AFRICAN STARTING LINEUP
Your basketball team is traveling to the northeastern part of Africa to play a game near the pyramids.
What country are you visiting?
Egypt
Your team is climbing one of Africa's most famous and tallest mountains.
What mountain are you climbing?
Mount Kilimanjaro
Your team is playing in the largest hot desert in the world.
What region are you in?
Sahara
Your team is standing near the lake connected to the beginning of the Nile River system you studied.
What lake is it?
Lake Victoria
Your team wants to build a city, but the area receives very little rainfall and has very little available water.
What geographic factor could make settlement difficult?
Climate / lack of water
Your soccer team is traveling to the southernmost tip of Africa for an away game.
What country are you visiting?
South Africa
Your basketball team is practicing near a huge lake in East Africa that is connected to the beginning of the Nile River system you studied.
What lake is it?
Lake Victioria
Your team leaves the Sahara and enters a semi-arid transition zone between the desert and grasslands.
What region are you entering?
Sahel
Your team follows the Nile north through Uganda.
Eventually, the river reaches another African country before flowing into the Mediterranean Sea.
What country is this?
Egypt
Your team wants to build a farm near a major river.
What important resource does the river provide that can help agriculture?
water
Your team is traveling to East Africa and wants to visit a country that borders Lake Victoria.
Name ONE country you have studied that borders Lake Victoria.
Kenya or Uganda
Your team is traveling through Central Africa and follows a major river through the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
What river are you following?
Congo River
Your team is playing on large grasslands with seasonal rainfall and scattered trees.
What region are you in?
Savanna
Your team is playing along the Nile River.
Why is the Nile important to the people living near it?
It provides water for drinking, agriculture/irrigation, transportation, and other human activities.
Your team is playing in the tropical rainforest.
The environment is hot, wet, and has dense vegetation.
Give ONE way this environment could affect human activities.
Possible answers:
Your team is traveling through Central Africa and enters a country known for the Congo River and tropical rainforest.
What country are you in?
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Your soccer team is traveling through East Africa and encounters a massive geographic feature made up of valleys, lakes, mountains, and areas of volcanic activity that was created by the movement of tectonic plates.
What physical feature are you looking at?
Great Rift Valley
Your team travels toward the Equator and enters an area with heavy rainfall, warm temperatures, and dense vegetation.
What region are you entering?
Tropical Rainforest
Your team is participating in a water-sharing championship.
People in different countries depend on the same river system.
Why could this create water-distribution problems?
Different countries and communities depend on the same water supply, so access to water may not be equal and groups may compete for available water.
Your team must choose between building a city in the Sahara Desert or near the Nile River.
Which location would likely support a larger population? Explain why.
Near the Nile River because it provides water and supports agriculture, transportation, and other economic activities.
Your team is following the Nile River north from East Africa. You enter the country located between Uganda and Egypt.
What country are you in?
Sudan
Your team is scouting locations for a new stadium in East Africa.
One possible location is near the Great Rift Valley.
Explain TWO ways the physical geography of the Great Rift Valley could affect where people live or how they make a living.
Possible answers:
Your team travels into southern Africa and encounters a very dry region.
Your coach says:
"This desert is in southern Africa, while the Sahara is in northern Africa."
What desert are you in?
Kalahari Desert
Your team is studying the Nile River.
As the river travels downstream, people use it for:
Pollution enters the river upstream.
Explain why people farther downstream could also be affected by this pollution.
Rivers flow downstream, so pollutants can travel with the water. As the river passes through more communities and areas of human activity, additional pollution can enter the river and affect people and ecosystems farther downstream.
Your coach says:
"Africa's geography affects where people live and how they use their environment."
Using TWO examples from the geography you studied, explain why your coach is correct.
Answers will vary, but students must explain the relationship between the geographic feature/region and human activity, population, or the environment.