Hello, my name is Ms. Chorekdjian.

I'm so excited to be learning with you today.

I will be helping you with your geography lesson.

We are going to have a great time learning together today.

Let's get started.

Welcome to today's lesson from our unit called "Around the world in 80 Days: what have we learned about our world?" Today's lesson is called Natural Resources and Sustainability: focus on Africa.

Your learning outcome will be to list some of Africa's natural resources and describe some of the consequences of mining cobalt.

Some of this learning is brand new, but I'm here to help you.

This links back to previous learning you might have done about how geography helps us to understand the world and how it works using geographical knowledge, skills, and data to investigate different places.

You might have also been reflecting on and discussing the landscapes environment and physical features of North and South America.

You'll have also applied your knowledge and skills to explain some of the geographical differences between Asia and Antarctica.

And you might have also describe some tourist destinations in Oceania and thought about positive and negative consequences of tourism.

Here are the key words that we will be using together today.

Let's practise saying them using my turn, your turn.

Natural resources.

Natural resources.

Minerals.

Minerals.

Non-renewable.

Non-renewable.

Renewable.

Renewable.

Economy.

Economy.

Let's find out what these key words mean.

Natural resources.

Natural resources are those that come from earth without human influence and can be used for human needs.

Minerals.

Minerals are chemical substances that are formed naturally and are found in the ground or in rocks.

Non-renewable.

Non-Renewable means something that cannot be replaced and will eventually run out.

Renewable.

Renewable means that something can be reused and will not be used up or run out.

Economy.

The economy is the way money in a particular area is made and spent.

Well done everyone.

I want you to be using these keywords throughout our lesson.

Here are the learning cycles that we will work through together.

First, we're going to think about what we know about Africa and then we're going to think about what natural resources Africa has and finally, we're going to be thinking about if mining in Africa is sustainable.

I'm really excited about today.

I hope you are too.

Let's start our lesson.

In this lesson we're going to be investigating the continent of Africa.

Africa is the second largest continent by land area and population.

Africa covers about one fifth of the total land surface of our planet.

Where is Africa located? Can you spot it on this map? Pause the video and see if you can locate the continent of Africa.

How did you get on? Did you say that Africa is represented by that yellow area on the map? Good job.

Some of Africa is in the northern hemisphere and some of Africa is in the Southern hemisphere, and you can also see that the equator runs through the continent as well.

There are many different countries and territories in Africa.

Can you name any of these countries? Pause the video here and see if you can name some countries in Africa.

How did you get on? Lucas has been able to name Algeria as the biggest country in Africa by land area.

Other countries that are in Africa, which you might have said include Nigeria, Kenya, Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Ghana, Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Africa.

You might have also said some other countries which I haven't listed as well.

Good job everyone.

Well done if you were able to name some countries in Africa.

You can give ourselves a big thumbs up.

Africa is a geographically diverse continent with a range of climates, landscapes, and biomes.

Here you can see some photos of some places in Africa.

You can see just how diverse the climates, landscapes and biomes are here.

You can take a minute to explore these photos.

We'll be talking about some of these places later on.

Let's have a quick check here.

What approximate percentage of earth's total land surface is covered by Africa? Remember that we said it was about one fifth.

That was the fraction.

Pause the video here and complete the check.

Did you say D, 20%? That's correct.

So about one fifth or 20% of earth's total land surface is covered by the continent of Africa.

Well done if you've got that right.

You can give yourselves another big thumbs up.

It's time for another check here.

Which of these countries are in Africa? Choose two options.

A, Angola, B, Iraq, C, Greece, or D, Morocco.

Pause the video here and complete this check.

How did you get on? Did you say A, Angola and D, Morocco? That's correct.

Well done if you got those right, you can give yourselves another big thumbs up.

It's now time for task A.

What I would like you to do is to think about these questions.

What else do you know about this continent? Where does your knowledge come from? Share your ideas with someone else.

Pause the video now and complete task A.

How did you get on with task A? Here are some ideas.

I know that the Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa.

I know that the Sahara in Northern Africa is the largest hot desert on the planet.

I know that the Nile flows through Africa and is the longest river in the world.

We also learned about ancient Egypt in year three.

I know that Abuja is the capital of Nigeria.

My grandparents lived there.

Well done if you were also able to share your knowledge about what you know about Africa.

Good job, everyone.

You can give yourselves a big thumbs up.

Now we're going to think about what natural resources Africa has.

Africa has many different types of natural resources.

I'm going to show you some photos of some things here that I'd like you to think about.

What are these natural resources? Pause the video here and see if you can name some.

Did you say things like gas, minerals, solar energy, cocoa, wood and timber, and fish? Can you name any other examples of natural resources? Pause the video and see if you can.

Good job, everyone.

Well done if you were able to discuss that.

We are going to be talking more about natural resources that Africa has throughout the rest of the lesson.

Africa is rich in non-renewable fuel resources for providing energy such as oil, gas, and coal.

There's a picture of natural gas, oil, and coal.

These are non-renewable fuel resources and they're used for providing energy.

What are the problems of using these types of natural resources? Pause the video and answer this question.

Did you say that some problems include them being non-renewable, so once they're used up and they're gone, that means that they're gone? Another reason you could have said is that extracting these non-renewable fuel resources means that a lot of energy goes into taking them out and also using them and burning them produces a lot of pollution, which can contribute to climate change.

Many mineral resources are mined and extracted in Africa.

These include gold, copper, iron, lithium, diamonds, and cobalt.

Mobile phones and most of the electronic items we use today have parts made from different types of minerals.

Renewable energy is a growing industry in Africa.

Examples of renewable energy sources in Africa are hydroelectric power, solar power, and wind power.

So there you can see examples of hydroelectric power, solar power and wind power.

One of the world's largest solar farms is in Morocco.

Let's have a quick check here.

Which of the following are renewable sources of energy? You can choose two options, A, hydroelectric power, B, natural gas, C, oil, or D, wind power.

Pause the video here and complete this check.

How did you get on? Did you say A, hydroelectric power and D, wind power? Those are correct.

Both of them are examples of renewable sources of energy.

You can give yourselves a big thumbs up for getting that right.

Agriculture is a very important industry in Africa.

Crops grown here are exported and sold to countries across the world.

Crops like cocoa, tomatoes, and coffee.

Many of Africa's farmers are small scale farmers who grow small amounts of crops to feed their family or sell locally.

Africa's forests are another important natural resource.

Wood is exported to countries across the world for making all sorts of things.

The Congo Basin Rainforest in Central Africa is the second largest in the world.

What is wood used for? Pause the video and answer that question.

How did you get on? Did you say that? Wood is used for building materials to build houses, shops, and restaurants? It's also used to build furniture like chairs and tables and it's also used to make things like paper.

There are many uses for wood and I'm sure you were able to say lots.

Well done everyone.

Many people in Africa work in the fishing industry.

Most of the fish caught in the sea are exported, but most of the fish from inland lakes and rivers are consumed in Africa.

Africa's home to the world's longest river and one of its largest lakes.

The longest river is called the Nile and you can see it located there and then Lake Victoria is one of the world's largest lakes.

It's time for another quick check.

Give an example of one of Africa's natural resources.

Pause a video here and complete this check.

How did you get on? Were you able to say natural gas, minerals for making electrical items such as mobile phones, solar energy, agriculture, growing things like cocoa, growing wood, and then fishing as an industry? Well done if you are able to say one of these things.

Good job.

You can give yourselves a big thumbs up.

It's now time for task B.

What I would like you to do for each natural resource in the table is to find an example of an African country where it is an important industry.

You can use different sources of information to carry out your research.

You can use things like atlases, the internet, books and then talking to other people.

Then I would like you to mark the location of each country on the continent map.

And finally, I'd like you to insert your own example of a natural resource and African country in the blank row.

Here is the map of Africa and then here's the table that I'd like you to complete.

All the natural resources are listed there, cocoa, gold, lithium, natural gas, oil, solar power, and tomatoes.

And I'd like you to research an example of an African country where these natural resources are and then insert your own one in the row below.

Pause the video now and complete task B.

How did you get on? Here's an example of a completed table.

Cocoa is grown in Sierra Leone.

Gold is found in South Africa.

Lithium, Zimbabwe.

Natural gas in Mozambique.

Oil in Libya, solar power in Morocco, tomatoes in Tunisia, and then the final column, I've looked at flowers as a natural resource and the example of an African country where that resource is found is Kenya.

Well done.

If you were able to complete this table in a similar way to what I did.

You can give yourselves a big thumbs up.

Here's an example of a completed map.

There's Morocco, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, Libya, Kenya, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.

Well done.

If you were able to locate all of those countries on your map of Africa.

You can give yourselves a big thumbs up.

It's now time to move on to the final part of our lesson for today.

We are going to think about if mining in Africa is sustainable.

What does sustainable mean? Pause the video here and talk to a partner.

Did you say things like if something is sustainable, it means that it can continue for a long period of time? Sustainability means meeting the needs of people both now and in the future, and being sustainable is about doing things that will cause as little harm as possible to the environment and all living things.

Finally, living sustainably is very important to tackle climate change and look after our planet.

Well done if you were able to say something similar to discuss what sustainability means.

Many of Africa's natural resources are not being extracted, collected, or used sustainably.

Can you think of any examples? Is this an issue just in Africa or across the world? Pause the video here and answer these questions.

Well done for that discussion.

I'm sure you talked there about natural resources running out, processes used to collect them, adding more pollution into the environment, and then cutting down trees without planting many back, or fishing can result in overfishing.

You could have said some other things as well.

Good job everyone.

It's time for a quick check here.

Which of the following statements could be used to describe what being sustainable means? Choose two.

A, using resources in a way that could continue for a long time.

B, making sure that everyone has everything they want.

C, meeting the needs of people now and in the future.

Or D, using up resources as quickly as possible.

Pause the video here and complete this check.

How did you get on? Did you say that Using resources in a way that could continue for a long time and meeting the needs of people now and in the future are two statements that can be used to describe what being sustainable means? Good job, everyone.

Well done, you can give yourselves a big thumbs up.

Mineral resources are non-renewable.

Many of these resources are being used at a faster and faster rate and will eventually run out.

Many mineral resources are found in the electronic devices lots of people use every day.

Things like laptops and mobile phones.

More than 5 billion mobile phones became electronic waste in 2022.

That is a lot of waste, especially if those resources used to make them are non-renewable mineral resources are also very important in many of the technologies the world needs to help tackle climate change.

Batteries for electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels are just a few examples.

There you can see an electric vehicle being charged.

Here you can see some solar panels and some wind turbines.

It's time for a true or false check, so that means you've got to think really carefully about whether or not this statement is true or false.

The world's demand for mineral resources is decreasing.

Is that true or false? Pause the video now.

Did you say false? That's correct.

It is in fact, increasing.

Let's think about justifying our answer.

Minerals have a wide range of uses and the world's demand for these resources is increasing.

Minerals have a few very important uses and the world's demand for these resources is increasing.

Pause the video here and justify your answer.

How did you get on? Did you say A? That's correct.

The world's demand for mineral resources is increasing.

That's because minerals have a wide range of uses.

Good job, everyone.

You can give yourselves a big thumbs up.

The economies of many countries in Africa are growing rapidly.

This is partly due to the mining and extraction of natural resources.

This is Kinsasha, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country in central Africa.

It is one of the fastest growing cities in the world by population.

Cobalt is a metal that is used in many electronic devices and batteries.

More than 70% of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

There you can see it located on the map.

The cobalt mining industry is very important to the economy of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It's time for another quick check.

Which African country is the source of more than 70% of the world's cobalt? A, Botswana, B, democratic Republic of Congo, C, Mali, or D, Tanzania.

Pause the video now and complete this check.

How did you get on? Did you say B, Democratic Republic of Congo? That's correct.

That's where we can source more than 70% of the world's cobalt.

Good job, everyone.

You can give yourselves a big thumbs up.

The cobalt mining industry provides jobs for many people in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mines can also bring other benefits to a local area, for example, by improving road networks or building new schools and hospitals.

However, the mining of cobalt and other minerals has negative environmental impacts.

Waste produced by cobalt mining often causes air, water, and land pollution.

This is harmful for people and all living things.

Mining is also a cause of deforestation.

The creation of mines requires a large area of land.

When land is cleared for a mine, the landscape can be damaged and habitat is lost for animals and other living things.

They can see an area that's being cleared for mining, so lots of deforestation there, lots of cutting down trees.

Many people have been forced to leave their homes because the land was needed for mining.

So where would all of those people go? Cobalt mining brings money into the Democratic Republic of Congo, but not all of the people living there benefit from this wealth.

Miners often work long hours in dangerous conditions.

Many of these miners are children.

Why might children have to work? Pause the video here and answer this question.

You could have said things like families are so poor that they rely on everyone in the household working and that includes children.

You could have also said that mines might be quite small and they need smaller people and children to go inside them.

And you could have also said that children might not go to school if the costs of it are so expensive, so they would go out and work and provide for their family as well.

Good job everyone for answering that question.

Some companies are better than others at making sure the people working in cobalt mines are treated fairly.

For example, this might be by making sure that people are paid fairly, have regular breaks, and have the equipment they need to do their jobs safely.

It's time for a true or false check.

So think carefully about if this statement is true or false.

All of the impacts of the cobalt's mining industry in the Democratic Republic of Congo are positive.

Pause the video now and answer that check.

Is it true or false? Did you say false? That's correct.

Some of the impacts are positive, but there are also some negative impacts of cobalt mining.

Let's think about justifying our answer.

All of the impacts of the cobalt mining industry in the Democratic Republic of Congo are negative.

Although the cobalt's mining industry has some positive impacts, it also has many negative consequences.

Pause the video here and justify your answer.

How did you get on? Did you say that although the cobalt's mining industry has some positive impacts, it also has many negative consequences? Well done if you've got that right, you can give yourselves a big thumbs up.

It's now time for task C.

What I would like you to do is to write a letter to the chief executive of a large company that makes electronic devices which use cobalt.

Explain to them how cobalt is being used and mined unsustainably.

Ask them what they are doing about this issue and try to persuade them to take more action.

Perhaps you can go online to find some facts to use in your letter.

Pause the video now and complete task C.

How did you get on with task C? Here's an example of a completed letter.

So I've written my address along the side.

And I've said, "Dear Mrs. Smith, I've been learning about the mining of cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo at school.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is a large country in Central Africa.

More than 70% of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This mineral is used in a wide range of different items, including the electronic items manufactured by your company.

I have been finding out about some of the problems caused by the mining and use of cobalt.

Waste produced by cobalt mining often causes air, water, and land pollution.

Mining is also a major cause of deforestation.

Clearing land for mining means that habitats are lost.

Hundreds of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo have also been forced to leave their homes because of mining activities.

A lot of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo work in the cobalt mining industry.

Miners often have to work long hours in dangerous conditions.

Many of these miners are children, some of them are my age.

I would like to know what you are doing to take action on this issue.

This might be by working with others to reduce the environmental impacts of cobalt mining or improve the working condition for miners.

Another way companies can take action is by making it easier for electronic devices to be repaired and recycled.

Thank you for your time.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Your sincerely, Laura." Well done if you were able to write a letter that was just as persuasive and full of all of those facts and information as mine was.

You've worked really hard today, listing some of Africa's natural resources and describing some of the consequences of mining cobalt.

We've now come to the end of our lesson.

So let's go through a quick summary of all of our learning together.

There are a range of landscapes, climates, and biomes in Africa.

Africa has a range of natural resources that are exported around the world.

The mining and collection of Africa's natural resources is not always sustainable and ethical.

Well done, geographers, you've been fantastic today.

Thank you for joining me for today's lesson.

I'll see you next time for more geography lessons.

Bye.