Please download the complete lesson plan for the worksheets, resources and rubrics. Below is an overview of the lesson plan.

Lesson Objectives

Using the countries that will be visited throughout the expedition, students will familiarize themselves with a part of the developing world and recognize that there are substantial differences in the quality of life even between countries within the same HDI (Human Development Index) category.

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

interpret the data lines provided for any country on the map;
list and locate the African countries that will be visited during the Expedition Africa trip use the map to provide specific information regarding each of these countries; and
Understand that even within a specific HDI category, many differences exist between countries.

Requirements

Resources, Materials and Equipment

globe, print map of the world – view Online Resources for suggestions
Student Activity Sheet #1 (provided)
Student Activity Sheet #2 (provided)
overhead projector
access to library and/or Internet, if the extension activities are attempted

Instructional Plan - Introduction

Teacher Activities

Review the names and locations of the world continents, using a wall map of the world and a globe for orientation.

Guided discussion: What do you think the main differences are between the North American and African continents? What do you think the climate is like? …the land? …the culture? …the standard of living?
Explore student impressions and knowledge of African countries in general.
Record student ideas as a list on the board.

Student Activities

Students answer questions as asked and participate as required.
Students share their viewpoints of Africa in general with the class.

Lesson Development - Teacher Activities

Introduce the terms “industrialized” and “Third World” countries.
Introduce the term "Global South" to describe "Third World" countries.
Review the terms “developing world,” “developed countries,” and “developing countries.”
Ask students to guess where Canada belongs, within those categories, and then ask the same of African countries. Have students justify their answers.
Introduce the CG–CIDA map to the class. This may be new to some. Explain that each of the three colours corresponds to a high, medium or low HDI, and that these categories depend on several factors (a country’s achievements in longevity, knowledge and standard of living). More detail is found in the legend of the map itself.
Allow students time to look at the map in general and to ask questions.
Ask students to determine which categories are represented within the African countries.
Allow students to look closely at the map, or at a globe, or at other maps of Africa so they can see the names of the individual countries.
Have students pronounce some of the country names.
For practice and later comparison, go through each of the data lines for Canada, discussing the meaning of each. Show students how to calculate population density, given both population and land area values.
Explain that if all Canadians were spread out evenly over the land, there would only be 3.1 persons per square kilometer!
Pay particular attention to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) line, carefully explaining how it is determined and what it represents. A description is given in the map legend.
Encourage student questions.
Explain to students that they will look at the Expedition Africa countries, all with a low HDI, and compare each to one another.
Hand out Student Activity Sheet #1 to each student and allow as much time as required for students to complete the table.
As students work on completing the table, copy down the Canadian data lines from the map on the board.
After students finish their work, project an acetate of the blank table, and take up the Student Activity Sheet, allowing for discussion along the way. For comparison, refer back to the Canadian statistics frequently.
Hand out Student Activity Sheet #2 to each student and ask that they complete all the questions in Part A only.
Take up the answers orally.
Assign Part B for homework.

Student Activities

Students offer definitions for each, with examples.
Students answer questions as asked and participate as required.
Students ask questions to clarify concepts.
Students should be able to determine that only the medium and low index categories are found within the African continent.
Students state the names of as many of the countries as possible, aloud.
Students answer questions as asked and participate as required.
Students try to imagine this degree of population density. Allow time for the concept to “sink in.”
This will be difficult for students to understand. They will understand the concept if a comparison is drawn between the cost of living in Nunavut compared to Yellowknife and then southern Canada.
Students work in groups, or alone if preferred, yet all answer their Student Activity Sheet independently.
Students share the answers to their student activity sheets with the class, and participate as required.
Students work independently this time, answering the questions to Part A on the Student Activity Sheet.
Students share the answers to their worksheet with the class.

Conclusion

Teacher Activities

Guided discussion: How different are the African nations compared to Canada, with respect to the data studied? Are there any differences between the African countries studied even though all have a low HDI? How close were we at the start of the lesson when we talked about the differences between North America and Africa?
If time permits, allow students to start on the homework assignment.

Lesson Extension

Have students present their ideas explaining the differences between the countries chosen in Part B of the second worksheet to their classmates. Students may want to conduct a deeper study of the politics of the countries concerned.
Students could continue with an exploration of the sections near the bottom of the map (Population, Education, Poverty and Hunger, Environment, Health, and HIV/AIDS), comparing Sub-Saharan Africa with other parts of the world.
Have students research how Canada as a nation is trying to help African countries develop a better quality of living. Students can be directed to the Canadians Making a Difference in the World section of the map to begin their research.
Have students follow their selected countries during the Expedition Africa trip, what information can they add to their research based on the expedition's broadcasts?

***Download the complete lesson plan for the following:

Student Activity Sheet #1 – The Developing World: The Expedition Africa Nations
Student Activity Sheet #2 – The Developing World: The Expedition Africa Nations
Part A and Part B

Please download the complete lesson plan for all activities, worksheets and detailed information of the lesson plan.

This is an overview of the lesson plan.