New
New
Year 7

Trade routes throughout West Africa

I can describe the geography of West Africa and the Ghana Empire.

New
New
Year 7

Trade routes throughout West Africa

I can describe the geography of West Africa and the Ghana Empire.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. West Africa is rich in gold deposits.
  2. The Sahel is an area between the Sahara Desert and the savannah.
  3. Important trade routes existed from North Africa through to the Far East.
  4. These trade routes also stretched across the Sahel.
  5. Powers like the Ghana Empire profited from these trade routes.

Common misconception

The Ghana Empire was located in the modern-day country of Ghana.

The Ghana Empire was located in the Sahel, north of the Niger River, which is nowhere near the modern-day country of Ghana.

Keywords

  • Trade - trade means the exchange of goods

  • Empire - an empire is a group of territories ruled over by one person or group of people

  • Sahel - the Sahel is a dry region bordering the southern Sahara Desert

At the start of the lesson, ask students to write down at least three questions they would like answering about African history. Refer back to this list as you progress through the unit, encouraging students to answer their own questions if they can.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
What was the main religion in the Middle East and North Africa during the Medieval period?
Christianity
Correct answer: Islam
Judaism
Hinduism
Q2.
Complete the sentence: medieval Christians called the city of Jerusalem and its surrounding area the __________ land.
desert
fabled
Correct answer: holy
right
Q3.
Which definition best describes an empire?
Correct answer: A group of countries ruled by a single person or government
A group of cities located in the same region
A city that breaks away from a country in order to rule itself
A city ruled by a country that is far away
Q4.
The religion of Islam was revealed to which of the following?
Ibrahim
Isa
Correct answer: Muhammad (PBUH)
Nuh
Q5.
Place these events into chronological order.
1 - Christianity founded
2 - Christianity spreads across Europe
3 - Islam founded
4 - The First Crusade begins
Q6.
Complete the sentence: a follower of Islam is called a .
Correct Answer: Muslim, muslim

6 Questions

Q1.
What is the longest river in West Africa? It is over 2600 miles long.
The Congo River
Correct answer: The Niger River
The River Nile
The Zambezi River
Q2.
Match the keywords to their correct definitions.
Correct Answer:trade,the exchange of goods

the exchange of goods

Correct Answer:empire,a group of territories ruled over by one person or group of people

a group of territories ruled over by one person or group of people

Correct Answer:Sahel,a dry region bordering the southern Sahara Desert

a dry region bordering the southern Sahara Desert

Q3.
Which desert can be found on the northern border of West Africa?
Atacama
Gobi
Mojave
Correct answer: Sahara
Q4.
What were the most important trade items in the trans-Saharan trade?
Correct answer: gold
silver
bronze
Correct answer: salt
pepper
Q5.
How much of the gold in medieval Europe came from West Africa?
one third
half
Correct answer: two thirds
three quarters
Q6.
Complete the sentence: the first people to take full advantage of the trans-Saharan trade routes was the Empire.
Correct Answer: Ghana, ghana

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