Map Quest: Africa

Size, Climate, Resources

One-Day MapQuest

Warm Up

• How large do you think Africa is? – Do you think the United States would fit inside the

borders of Africa?– Do you think China would fit inside the borders of

Africa?– How does Africa compare to other continents in

terms of size?

Map Distortions• The earth is a sphere. When we represent it on a

flat map, some areas of the globe get distorted. • The most common areas distorted are Greenland

(looks huge!) and Africa (looks small).

Map Quest 3 – If you do not use complete sentences, you will get no points.

If you do not use RACE format, you will get no points.

Please do not waste your time.

Part 1: Size of Africa

• Use the maps on the following slide to answer the following questions.

1) How many square miles is Africa?2) Name the countries (or continents) that

could fit inside Africa’s borders.3) Does this surprise you? Why or why not?

Africa is much larger than you think!

Part 2: Climate• Africa is the second largest continent. Not surprisingly, it has a lot of

different ecosystems. Use the climate map to answer the questions:

4) Describe the climate zone in North Africa. 5) How could this be challenging for humans to develop cities in the ancient

world?

6) Describe the climate zone in Central Africa (dark green on the map). 7) How could this be challenging for humans to develop cities in the ancient

world?

8) Describe the climate zone is Southern Africa. 9) How could this be challenging for humans to develop cities in the ancient

world?

Part 2: Climate

Part 3: Resources / Economics

Use the maps on the following slides to answer the questions.

6) Look at Africa’s mineral resources on the next map. Would you describe Africa as a resource-rich or resource-poor continent? Why or why not?

7) Name three mineral resources that can be found in Africa.

Armed Conflict in Africa

Compare Africa’s mineral resources to a map of armed conflicts (fighting) between 1997 and 2011.

8) Are there areas that have a lot of resources AND a lot of fighting? Name at least two countries that meet this description.

9) What can we infer is happening in these regions to possibly cause the armed conflicts?

(Why would mineral resources and violence be related?)

Quick Write - 4 Sentences!

10.) Many people have a lot of misconceptions (beliefs that are wrong) about Africa. Were any of your perceptions about Africa incorrect? Give three specific examples of new things you learned.

If nothing was new, give three specific examples from this Map Quest that supported what you already knew about Africa.