestions, but we would be delighted to assist you further. Contact us here.
• A People First Google Earth Lesson Introducing the Geography of Africa in Key Concepts and Questions The goal of this resource is to activate students’ knowledge by providing an experiential understanding of select concepts in the physical geography of Africa. The presentation uses an inquiry-based approach to probe key understandings of the ways geography shapes human activity. The Google Earth presentation was designed to  address the types of questions that can be asked about concepts in the physical geography of Africa with the goal of building curiosity.

English Language Arts

• “Exploring ‘What’s work?’ through a Transcultural Reading of My Grandfather is a Magician: Work and Wisdom in a Nigerian Village” Social Studies and the Young Learning Article (2015)

This article frames how to teach and discuss the award-winning author Ifeoma Onyefulu’s My Grandfather is a Magician  within the economic, civic, geographic, and historical concepts of work. Designed for lower elementary school students, both the book itself and this approach are highly recommended ways of incorporating Africa into your classroom in an universally relatable way.

• Find more lessons on our Children’s Literature page .

Math and Science

• Centering Africa in the STEAM disciplines presents a whole series of science videos produced by N*Gen Africa, bibliographies, and number games to bring Africa into the Math & Science classrooms

Physical Education

• Physical Education Games Physical Education teacher Matthew Bassett offers resources to educators interested in teaching students to appreciate physical games and activities reflecting diverse heritages, including games from Botswana, Ethiopia, Guinea, and Nigeria.
• Dancing with the ancestors: A study of Egungun Masquerades and Nick Cave’s Soundsuits,   Pre-K-K. by Paula Mans, a unit that brings students to understand Egungun masquerade traditions and the ways Diasporic artists have taken them up as inspiration. It leads students to engage with their own ways of meaning-making through masks, without reproduction or appropriation. A groundbreaking lesson that changes the course of the many lessons on African masks that came before it, which were developed without cultural responsiveness.

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A Black History Month Research Project for 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade

A Black History Month Research Project is a great way to help your students learn more about and celebrate the impact African Americans have made to the United States.  It's also a good way to help students learn about obstacles African Americans have had to face in this country.  But having 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade students conduct research and complete a project based on that research can be an overwhelming task.

Scaffolding this process is essential in order for your students to be successful - and for them to actually stay engaged and excited!

After I fine-tuned the process, this Black History Month Research Project was one of my students' favorite projects all year.  It included researching a famous African American, writing an essay, creating a timeline of their life, and labeling a map.  The upper elementary students remained engaged throughout the entire project and were always very proud of the outcome!

Choosing an African American Hero to Research

Part of making a Black History Month Project meaningful is exposing students to people that they might not be familiar with.  If you let 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade students choose who they want to research, you'll probably find that everyone wants to research Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, or Barack Obama.

Instead of simply letting students choose people they are already familiar with, collect a variety of biographies on different African Americans - or find some  kid-friendly biographies online.

Do whatever works for your classroom, as long as you give students an opportunity to introduce themselves to different African Americans.

How I Organized This in My Classroom

There are a lot of different ways you could do this with your students. I would always have my librarian collect enough child-friendly biographies for each student in my class.  We would sit in a circle, and each student would get one of the books.  They had about a minute to look through the book, and then everyone passed their book to the left.

After everyone had looked through every book, students would write down the top 5 people they were interested in researching.  Then, I would look through everybody's choices and assign each student their famous African American to research.

This process got students excited and gave them more ownership over the project.  However, it also allowed me some freedom to make adjustments that would help students be successful and be exposed to different people.

My students used a book from the library as their main source for research, so I wanted to make sure the reading level of the books was appropriate for each of my students.  (If you have a really well-organized classroom library checkout system, this might be easier for you!)

Scaffolding a Black History Month Essay

As all upper elementary teachers know, having students complete research and then use that to write a successful essay is much harder than you would think.

You have to teach students not to copy paragraphs straight from a book or website.  And how to organize a research paper.  And you have to motivate students so that they will actually WANT to write.

This No Prep Black History Month Research Project scaffolds the entire process so students can succeed.  And even better, it will minimize all the one on one time and help students complete their project much more independently.

But there are ways you can scaffold on your own.

1. Model the Project for Your Students

Modeling an entire project takes up a lot of class time, but it makes a huge difference in your students' success.  Plus, it will prevent a lot of student questions later.

This No Prep Black History Month Research Project has all the information you need to use Martin Luther King, Jr. in your modeling.

2. Provide a Research Page with Clear Topics

Instead of having students do their own research on note cards or a blank sheet of paper, provide a research page that tells them exactly what sorts of topics they should be researching.

Otherwise, students have the tendency to copy paragraphs and collect information on irrelevant topics.

Decide what exactly you want your students to learn about - for example, their African American's family, accomplishments, and impact - and create a research page that helps students easily organize that information.  (And, of course, this project also includes research pages.)

3. Scaffold the Writing Process

This might be one of the most important ways to help your students write a successful, organized research paper. Simply providing students with paragraph frames can make a drastic difference and give students more confidence in their writing.

This is similar to this scaffolding you can use when having students write a compare and contrast essay.   Or, use the no prep option with this already ready-to-go Black History Month Project.

Use the Research to Create a Timeline and Map

Use this opportunity to address some other social studies skills - timelines and maps!

Have students use their research to create a timeline of important events in their famous African American's life.  Then, provide students with a blank map and have them color in different states that were important to their African American.

This is a very simple way to make these skills more meaningful to students.

Presenting the Black History Month Project

There is no one right way to have students share their projects.  It really depends on how much time you have!

Here are some options:

• Have students simply turn in their projects.  You could use them to create a bulletin board or just take a grade.
• Have students create a poster with their essay, map, and timeline.  They can present it to the class, or you could make a display.
• Have a Living Wax Museum!  This takes a lot more preparation, but your students and parents will love it.  Find more information on Living Wax Museums here.

If you think this scaffolding would be beneficial to your students as well, then you might like my Black History Month Research Project – Essay, Map, and Timeline Resource.   It includes everything I used to help my students be successful – even a model using Martin Luther King, Jr. so you can show students what is expected of them!

Testimonial:

"This has made doing this research project so much easier! The best part is that samples of the completed steps are included. They always want to copy full sentences instead of making notes, and displaying the sample while they worked led to many more children succeeding without my one to one help."

You might also like these other ideas and resources for teaching during Black History Month - including a freebie!  

Never Stress Over Sub Plans Again!

Make copies, find a fiction book, and you'll be ready for any emergency that comes your way!

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