Africa (Dodson, Lawrence, McMurray, Simpson 8th Grade): Mr. Dodson's Assignment

Mr. Dodson

8^th Cultural Geography

Unit Four - Africa Project

You will complete a report on the country you have chosen.  Be careful to follow all directions!  Your report should be typed (double space).  Your report should have the number of pages indicated below and should be in the order indicated below.  Do not put your report into a folder; simply staple the top, left corner.  The report will be due in class on Wednesday March 11th.  This will be a major project grade. 

   I. Title Page - Include the following information: your name, your country’s name, a graphic or drawing that represents your country (something other than a map or flag!)

  II. Map - Trace or draw (do NOT simply print a copy) a map of your country.  Indicate the capital with a STAR, and indicate the most populous city with a CIRCLE (if they are the same, circle the star).  Include important landforms or bodies of water and label them appropriately.  Also indicate which countries border your country.  You may hand-write the labels on your map.

 III. Flag - Trace or draw your country’s flag (do NOT simply print a copy) AND write a brief paragraph explaining the significance of the symbols and colors on the flag.

  IV. Overview - LIST the following statistical information: population, land area, population density, population growth rate, life expectancy, major ethnic groups (and percentage of population), major religions (names of religions and percentages of population practicing each), prominent languages, literacy rate (overall and by gender), type of government (democracy or authoritarian – include rating from www.freedomhouse.org), and per capita GDP.  In a brief but well-written PARAGRAPH, comment on the picture of the country that emerges from this statistical information.  What conclusions can you draw based on this information?

   V. History - Using complete sentences, write a summary of your country’s history. Be sure to mention pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial elements of your nation’s history. Maximum one page in length.

  VI. Major Person/Special Issue - Using complete sentences, write a half page summary of ANY special issue relating to your country OR a biographical overview of some major figure in your country’s history. Be sure to explain why your issue or individual is crucial to your country’s history. 

 VII. Advertisement - You have been hired by a travel agency to either encourage or discourage prospective tourists regarding their choice of your country as their destination.  In a well-written, persuasive paragraph assure them that they have made a wise choice or try to convince them to change their destination.  Remember that the EVIDENCE you use to support your argument is more important than the side you choose.

VIII. Sources - List the sources you used to compile your report.  There are no limits on the number or types of sources you may use (except NO Wikipedia), but you must cite them all and cite them in a manner that would allow me to find them.

  IX. Oral Presentation - The day the reports are due, be prepared to share an interesting and relevant piece of information that you learned while researching your country.  This should take between thirty seconds and one minute, but you should certainly put some thought into what you will share.  AVOID repeating information that we have already covered in class or simply reading from your statistical overview.

HELPFUL RESOURCES (though not all the resources you need!):

http://www.freedomhouse.org

http://www.countrywatch.com

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/

CultureGrams (see link through MBA Library Libguide)

Countries, Peoples, and Cultures – Salem Press, available in print and ebook format

Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Culture (in reference section)

Lands and Peoples (in reference section)

Encyclopedia of Multiculturalism (in reference section)

‘Country’ books (in 900s section) – many available as ebooks**

NO WIKIPEDIA!!!

COUNTRIES:

Angola

Benin

Botswana

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cameroon

Central African Republic

Chad

Cote D’Ivoire

Democratic Republic of Congo

Djibouti

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Eswatini

Ethiopia

Gabon

Gambia

Ghana

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Kenya

Lesotho

Liberia

Madagascar

Malawi

Mali

Mauritania

Mozambique

Namibia

Niger

Nigeria

Republic of the Congo

Rwanda

Senegal

Sierra Leone

Somalia

South Africa

South Sudan

Sudan

Tanzania

Togo

Uganda

Zambia

Zimbabwe