Africa

Each country in Africa has a unique history, culture, language, and other characteristics. Web sites described below explore the continent and its nations. The governments of many African countries have official tourism sites with first-hand information for students. We have included several; others may be found by doing a Web search. (ECB also provides excellent video resources on Africa for Wisconsin teachers.)

The Continent | Specific Countries | Instructional Video Series for Wisconsin Teachers

The Continent

Africa Maps comes from the Perry Castaneda Map Collection at the University of Texas. Find political and relief maps of the continent and most individual countries, as well as historical maps and maps featuring vegetation, population density, and more.

The BBC's Clickable Map of Africa gives brief facts and statistics about each country, plus music clips from some countries. You also can link to a list of features-such as profiles of African children, quizzes, photo essays-from the BBC's Africa 2005 project.

A simple Interactive Map of Africa from Owl and Mouse Educational Software shows younger students the name and capital of each African country as they move the cursor over it.

The Smithsonian Institution's African Voices exhibit offers an interactive timeline covering prehistory and ancient civilizations of the Nile Valley and present-day Mali.

Explore history and culture in depth with Wonders of the African World from PBS. It has information; photos; and audio and video clips about Kingdoms of the Nile, the Swahili Coast, the Holy Land, and more.

The Story of Africa, from the BBC World Service, explores the history, regions, and religions of the continent. Students also can listen to audio files of BBC radio programs, including "The Story of Africa," a 24-part narrative history.

A student-created site, The Living Africa features information on Africa's peoples, wildlife, land, and national parks.

Find a list of African countries at the United Nations' Country at a Glance site. Choose any country to view its flag, latitude and longitude, population, and other information.

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) offers The World Factbook, which reports on population, geography, economy, languages, and more for 268 countries.

African Country Profiles, from the BBC, includes basic facts and even an audio file with each country's national anthem.

Africa, from the PBS series Nature, has interactive maps that provide information about the ecology and people of several regions of the continent. Other Nature episodes cover additional topics; check the episode index for a complete list.

For younger students, a section of PBS's Africa for Kids presents "My World" albums, in which text and photos taken by schoolchildren explore life in four African countries.

Africa: One Continent, Many Worlds, from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, features stories from several countries, art and artifacts from the museum's collection, and outline maps. A section with classroom ideas is included.

The National Museum of African Art presents online versions of its exhibitions on contemporary African artists, African musical instruments, Kente cloth, and many other topics. Playful Performers explores how African children's use of masks builds their sense of culture and identity. The Artistry of African Currency shows many ancient forms of money. In and Out of Focus examines how early photographs from Africa perpetuated ideas and fictions about African peoples. Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity showcases the history and meaning of this special cloth. The "Create Kente" feature allows students to choose a pattern of Kente pieces and see how the whole fabric will appear when the pieces repeat.

Sheppard Software features several map-based Africa Web Games to help students learn the countries of Africa and their capitals.

The U.S. Peace Corp's WorldWise Schools has various Africa-related resources, including maps and statistics about many countries. The "Water in Africa" section is a good source for phototgraphs and stories from different countries.

The Art of the African Mask, from the University of Virginia's Bayly Art Museum, offers photographs and descriptions of different types of masks.

Ritual Messengers: African Treasures from the Tervuren Museum, Belgium, has masks, statues, figurines, carvings, and information about peoples of Central Africa.

Students can play and try out the sound of different instruments at Abadja Rhythm: Music of Ghana.

Younger students can learn about several African animals in the Africa section of the Kratt's Creatures Web site.

Wild World from the National Geographic Society is an online conservation atlas featuring maps of the earth's diverse ecoregions. Students can learn about the different ecoregions on the African continent, and some of the animals that live there.

Specific Countries

The official Botswana Tourism site includes extensive geographical information and lots of maps, a history of the country and its people, an illustrated guide to flora and fauna, and a multimedia gallery with photographs and video.

Egypt's State Information Service studies Egyptian history, politics, and culture. The site includes an interactive atlas of Egypt and many photographs.

The official government tourism site Magical Kenya looks at the country's heritage, culture and environment. Features include a timeline of Kenyan history, sections on each national park, photographs of animals, and recipes.

The Morrocan Ministry of Information gives a complete history of Morocco along with basic facts about the country and its leaders. Among other features are interactive maps with information about regions and cities in Morocco and a photo gallery that features pictures of Moroccan people, traditions, landscapes, plants, and animals, as well as sound files of Moroccan music and 30 recipes.

Welcome to South Africa is the country's official tourism site. The "Discover" section includes a complete history, a section on the people and culture of South Africa, and an interactive map.

The Uganda Tourism Board provides information and lots of photographs about the country's people and culture. The "What To Do and See" section features the country's national parks, lakes, and animals such as the gorilla.

Instructional Video Series for Wisconsin Teachers
Wisconsin teachers may tape these programs for classroom use. Click on each link to find information about the program, teacher guide and broadcast schedule from the ECB Instructional Database.

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain and Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters from Reading Rainbow (grades 1-4)

Programs on Senegal, Morocco and Tanzania from My Animal and Me (grades 2-4)

Georgina Williams of Ghana from Children of other Lands (grades 2-4)

My House on the Ivory Coast from My Beautiful House (grades 2-6)

Programs on Egypt and Ivory Coast from I Love Music! (grades 2-6)

Africa's Enduring Arts from the Multicultural Arts Series (grades 5-8)

The African Slave Trade (grades 7-12)

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