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1. Sahel
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2. Savannah
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3. Rain forests
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4. desert
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A. Moist densely wooded areas
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B. a strip of land that divides the desert from wetter areas.
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C. open grassland with scattered trees
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D. a giant sea of sand

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Africa is a big place…..
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It is the second largest continent on earth …
In eastern Africa rifts formed the southeastern edge.
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Rifts- are long, deep valley formed by the movement of the earth.
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Sub Sahara Africa- or Africa south of the
Sahara.

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The main rivers in Africa are
Congo
Zambezi
Niger

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Along the Niger in West Africa civilizations arose.
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The Niger river is Africa’s great river it is a source of water, food and transportation.

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In the middle section of the Niger river are marshes. This is called inland delta.

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What is Africa’s great river?
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A. Congo
B. Niger
C. Zambezi

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1. A typical West African family was an extended family.
Usually the extended family included the father, mother, children and close relatives in one household.
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There was also another type of group. They were called age-sets.
Age-sets- men who had been born within the same two or three years formed special bonds.

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Family-Loyalty to family and age-sets helped the people of the village work together.
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Women- Like the men the women worked very hard. They farmed, collected firewood, ground grain, and carried water along with raising children.

Traditional beliefs- was importance of family.
Another common belief- had to do with nature.
This is called animalism.
Animalism- the belief that bodies of water, animals, trees, and other natural objects have spirits.

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Long, deep valleys formed by the movement of the earth’s crust are called
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A. chasms
B. rifts
C. Volcanoes
D. earthquake zones

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West Africa -was rich with fertile soils and minerals , especially gold and iron.
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Other places in Africa had a lot of salt.
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Ghana became a powerful state because it gained control of the valuable routes.
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The population of Ghana increased.

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Around 500 BC- west Africa made a discovery that would change the region.
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They found out they could heat different kinds of rock to get a hard metal.
By heating the iron again they could shape it into different things, like tools.

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The earliest people to use this technology was the Noks.
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The Noks used iron to make iron farm tools.

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1. who were the people used this new technology?
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Nigerians
Noks
Indians

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West Africa became to trade with others that were thousands of miles away.

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West Africans used to venture out into the
Sahara to trade.
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They used Caravans to to make the trip.
Camels were a faster resource they can travel in months.
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It was dangerous in the desert, thieves would try to attack and caravans would lose they way.

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1. West Africa’s salt and gold mines became a great source of wealth.
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Camels carried salt from mines of the Sahara to the south to trade for gold.

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1. The belief that natural objects have spirits is called.
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A. animism
B. vegetism
C. animalism
D. naturalism

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Ghana lay between the Sahara desert and the forests, that is why it was a good place to trade.
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Salt came from the north (Sahara)
Gold came from the south (along the Niger).
They liked gold for its beauty and salt to put in foods.
Silent barter is a process in which people exchange goods without ever contacting each other.

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Because of all the trade, Ghana became powerful. Their armies became strong.