African Countries Project

Name ______Period_____

In small groups of 2-3 people, you will be working on getting information on a country in Africa. You will be responsible for gathering information on the country that you choose and then doing a presentation on it. Each group must do a different country so country choice will be on a first come first serve basis. Each group will be given a folder to keep all of their work in. At the end of the project, you will turn in the entire folder to be graded. There are a few countries you cannot research. Those countries are Ghana, South Africa, Algeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.

In the chart below, you will see what you will be responsible for covering when you are researching.

Criteria Possible Points Map of the Country 4 Flag of the Country 3 Capital 2 Nationality 2 Population(Broken down into different age categories) 5 Currency 2 Life Expectancy (Male and Female) 2 Religion 3 Languages 3 Tribes, ethnic groups and cultures 5 Environment, climate zones, terrain 3 Land area 2 Land forms, nearby islands, elevations 2 Geographic features 2 Waterways 2 Major cities, provinces, tribal boundaries (population) 5 Resources 5 Imports and Exports 2 GDP (gross domestic product) or GNP (Gross National Product) 2 Plant Life 2 Animal Life 2 In what part of Africa is the country located? 2 Form of government- Explained 3 Was the country ever colonized? By whom? 10 When did it gain independence? Famous presidents, rulers, leaders, kings or dictators 5 The country’s history, wars, former political names 10 AIDS/HIV rates and information 5 Other interesting facts 5 Total Points if all requirements are met 100 You must show your research and put it onto the notes sheets that are provided. While all of the information that you find will not fit into the note sheet, it will at least give you a place to put some of your work.

After researching, you will also be responsible for presenting your research to the class. There are several options that you can use but you have to have to have at least one. Remember, it is your responsibility to make sure you provide all of your research to you classmates and myself in a fun/appropriate manner.

Visual Product Examples that you can use:

 Tourist Scrapbook- This scrapbook would be used to display artifacts and “souvenirs” from the country that you researched. Different items you could include would be currency, a letter or postcard, ticket stubs, brochures, maps, photos, etc… This is something that is a good project for the craftier student and will require some time to put together correctly. This will be used as your visual aid while you discuss other major points about your country.

 Movie Trailer- You will be given the opportunity to create a movie trailer that showcases all of the major points of your “Africa Movie”. After the movie preview, it will be your job to finish the presentation and make sure that all major points of your research are covered.

 Prezi/Power Point Presentation- The Prezi or Power Point Presentation will touch on every major point that you need to make. The presentation should contain facts and pictures regarding the country that you covered. You could also include videos or anything that helps make your presentation whole. It is also important to remember that the presentation should be used as a guide. You do not want to read straight from the presentation.

 History/Story Book- This is definitely going to take the most time but will produce the most “complete” product. In your book you will cover everything that you researched. All of the material will be written in paragraph format and should have headlines. You will also need to include pictures and should have a table of contents so a reader would know where to look in order to find something.

 Online Social Media Page- This is going to take some time to make but will be very rewarding. You will be able to go online and create a “social media page.” You will be able to upload pictures, videos and other documents to complete your page.

There will be tutorials for all of the presentation possibilities. Please consider your options carefully. Webpage or Web Document It is necessary to list your date of access because web postings are often updated, and information available on one date may no longer be available later. If a URL is required or you chose to include one, be sure to include the complete address for the site. (Note: The following examples do not include a URL because MLA no longer requires a URL to be included.) For an individual page on a Web site, list the author or alias if known, followed by the information covered above for entire Web sites. Remember to use n.p. if no publisher name is available and n.d. if no publishing date is given. "How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow. Demand Media, Inc., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2009.

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Author last name: ______Author first name: ______. (Include additional authors below)

Title of Article: “______.”

Title of website: ______.

Name of organization/ institution: ______.

Date Published (or last updated): ______. Web. Date Found (today’s date): ______.

URL (web address WITH http…): ______. ------

You will want to document where you have researched. Please fill out the note sheet above to help ensure you are completing work properly. You should keep this in your folder that will remain at school. Please use the sheet below to help you along the way while researching. You should write important facts/details down on here so you do not lose them. These note sheets should go into your folders so they are not lost.

Map of the Country

Flag of the Country

Capital

Nationality

Population(Broken down into different age categories)

Currency

Life Expectancy (Male and Female)

Religion

Languages

Tribes, ethnic groups and cultures

Environment, climate zones, terrain Land area

Land forms, nearby islands, elevations

Geographic features

Waterways

Major cities, provinces, tribal boundaries (population)

Resources

Imports and Exports

GDP (gross domestic product) or GNP (Gross National Product) Plant Life

Animal Life

In what part of Africa is the country located?

Form of government- Explained

Was the country ever colonized? By whom? When did it gain independence? Famous presidents, rulers, leaders, kings or dictators

The country’s history, wars, former political names

AIDS/HIV rates and information

Other interesting facts