ks3 africa topic - any ideas?

[CheerMum]

hi all, we are doing Africa as our current topic and I'd like to pick your collective brains on things to do.

We are following the BBC TV series (and book). In addition I've got some lesson plans from the Geographical Society.

I've also got a nanoblocks African Elephant and make a Djembe drum.

Any other ideas for creative things to do? Or relevant DVD's?

Thanks in advance x

[MrsShrek3]

have you checked out stuff like this? I'd be very tempted to hit the nearest museum with an African collection (on train or whatever if possible) and pick out some stuff that inspires you - whether arts, history, geography or science based. Climate topic is fascinating, did a bit a few years ago.

[MrsShrek3]

• climate topic included water vulnerability, looking at a particular area / locality, lots of stuff from oxfam available iirc

[MrsShrek3]

here
sorry about multiple posting - I'm going...

[CheerMum]

Ta very much mrs shrek, am off to mooch!

[chocolatecrispies]

Putamayo do an African Playground cd which is good for dancing. Which bit of Africa though? Studying Africa is a bit like saying you are doing Europe. You could do Egyptians, apartheid South Africa, colonialism, missionaries, old African civilizations like Great Zimbabwe, explorers like Livingstone, slavery and Liberia, modern African conflicts like Sudan, wildlife and poaching, mining and exploitation, African food - again doesn't really exist as it is so different but you might be able to make mealie meal porridge from the South or fufu from the centre. Or peanut stews from Congo and Nigeria. I would go for challenging stereotypic views of Africa if it were me, and steer away of images of famine and poverty as they are all many people see of Africa.

[Tinuviel]

There's a nice book from Currclick called Geography Through Art which has some stuff on Africa.

[maggi]

I'm with choccrisp. in that you'd need to narrow down or specify what you're looking at.
Try Google Earth to get a feel for the towns/geography.
If you have Sky, then there are plenty of African channels showing news and politics and soaps.
If this is going to be a long term project, then get a penpal in Africa.
Check out your local area for anything African - last year we went to see a group of Masai showing off thier dance/singing/crafts at a church (cost £10 each as this was a charity to support their village). We have an AfroCaribean centre in town who hold events too. There are plenty of International shops with dried fish and bags of grains and exotic fruit and veg.
Do you know anyone with African roots who can come to talk about home life in their African country?
It's a big place with ancient San peoples (tiny bush people who have very distinct genetics and live a "primitive" lifestyle) right up to the colonizers (who now tend to live in homes that look pretty much like ours, only bigger).

Hope that helps

[CheerMum]

Thanks guys, I realise it's ahuge area to cover. We're once treating on the Sudan and Ghana to show the good and the bad. Peanut stew sounds interesting, got any links to good recipe pages?