Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Life in Ancient Ghana, Mali, and Songhai

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Learners study the ancient African kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. They brainstorm what they know about ancient African kingdoms before investigating the trade and barter situations, and researching one of the kingdoms for an oral...
PPT
Curated OER

Culture and Kingdoms of West Africa

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Africa was home to many great ancient civilizations, this presentation covers aspect of 4 of them. Middle schoolers explore aspects of civilizations from Nubia, Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. Topics covered are achievements, culture, great...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Trekking to Timbuktu: Trade in Ancient West Africa

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers research how trade in Timbuktu was affected by geography. Students conduct online research to determine the major trade routes, main products of trade, plus how and why trade spread across Africa.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Ancient Civilization of Mali

For Teachers Pre-K - 6th
Learners explore the ancient civilization of Mali and examine various historical and cultural aspects of the civilization. In this ancient civilization of Mali instructional activity, students examine trade with respect to geographic...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Trekking to Timbuktu: Trade in West Africa (Lesson 2)

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine the importance of trade in West Africa. Using a virtual time capsule, they travel back to ancient times and travel along with a caravan. They answer specific questions related to the journey and items they are trading....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Some Ways to Integrate Trade, the "Missing Link" into Ancient History

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders examine the importance of trade in the Mediterranean Sea. In groups, they create a chart of the items that were most popular in the late Bronze Age and where they originated. To end the instructional activity, they read...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Africa Test Study Guide

For Students 6th - 8th
In this Africa study guide learning exercise, students respond to 27 short answer questions about the geography and history of the continent.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

World History People Review

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Who's who in World History? Help your historians keep track of major figures with this World History People Review, where students match 96 world figures to the appropriate descriptions. The matching questions are grouped by historical...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Empires of Early Africa

For Teachers 9th
Ninth graders examine the Nile's role in the birth and growth of Egyptian civilization.  In this World History lesson, 9th graders explore how archaeologists have learned about life in Ancient cities.  Students present a report...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Modern Mercenary and the Decolonization of Africa: Ten Plus Ten Questions

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the role of the mercenary in the decolonization of Africa by answering the following questions: (1) Who and what is the modern mercenary; pro and con?, (2) What are some of the factors or elements which acclimatized the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cyberspace Safari

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers go on an information gathering hunt on the Internet to study West African empires. They work in teams; meteorologists, bankers, writers, and archaeologists. They collect data on all sorts of topics related to West...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Trekking to Timbuktu: The Geography of Mali -Teacher Version

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate the geography of Mali. They locate Mali on a satellite map, explore various websites, describe the landscape and climate, label a map, and write an essay about the Niger Riger.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Great Lighthouse at Alexandria

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students read and research about Alexandria's Great Lighthouse. In this Greek architecture lesson, students create a timeline of events in Alexandria, and design a lighthouse. Students research lighthouses online and write a report.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Medieval African Kingdoms

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders examine the geography and political history of West Africa. They role-play as applicants to a company that transports customers to any historic time period. Working in teams, they create promotional products encouraging...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Medieval Travelers

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders explore the impact of trade on culture. In this trade lesson plan, 10th graders compare the travels of Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta. Students research the explorers and create materials for a gallery walk that feature the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

In Celebration of the Silk Road

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders explore the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road with a focus on a province in China to identify artifacts and research how these items arrived in the city of Turpan.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Middle Passage: a Journey of Endurance

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Students determine that thriving African cultures engaged in international trade and exploration before the emergence of European civilization. The study ancient Ghana, its geographic locale, the diversity therein to include its people,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Do You Really Know What Wealth Is?

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine what it means to have wealth-a concept that turns out to be philosophical as well as economic-and examine the importance of music. They examine the concepts of wealth in Mali and in the United States and consider the...
Unit Plan
Curated OER

Traveling the Silk Road: A Multimedia Approach

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students transfer what they have learned about China into an electronic project. In this collaborative project, students take what they have learned from their textbooks and synthesize the information in order to create an electronic...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Immigration and American Life on African-Americans

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students examine how human migration started in Africa, and draw maps of Africa and place the names of the countries and capitals on the maps. They write essays on how Africans came to America.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Trekking to Timbuktu: The Geography of Mali - Student Version

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders locate Mali on a world map, describe the landscape and climate of Mali, and locate the city of Timbuktu and describe the local weather. They compare life along the Niger in ancient times to that of today
Worksheet
Curated OER

The Phoenicians

For Students 6th - 9th
In this Phoenicians activity, students read a 4-page selection about Phoenician culture and then respond to 2 short answer questions based on the selection.
Worksheet
Curated OER

The Persian Empire

For Students 5th - 6th
In this the Persian empire worksheet, students read a two page passage about Persia, then answer 5 multiple choice and 7 short answer questions requiring research about the topic.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Effective, Evocative Writing as a Model

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students study an author's style to strengthen their own writing. They read an author's account of the resiliency of the Malian people and about their culture. They examine her focus on Malian women.