World History Honors
Unit 3: Early Modern Africa
Poster Project:
Political and Economic Development in West Africa
Your group will examine the political and economic development of West Africa through four assignments: a
map poster, a timeline poster, a presentation that will share the important information with your classmates, and
a detailed outline of the major developments of the region.
Your main source for determining the necessary information to include on your posters and in your presentation
and outline is Chapters 15 and 22 of the text, but you should supplement the text with additional research as
necessary in order to identify specific locations or dates of key events/developments mentioned in the text.
*Also see Al-Bakri’s account of life in Ghana (on the Documents page)
Map Poster
On one of the half-size sheets of poster board provided to your group in class, you must draw a map of Africa
and within the map of the continent illustrate these major elements as they occurred in West Africa:
Political
-show the boundaries for the major city-states, kingdoms, and/or empires
-show key cities that developed in the early modern era
Economic
-show major trade routes
-identify the most important imports and exports associated with trade in West Africa and where these
items originated
-show the development of trade over time
Cultural
-show the routes by which Islam was introduced
-show the areas in your region in which Islam became prominent
-show the development over time
*clearly label all important information and differentiate the various types of information you are showing
(using colors, a map key, etc.)
Timeline Poster
On one of the half-size sheets of poster board provided to your group in class, you must draw a timeline that
includes all the major events, developments, leaders, etc. associated with West Africa in the early modern era.
-you will need to determine the start and end dates for your timeline based on the specific range of
development/prominence for West Africa
Political
-show the emergence and development of the major city-states, kingdoms and/or empires
-identify the lifespan and actions of major political leaders
-identify important political events
-identify the emergence of major cities
Economic
-identify the introduction of major trade goods
-identify the participation of major traders
-identify important moments in the expansion of trade
Cultural
-show the introduction and spread of Islam
-identify major events or actions associated with Islam’s influence on politics and/or the economy
*use specific dates as often as possible and illustrate some of the events, people, etc. you are showing on the
timeline with pictures
World History Honors
Unit 3: Early Modern Africa
Presentation
In addition to presenting and briefly describing your two posters to your classmates, you will also, in a 15-20
minute presentation, teach your classmates the important information about the political and economic
development of West Africa. You must cover the following topics in your presentation:
-Political Development in West Africa
-emergence/development of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay
-expansion/establishment of kingdoms/empires
-political structure/government
-important rulers and their key activities
-decline of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay
-Economic Development in West Africa
-development of trade
-how established, major trade goods
-impact of trade/wealth on West Africa
-Cultural Development in West Africa
-introduction of Islam
-how introduced, process of African conversion
-influence on politics and/or the economy
*you are free to organize this information in whatever way/order you feel is easiest for you to teach and your
classmates to understand (as it is listed here or by kingdom/empire)
*your presentation will essentially follow the model of our regular class days – you will write the outline of the
topics you will cover in your presentation on the board and your classmates will be able to follow that outline to
take notes
Outline Sheet
Your group will need to make a detailed outline of the information listed above under Presentation. This
outline will be turned in along with the posters, but it can be used by the group before that as the basis for your
presentation to the class.
Assessment
The group project grade will be based on the following:
-the Posters
-each include all necessary information
-general presentation: visual appeal, creativity, color, illustrations
-In-Class Presentation
-includes all necessary information based on the provided topics
-well-organized and coherent
-reference to posters as visual support for presentation topics
-Outline Sheet
-includes all necessary information based on the provided topics
-well-organized and coherent
For each individual, the group grade will be supplemented with a personal assessment based on the following:
-Participation in the creation of the posters, presentation, and outline
-based on group and self-evaluation
-Participation during the in-class presentation