Mansa Musa and Islam in Africa/Crash Course World History

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Subject Area

Social Studies

Grade(s)

8

Overview

John Green teaches you about Sub-Saharan Africa! So, what exactly was going on there? It turns out, it was a lot of trade, converting to Islam, visits from Ibn Battuta, trade, beautiful women, trade, some impressive architecture, and several empires. John not only covers the West African Malian Empire, which is the one Mansa Musa ruled, but he discusses the Ghana Empire and even gets over to East Africa as well to discuss the trade-based city-states of Mogadishu, Mombasa, and Zanzibar. In addition to all this, John considers emigrating to Canada.

Social Studies (2010) Grade(s): 8

SS10.8.13

Compare the African civilizations of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai to include geography, religions, slave trade, economic systems, empires, and cultures.

UP:SS10.8.13

Vocabulary

  • matrilineal
  • trade
  • Dhow
  • interpreting
  • distribution maps
  • timeline
  • economic systems
  • extended family
  • Sub-Saharan
  • Sahel
  • animism
  • Swahili
  • Bantu
  • migrations
  • clan
  • tribe
  • ancestor worship

Knowledge

Students know:
  • How geography, natural resources, movements of people, and trade influenced the early African civilization.
  • The most prevalent spiritual beliefs that existed in the early African civilizations.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Understand textual evidence of primary and secondary sources.
  • Locate places on a map.
  • Describe how geography influenced culture.
  • Create a timeline.
  • Understand map symbols.
  • Interpret distribution maps.
  • Identify and trace trade and migration patterns on a map.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • There were important developments in the early African civilizations of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai.

CR Resource Type

Audio/Video

Resource Provider

PBS

License Type

Custom

Accessibility

Video resources: includes closed captioning or subtitles
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