Jambo!
An Integrated Unit for 7th and 8th grade
Created by the Safari Hunters: Ashley Henry, Dorinda Krause, Jesse Schelling, Jeff VanderMolen, and Amber Vander Veen
East Africa is a land of wondrous beauty and diverse culture. This learning center supports our unit on East Africa as it focuses on the four major countries in East Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda. There are some books and articles looking at these specific countries that help to get the kids involved even more as they look at pictures and read stories. This board engages students through different activities for each country, and students can travel like they are on a safari, making it more authentic and giving a feeling as if it is coming to life!
The main activity begins with students using map skills. They look at the big map of East Africa and address questions such as what land types would you have to go through in order to get from one country (ex. Kenya) to another (ex. Somalia).
The first tour stop is Kenya, where students look up an article online to find endangered species and write a speech defending a species by stating why the animal should be protected. This gives them a sense of the diversity in animals and also helps them see how some species will not survive if humans do not intervene.
The second tour stop is Ethiopia, where students study the flag of Ethiopia, search for symbolism in it and how the flag represents that specific country, and then create their own flag that represents themselves by putting both symbols and colors to help symbolize them.
The third tour stop is Somalia, where students learn that poetry is a key part for the people of Somalia. They then visit a site online for some examples of Somali poetry and then they create their own poem or song describing what makes Somalia either interesting or different from where they currently live.
The final tour stop is Uganda, where students learn about how to travel in Uganda, the many tourist attractions along the way and where those attractions are located, and how much it would cost. After some research, students address questions such as what to pack for such journeys, what would the weather be like, and what would be helpful when stopping at an attraction.
