Trade routes throughout West Africa
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe the geography of West Africa and the Ghana Empire.
Key learning points
- West Africa is rich in gold deposits.
- The Sahel is an area between the Sahara Desert and the savannah.
- Important trade routes existed from North Africa through to the Far East.
- These trade routes also stretched across the Sahel.
- Powers like the Ghana Empire profited from these trade routes.
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
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.
Teacher tip
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.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What was the main religion in the Middle East and North Africa during the Medieval period?
Q2.Complete the sentence: medieval Christians called the city of Jerusalem and its surrounding area the __________ land.
Q3.Which definition best describes an empire?
Q4.The religion of Islam was revealed to which of the following?
Q5.Place these events into chronological order.
Q6.Complete the sentence: a follower of Islam is called a .
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is the longest river in West Africa? It is over 2600 miles long.
Q2.Match the keywords to their correct definitions.
Q3.Which desert can be found on the northern border of West Africa?
Q4.What were the most important trade items in the trans-Saharan trade?
Q5.How much of the gold in medieval Europe came from West Africa?
Q6.Complete the sentence: the first people to take full advantage of the trans-Saharan trade routes was the Empire.
To help you plan your 7 history lesson on: Trade routes throughout West Africa, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 history lesson on: Trade routes throughout West Africa, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 history lessons from the Medieval West Africa: why was medieval Mali so successful? unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.