Algonquin College
1385 Woodroffe Ave
Ottawa, Ontario
K2G-1V8
(613)727-4723 ext.5138
Patterns in Human Geography
Grade 8
Provided by Ottawa Carleton District School Board
Last updated: July 2006
All pictures, maps and graphics associated with lesson plans are the property of Algonquin
College, unless otherwise noted or linked. Statistical data and background information has been
collected from the CIA World Factbook, public domain reference materials, and (where identified)
external resources.
Curriculum and Lesson Plans have been created by partner School Boards [as identified]. These
lesson plans and associated resources (photo, video, audio, etc.) are free for use to all teachers
within the partner Boards in the delivery of the Ontario K-12 Curriculum. While every effort has
been made to maintain the accuracy of the information provided, Algonquin College is not
responsible for unintentional data entry errors or omissions.
If you would like to report any errors or corrections for lesson plans, or use copyrighted materials
for purposes other than the Ontario Curriculum please contact:
Expedition Africa at (613)727-4723 ext. 5138 or email expeditionafrica@algonquincollege.com
Renfrew County Catholic
District School Board
Small World Big Picture, Expedition Africa 2006
Table of Contents
Summary of Lesson Plan
Summary of Lesson Plan ................... 2
Overall Expectations .......................... 3

Identify & explain patterns in human
geography and describe how human
activities are affected by these
patterns

Demonstrate an understanding of
employment patterns & trends

Use a variety of geographic
representations, tools, and
technologies to gather, process, and
communicate geographic
information
Specific Expectations ........................ 3
Cross-curricular .................................. 3
Unit Objectives.................................... 4
Motivation ............................................ 4
Lesson Time ........................................ 4
Materials .............................................. 4
Websites .............................................. 4
Instructional Plan................................ 5
Lesson 1&2................................. 5
Lesson 3 ..................................... 5
Lesson 4 ..................................... 5
Lesson 5 ..................................... 5
Lesson 6 ..................................... 6
Lesson 7 ..................................... 6
Lesson 8 ..................................... 6
Lesson 9 ..................................... 6
Lesson 10 ................................... 6
Lesson 11 ................................... 6
This lesson plan may identify specific
resources to support certain activities.
While the expedition team will attempt to
gather all the required resources, we cannot
guarantee that all photo, audio, video will be
captured as listed.
Feedback Page.................................... 7
Grade 8 Patterns in Human Geography, July 2006
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Small World Big Picture, Expedition Africa 2006
Subject: Geography
Level: Grade 8
Unit of study: Patterns Human Geography
Time: Appox. 11 Lessons (50 min. each)
Keywords:
Patterns of settlement: linear, scattered, and clustered
Population distribution
Population density
Land use: residential, recreational, institutional, commercial, industrial, agricultural,
transportation, communication, utilities, open spaces
Birth rate
Death rate
Literacy rates
Urbanization
Rural
Industrialization
Transportation
Improvements in agriculture
Overall Expectations

Identify & explain patterns in human geography and describe how human
activities are affected by these patterns

Demonstrate an understanding of employment patterns & trends

Use a variety of geographic representations, tools, and technologies to gather,
process, and communicate geographic information
Specific Expectations
Understanding Concepts
Developing Inquiry/Research and Communication Skills
Developing Map and Globe Skills
Applying Concepts and Skills in Various Contexts





Formulate questions that synthesize various sources of information and points of
view
Locate relevant information from a variety of sources
Analyse, synthesize, and evaluate data
Produce a variety of maps for specific purposes
Compare the characteristics of developed and developing countries
Cross-curricular
Language Arts (Balanced Literacy approach), Mathematics (data-management),
Technology (Tinkerplots, Excel, Power Points)
Grade 8 Patterns in Human Geography, July 2006
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Small World Big Picture, Expedition Africa 2006
Unit Objectives

Students will learn about the characteristics of developed and developing
countries that make up the continent of Africa.

Students will learn to identify the patterns in human geography and will relate
those patterns to countries visited during the Africa Expedition: Small World Big
Picture.

Students will learn that the countries in Africa differ in many ways. Through
discussion with other students and people who live in Africa, students will learn
about the population issues and characteristics of individual African countries.

Students will learn, from first-hand information, that population trends in African
countries are affected by environmental factors.
Motivation (Hook)
Kick-off of the Africa Expedition and tracking of Ben throughout his expedition.
Lesson Time
11 Lessons (approx. 50 minutes each)
Materials (requirements)
-feed from expedition (Expedition Team and African people)
-images from urban/rural communities
-questions generated by students
-Africa Expedition website
Maps of Africa
Access to Internet
Books about Africa
Population stats
Images of African cities (rural vs. urban)
Access to PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel
Atlas (one for each student/pair)
Websites
Africa Expedition website http://www.algonquincollege.com/africa !
Egypt Sudan Ethiopia Kenya Tanzania -
http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/CIDAWEB/acdicida.nsf/En/JUD-124143925R37
http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/CIDAWEB/acdicida.nsf/En/JUD-217124359NT2?OpenDocument
http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/CIDAWEB/acdicida.nsf/En/JUD-124141017QH6?OpenDocument
http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/CIDAWEB/acdicida.nsf/En/JUD-124142017QPD?OpenDocument
http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/CIDAWEB/acdicida.nsf/En/JUD-21712472NUX?OpenDocument
Grade 8 Patterns in Human Geography, July 2006
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Small World Big Picture, Expedition Africa 2006
Malawi -
http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/CIDAWEB/acdicida.nsf/En/JUD-12414275QTM?OpenDocument
Zambia http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/CIDAWEB/acdicida.nsf/En/JUD-21712544NZC?OpenDocument
Botswana http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/CIDAWEB/acdicida.nsf/En/JUD-220151851RTU?OpenDocument
South Africa - http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/CIDAWEB/acdicida.nsf/En/JUD-217124221NS2?OpenDocument
Lesotho http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/CIDAWEB/acdicida.nsf/En/JUD-124142215QQK?OpenDocument
CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) –
http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/index-e.htm
CIA – World Fact Book - http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
Instructional Plan
Lesson 1&2: Introduction to African Expedition (kick-off/hook)
-introduction to the entire expedition
-mapping of the expedition
-discussion about Africa as made up of different countries
-KWL chart – What do we know about Africa?
What do we want to know about Africa?
What did we learn about Africa?
-focus discussion around human geography – population questions, cities, towns,
villages, school system, etc.
-Post questions to students for critical thinking about the demographics about each
individual African country
-Introduce “Your African Country” project – hand-out criteria and rubric for assessment
Lesson 3: Introduce keywords and issues that we want to focus on during this unit.
(see above keyword list)
-create a living word wall in the classroom based on the key terms you want your
students to know
-now, focus discussion around the 10 countries that Ben visits during the expedition
-MAP the countries, using atlases, map template (Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Malawi,
Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Kenya)
-brainstorm a list of issues that could affect the populations of these countries
-brainstorm a list of potential environmental issues that could affect cities, towns, villages
in these African countries
-create a list of questions that the students could ask Ben about their country
Lesson 4: Urban & Rural development
-view images from African countries based on urbanization and rural populations
-view images from Google Earth looking and focusing on urban and rural areas
Lesson 5: Video-conference preparation
-Students will prepare questions for Ben based on population characteristics/urban vs.
rural/developing countries
Grade 8 Patterns in Human Geography, July 2006
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Small World Big Picture, Expedition Africa 2006
Questions for people living in Africa may be:
Do you live in an urban or rural area?
How many people live in your city/town/village?
Are there many young people living in your city/town/village?
Would you prefer to live somewhere else? Why?
How does where you live affect the way to travel around your city?
Lesson 6: Population pyramids
-teach a lesson about population pyramids
-mini-assignment: Divide students into pairs/threes, each student is responsible to
generate a population pyramid for their assigned African country
-use this website to help illustrate population pyramids to your students
http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbpyr.html
Lesson 7: Scrapbook class time
-give students class time to work on
Lesson 8: Graphing Population Data
-Students will be responsible for generating a graph of population growth/decline for the
10 countries in Africa
-data will be provided by teacher
-Computer lab time to generate graph using Microsoft Excel
Lesson 9: Population Density
-teach lesson on population density
-calculate population density of Canada, Ottawa, etc.
-have students find the information necessary to calculate the population densities of the
10 countries visited during the Africa Expedition
Lesson 10: Smart School Connected
-connection made with Smart School students to discuss issues related to Geography
-exchange in information: Canada for Egypt based on population density
Lesson 11: Presentation of Scrapbook & information to class
Grade 8 Patterns in Human Geography, July 2006
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Small World Big Picture, Expedition Africa 2006
Feedback Page
Please provide us with your feedback on this lesson and/or its available resources. We
welcome suggestions for improvements, additional methodologies, and/or new
resources you may have found to support the lesson(s).
If you would like to submit your own lesson plan(s) or curriculum idea(s) please contact
your school board representative listed at http://www.algonquincollege.com/africa
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Lesson Plan Title:
Grade 8 Patterns in Human Geography, July 2006
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