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Off to Africa! Build problem-solving skills as you take your students on an African math adventure!

Instructor, May-June, 2005 by Jodi Simpson

As summer draws near, invite your students to get ready to take a fantastic journey across the world to Africa--a land of wonder, beauty, and mathematical challenges!

Before students set off on their imaginary trip, show them a large map of the African continent and invite them to share what they know. Fire their imaginations by sharing that Africa is home to the world's largest desert, longest river, fastest mammal, and thickest tree. Point out the vast Sahara, the location of the pyramids in Egypt, Mount Kilimanjaro, the southern tip of the continent, and the long and mighty Nile. Then remind students that Africa isn't all about wild animals and nature--there are schools, buses, and even tall buildings there, just as in America.

Next, share the Off to Africa Reproducible on page 53, and have individuals or pairs work to solve the word problems as they travel around the continent. Have students go online to find out more about Africa and its diverse peoples, animals, and terrain.

Pack Your Bags

If kids were heading off on a trip to Africa, what kinds of items would they pack? Ask small groups to brainstorm lists, which might include water, sunscreen, light clothes, walking shoes, money, and cameras. What would they need to make it across the fierce Sahara, with its scorching heat and lack of water, or down the magnificent Nile, with its thundering waterfalls? What animals would they see, and how would they find food? How would they travel, and how much weight could they carry? Encourage students to think about the essential items they would need to bring as opposed to the unnecessary ones. Have them make a list, then estimate the cost and weight of the items. Share the lists with the class and have the students vote on the 10 essential items the class would--and should--be able to bring as a group.

RELATED ARTICLE: INSTRUCTOR REPRODUCIBLE

OFF TO AFRICA!

As you journey around the continent, solve each of the word problems below. Trade your paper with a partner and have him or her check your answers.

[GRAPHIC OMITTED]

1 We will cross the Sahara Desert, where the temperature can rise to 130 degrees F. At 9:00 A.M. the temperature is 80 degrees. It rises 40 degrees by noon. What temperature will it be then?

2 As we travel south through the savannahs of Africa, we spot a cheetah dashing by. The cheetah is the fastest animal on earth. As we bump along a dirt road, driving 35 mph, the cheetah passes us doing twice that speed. How fast is she running?

3 The Carlton Centre in South Africa is the continent's tallest building. We can take an elevator to the top, which is around 223 meters high. There are 100 centimeters in a meter; how many centimeters tall is the building?

4 The mighty Nile River is 4,160 miles long! How would we write its length using words instead of digits?

5 We see the world's fattest tree, the baobab. Its trunk is 30 feet thick, or three times as wide as the American redwood's. How thick is a redwood tree?

6 We gaze at the Great Pyramid of Egypt, which is about 450 feet tall. When it was first built it was 481 feet tall with a pointed stone on top. Today this stone is gone. How many feet shorter is the pyramid now than when it was first built?

Answer Key to Reproducible

1. 120 degrees.

2. 70 miles per hour.

3. 22,300.

4. Four thousand one hundred sixty miles.

5. 10 feet.

6. 31 feet.

WEB SITES ABOUT AFRICA

* PBS: Africa for Kids

http://pbskids.org/africa

* African Map Puzzle

www.schoolnet.na/games/map/africa.html