Topic: Population and economy of Africa. Sub‑Saharan Africa.

Target group

VIII grade of elementary school student

Core curriculum

XV. Selected problems and geographical regions of Africa: the location of Africa and its impact on air circulation and distribution of atmospheric precipitation; climatic and vegetation‑soil zone. conditions of man's management in the Sahel zone - the problem of maintaining ecological balance; tourism development in Kenya; dark‑cut agriculture and modern plantations in West Africa; causes of malnutrition in Ethiopia; traditional and modern economy in Africa.

General aim of education

The student will learn about the economic development of sub‑Saharan African countries.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• you can distinguish between „black” sub‑Saharan Africa and „white” North Africa;

• you will show differences in history, culture, and economy between Sub‑Saharan Africa and North Africa;

• you describe the population distribution in Africa and explain the reasons for the existing state of affairs;

• explain the concept of demographic explosion and give reasons for its occurrence in Africa;

• you describe the human economy in Africa and its relationship with natural conditions;

• you will point the areas of the rich North and the poor South on the world map.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• exposing

  • exposition.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• Google Earth;

• LearningApss;

• physical map of Africa;

• geographical atlases;

• projector.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Students get acquainted with the content of the abstract. They prepare to work on the lesson in such a way to be able to summarize the material read in their own words and solve the tasks themselves.

Introduction

• The teacher informs students introduces students about the goals of the lesson.

• Students search in source materials for an explanation of the importance of sub‑Saharan Africa.

• Using Google Earth, satellite imagery, the teacher indicates areas included in this region. Discussion.

Realization

• The teacher asks pupils to search for African state in sub‑Saharan Africa on the political map of Africa.

• Indication of countries on the African wall map.

• The teacher presents the students with a history related to slavery, colonialism, division of countries into territories dependent on Europeans.

• Work in groups. Students use the geographical atlases and source materials to develop the following issues:
  Group I 
  – the population of Africa;
  – density of population;
  – countries covered by demographic explosion – causes and effects;
  – change in population in Africa over the years.
  Group II
  – uneven distribution of people – causes
  – largest population centers in Africa – causes and effects ;
  – human varieties;
  – religion.
  Group III
  – countries with the lowest economic level – causes and effects;
  – countries with the highest economic level – causes and effects;
  – examples of countries with the lowest and highest GDP and HDI;
  – mineral wealth in Africa – examples of countries in which mineral resources are mined.
  Group IV
  – characteristics of agriculture: types of agriculture with an indication of their occurrence;
  – employment in the agricultural sector;
  – extensive agriculture in Africa;
  –examples of crops;
  – examples of actions that could raise the life of poor African countries.

  Students present class information on the forum, use the African wall map and Internet resources to illustrate examples.

Summary

• At the summary of the lesson, students perform interactive exercises on the interactive whiteboard.

• The teacher evaluates students within one group drawn. It takes into account the contribution and their possibilities. It also evaluates the work of other students.

• Homework task. Use of LearningApss application. Develop a crossword to the topic related to Sub‑Saharan Africa.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Population and economy of Africa. Sub‑Saharan Africa.

Sub‑Saharan Africa is different from North Africa in terms of culture, population and history. This part of the world is also often referred to as the real Africa or the Dark Land. One characteristic of this part of Africa was the continuation of society without state structures until the 19th century. The bases for social organisation were family connections, kinships, religious groups or groups with legal powers.

In the fifteenth century European sailors, mostly from Portugal, reached the West African coast. In 1488 they discovered the Cape of Good Hope and were able to sail further east – to India, where Vasco de Gama became the first European to arrive by ship. In the 16th century, English, Frnnch and Dutch merchants had established trading posts along the entire coast of Africa. The period from the 16th to the 19th century was one of the most tragic periods in the history of Africa – the slave trade. Historians estimate that over 400 years, around 65 million people were removed from Africa, of which only 15 million reached America and 40 million lost their lives travelling across the sea. The slave trade ended in the first half of the nineteenth century, although in Brazil slavery was only abolished in 1988.

Africa's interior was only explored by Europeans in the 19th century. It was at that time that the sources of the Nile and Congo were discovered, as well as the diversity of peoples living there. In the nineteenth century, several European countries expanded their spheres of influence, creating institutions to economically and politically exploit territories in Africa. This period is known as colonialism. The only countries not to be colonies of European nations were Abyssinia (modern‑day Ethiopia) and Liberia.

In 2015, 1 billion 186 million people lived in Africa, which accounted for 16.1% of the world's population. This share is constantly growing. There are 39 people on average per 1 kmIndeks górny 2². In 1950‑2010 nearly fivefold growth was recorded in Africa, unparalleled on any other continent. This great demographic explosion was mainly due to the improvement of hygienic and general living conditions, better access to medical care and the awareness of the need to look after one's own health.

The result was, among others reducing infant mortality and increasing life expectancy. The adult population of Africa is divided into five different groups. They are white Africans, black Africans, Pygmies, Khoisan peoples and Austronesians. The white population lives in northern Africa, the Sahara and the Somali Peninsula. The areas south of the Sahara are populated by Negroes (black Africans), mainly belonging to the Bantu group. Currently, it is the largest population group in Africa. Pygmies - people with a very small body - live in the Congo Basin. In the Kalahari Basin, Khoisan population groups have a yellowish skin tone - formerly the Khoisan peoples were called Bushmen and Hottentots. On the largest island of Africa, Madagascar, there are Austronese people showing a cultural and linguistic relationship with the population of the island of Borneo, distant from Madagascar by 7,000. km.

The population living in areas south of the Sahara is strongly ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse, which often leads to various social conflicts, including armed conflicts.

To the south of the Sahara lies almost 50 countries with strong social and economic differences. According to international statistics, most of the countries in this region are among countries with low level of economic development. The worst situation is in Liberia, Burundi, Malawi, Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic, where the value of the annual national income per capita does not exceed USD 1,000. And only in a few African countries are high income per capita above 10,000 USD. These are mainly countries with mineral wealth, such as South Africa (various riches) or Nigeria, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea (oil) as well as Botswana (diamonds). High national income is also achieved in small island states - Seychelles and Mauritius - where profits come almost exclusively from tourism.

In most African countries, agriculture is a sector of the economy employing from 30% to 60% of the total employed. In extreme cases, this share reaches 80%. This is the case, for example, in Chad, Niger, Ethiopia.

Africa is a continent rich in mineral resources. However, the exploitation of useful minerals requires large amounts of money. The costs of processing raw materials are also very high, that is why in Africa mineral resources are obtained that do not have to be processed and bring big profits.