Lesson #34 - Early African History

We'll spend today working on a variety of activities related to Africa. Initially, I'm interested in the preconceptions and first impressions you have/had regarding Africa, as well as whether reading in Chapter 8 has changed those thoughts in any way.

Second, we've got some activities to get at many of these ideas in more depth. Note that we largely dealing with populations that were not yet literate. That, of course, means we need to consider different types of evidence to deepen our understanding.

Drawing Conclusions from Evidence: You'll get a chance to look at textual, archaeological and linguistic evidence for the purpose of evaluating conclusions presented to you.

Ironworking in Africa: Here, we'll take a look at the concepts of innovation and diffusion as they relate to iron technologies in Africa. After you complete the map, we'll assess a statement I put up on the overhead.

A Commercial Revolution in Africa: You'll get a handout based on the "Commercial Revolution" that occurred in Africa between 300 BCE and 400 CE. You'll look at the trade based in Jenne (Djenne-Djeno in the textbook) and Rhapta. We'll discuss this after you work thorough it for a few minutes.

Going Bananas: In addition to practicing a new type of graphic organizer (the "foursquare"), we will look at how the introduction and spread of a new crop (bananas) affected life in Africa. Your "foursquare" graphic organizer should contain at least one idea about how the spread of bananas affected each of the four corners AND one idea about how each of the four corners affected the spread of banana cultivation. We can talk about the impacts you identified as well.

The Kingdom of Aksum: The final section of the chapter that you were not asked to read for today deals with the kingdom of Aksum. Here are a couple of links. We'll take a few minutes to browse them, and then I'll ask for comments on things you found surprising, interesting, etc. In addition, see if you can draw any conclusions about life in Aksum from looking at the resources.

Aksum - UNESCO World Heritage Centre This designation means that Aksum is recognized as a site of major cultural and historical importance by the United Nations. (Clicking on the "Gallery" tab will get you some pictures. You can also read about what's happening in terms of archaeological work at the site.)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art:

• African Christianity in Ethiopia - You can click on the images to make them larger.
• The Monumental Stelae of Aksum - This has information and images about the famous obelisks of Aksum.

HOMEWORK for next session: Monday, January 9th

Please read 9.1 ("The Earliest Americans") for Monday's class. There will be a reading quiz.

You received the 8:3 quiz to compete as a take-home assignment. I should get that back from you no later than Monday.

Your "Fakebook" page should be ready for me to view on Monday.

The Unit #2 Exam information is posted on a separate entry. We'll do the Unit #2 Review on Wednesday. Thursday will be a work day. (It'll be a good time to do your DBQs.) On Friday you will both have your essay due and take the multiple choice portion of the exam.