Africa Center, University of Pennsylvania



EXCITING ETHIOPIA

William Fitzhugh

University of Maryland/Baltimore County, Department of Education, Academic Building IV-A, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD w21250

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USING THE FIVE FUNDAMENTAL THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY

IN ORDER TO DISCOVER ETHIOPIA

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

1. What are examples of each of the five themes that are found in Ethiopia?

2. How does the geography of Ethiopia compare with our region’s geography?

GRADE LEVEL: These lessons can be used with grades 2 through 5.

TIME: Each exploration of the five themes takes one class period, approximately, 30 minutes. The art-based activities will take longer, but are just as necessary.

Introduction to the five themes and selected activities:

` The five fundamental themes help organize our thinking about an area under study. Children learn more and can use their understanding to write effectively when their thoughts are organized. Teach the five fundamental themes to students. This is one way to help them become better students of the social studies.

1. The first fundamental theme is LOCATION. Whenever we give or receive directions, we use the theme of location. This theme can be introduced to students as part of literature based reading. In the story "Lyle, the Crocodile" the author purposely gives an exact location, East 88th St., New York City, as the setting of the story.

2. The second theme is that of PLACE. The author in a text creates a sense of mood by describing a place so vividly that the reader feels as if he/she were there. At an elementary level, "The Secret Garden" is an excellent example of how the theme of place sets the mood for the story.

3. The third geographical theme is one of MOVEMENT. Ideas, concepts, languages, and vocabulary move. English has borrowed many words from other languages. "Mike Mulligan and His Steam shovel" are a good book to use when introducing the concept of movement to students.

4. The ENVIRONNMENT places an increasingly important part of the change man has wrought on the environment and the ways man has adapted to his environment are important parts of geography. "The Great Kapok Tree" is a good book to introduce children to the concept of human environmental interaction.

5. The last theme is that of REGION. "The Story about Ping", written over fifty years ago, is a good literature based text to introduce this concept to children. There are many examples of location, place, environment, and movement in this book, which teach children about life in China.

ACTIVITY: Children complete a web for the five fundamental themes as they read through the text. The web becomes an outline for writing articles (reports) or personal narratives. The web is also useful when constructing travel posters, or travel maps. The web is important in itself in that children organize specific social studies vocabulary, which assists in retention of concepts. Cutting pictures from the National Geographic Magazine and pasting them onto the web can also be done. The photographs in the magazine better show the themes of geography to the children.

OBJECTIVES:

Children will read information about Ethiopia in order to make comparisons between Ethiopia and their own neighborhood.

STRATEGIES:

The unit uses a variety of strategies. Children read and respond to a variety of writing prompts. There are different kinds of data to compare.

MATERIALS:

*The unit includes a text to read about Ethiopia followed by questions for discussion.

*There are activities for incorporating the text with the five fundamental themes of geography which teachers can use for individual assessment or for group projects.

*There are suggestions for small group projects.

EVALUATION:

Activities for written responses are included after the text.

NATIONAL SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS:

I Social Studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture and cultural diversity so that the learner can:

a. Explore and describe similarities and differences in the ways groups, societies, and cultures address similar human needs and concerns

III Social Studies programs should include experiences that provide for study of people, places, and environments so that the learner can:

g. Describe how people create places that reflect ideas, personality, culture, and want and needs as they design homes, playgrounds, classrooms, and the like

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS:

3. How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on the earth's surface

12. The processes, patterns, a and functions of human settlement

13. How the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence curriculum.

FUN THINGS STUDENTS CAN DO WITH

THE FUNDAMENTAL THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY

LOCATION:

1. Before beginning the unit, ask children to draw a free-hand map of Ethiopia and our community. Ask children to locate and label as much information as they know. This is an example of MENTAL MAPPING. It allows the teacher to assess what children already know and what misconceptions they might have.

2. After completing the unit, again ask students to draw a free-hand map of each country. You can use the two sets of maps to assess how much information the children have learned during the unit. Learning to draw free hand maps is an important skill. Remember to introduce the elements (attributes) of a map so that children construct maps correctly.

3. Locate Maryland (or your own point of reference) and Ethiopia on class maps. Relate geography as to differences in points of references.

4. Children encode/decode physical data and political/cultural maps for Ethiopia and Ethiopia. The grade/ability level of each group determines the amount of information. Always reinforce the attributes of a map. Use words like encode, decode, or construct when working with students.

PLACE:

1. Children make Ethiopian post cards to send to a friend. Post cards represent physical or cultural landmarks. Children address the back of the post card and write a one or two sentence note about the landmark on the front. This is a language arts/social studies integrated project.

2. Children construct commemorative postage stamps for each region. A cultural landmark, a physical landmark, an emblem, icon, mascot of a country is suitable. Show children real life examples of Ethiopian postage stamps. Children can design their own currency, too.

3. Use pictures of landmarks from National Geographic Magazines to help children identify man-made (cultural) and natural landmarks from Ethiopia. You can use these pictures for a bulletin board as well.

ENVIRONMENT:

1. Write reports on any of the indigenous plant or animal life found in Ethiopia. This is a good integrated activity for science units.

2. Children investigate an environmental concern in Ethiopia and how Ethiopia has worked to solve the problem. Some concerns are: lack of water, sewage treatment, over grazing, desertification.

MOVEMENT:

1. Children make a list of types of transportation in Ethiopia. They list the people, goods, and services which use each method of transport. Intercity and intra-city transport can be studied.

2. Children locate and label countries from around the world for immigration and emigration. This can be made into a pictograph for an integrated math activity. Statistical data is available for immigration to the US from Ethiopia.

4. Children locate and label places throughout the world, which receive imports from Ethiopia, or countries from which Ethiopia imports goods or services.

REGION:

1. Children construct mobiles for Ethiopia with coat hangers (ala Calder) or hang the pictures on one single string. Each picture should reflect a fundamental theme. Picture from Travel brochures is a good size for this kind of project.

2. Children watch a video of Ethiopia. As they watch they fill in a web using the five themes. They become active viewers of a primary source.

3. Children construct a travel poster for Ethiopia with 3 parts: country name, large illustration, and a descriptive sentence telling why tourists should visit Ethiopia.

4. Children develop a travel poster using one item from each of the five themes. Prior experience using travel brochures is helpful. Travel agencies will give these to you, especially in November when prior editions become obsolete.

DISCOVERING ETHIOPIA RESOURCE SHEET 1: LOCATION

Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in the world. If we fly from Baltimore to Addis Ababa, we travel almost 7,000 miles in a mostly south easterly direction. Ethiopia is located in the northeast region of Africa. This region is often called the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by these countries: Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, and Djbouti. Since the peace treaty with Eritrea, Ethiopia does not have and coastline. Ethiopia is a landlocked country. The absolute location of Ethiopia is 40 degrees East latitude and 10 degrees North longitude. Ethiopia is one of the largest countries in Africa. It has about the same land area as the states of Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. Use an atlas to compare these states with Ethiopia. Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa. The population is estimated top be 85,000,000. This is about the same population as the four most populous states: California, Texas, New York, and Florida.

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EXCITING ETHIOPIA RESOURCE SHEET 2: PLACE

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There is so much that tourists visiting Ethiopia enjoy! There are many natural and man-made landmarks which people think of when they remember their visits to Ethiopia. Natural landmarks were created by nature. Ethiopia is roughly divided into three regions. Each region has distinctive man-made landmarks and natural landmarks. These regions are: Ethiopian Highlands, Great Rift Valley, and the Ogaden.

The Ethiopian Highlands is a plateau region. Elevations vary greatly. It is sometimes called the “Roof of Africa.” The capital city of Addis Ababa has an altitude of 7,000 feet. This area is highly populated. The country’s highest mountain, Ras Dashen, has an altitude of 15, 158 feet. The Blue Nile Gorge, a canyon deeper than the Grand Canyon, is found here. The source of the Blue Nile is Lake Tana which is also the largest lake in the country. The beautiful Blue Nile Falls are called “Tisiat” which means “smoke of fire.”

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The falls on the Blue Nile

The Great Rift Valley was formed through widened of faults along tectonic plates. The Great Rift Valley runs north easterly through the middle of the country. The city of Lalibela is found here. It is famous for its many churches carved out of solid rock. These churches are on UNESCO’s World Heritage site list.

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A rock hewn church in Lalibella

The lowest place in Ethiopia is found at the Dekali Depression. Like Death Valley, in California, or the Dead Sea in Jordan, the Dekali Depression is below sea level. It is also one of the hottest places on earth.

The Ogaden is a region which occupies the southwest part of Ethiopia. It is a semi-arid region. Many Somali people live here.

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On the road far from Addis Ababa

EXCITING ETHIOPIA

RESOURCE SHEET 3: HUMAN-ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTION

Ethiopia has a very large population and is also a large country. Agriculture is the most important industry. Even so, it is difficult to grow enough food to feed a large population. There are several factors which make growing enough food difficult. Erosion of fertile spoil is caused by high rainfall. Much soil flows into the Blue Nile River. Many times in the past years severe drought has hindered crop production. Normally, there is ample rainfall for crop growth. Poor transportation system makes it difficult to take crops to market. Crop yields are low because farming methods are old-fashioned or inefficient. In many semi-arid areas, nomadic herding or grazing of animals is an important form of agriculture.

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Farming is a major industry in Ethiopia.

Another problem is deforestation. More and more forests are destroyed for crop land. Forests are cut for firewood. An increasing population demands more cropland. When people move from rural areas to urban areas, other kinds of problems occur. Many diseases arise due to poor sanitation. Malnutrition also affects disease rates. The life expectancy in Ethiopia is 45 years.

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Traditional farming methods, tilling fertile soil.

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The falls on the Blue Nile show greatly reduced water flow. Water is used for hydro-electric production.

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Rural dirt roads are gradually being replaced with asphalt roadways.

EXCITING ETHIOPIA RESOURCE SHEET 4: MOVEMENT

Ideas, people, and goods all move. Ethiopia is a very old country. Sometimes it is called Abyssinia. Historically, Ethiopia is an important trading center. Trade between Israel and Egypt existed as far back as Biblical times. Many churches have beautiful paintings of Bible stories and pictures of saints. These paintings are done in a very distinctive Ethiopian style. Nowadays coffee is an important export. Livestock and hides are also exported. Ethiopia is a poor country. Most people rely on radio for news and entertainment.

Christianity and Islam are important religions in Ethiopia. Christianity arrived in the fifth century with the conversion of Emperor Ezana. Muslims settled on the Red Sea coast in the 8th century. A large Jewish population once existed. Many of them have immigrated to Israel in the 1980’s.

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Fifty percent of Ethiopians are Christian. Forty percent are Muslims.

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Modern transportation is also supplemented by traditional forms of transportation.

EXCITING ETHIOPIA RESOURCE SHEET 5: REGION

Ethiopia is a country large in area and large in population. It has a long history. The population is diverse. Ethiopia is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic country. The Ethiopian people work together to preserve their national heritage. Over 80 different languages are spoken. Amharic, Tigrinya, Orono, and Somali are the most frequently spoken languages. Ethiopia is a religiously diverse country. Forty percent of the people belong to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Forty-five percent of the people are Muslim. Other religions, including, Judaism, are represented.

Ethiopia is a developing economic region. Eighty five percent of the people are engaged in farming/. Ethiopia has a large rural population. Ninety percent of exports are agriculture. Coffee is the leading export. Ethiopia is a poor country. The average income is $324 per year.

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EXCITING ETHIOPIA RESOURCE SHEET 6: QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION OR USE AS WRITING PROMPTS FOR USE WITH "EXCITING ETHIOPIA”

1. Using a world map and the text, compare the location of Ethiopia and our community.

2. List three kinds of physical landmarks and three kinds of cultural landmarks found in Ethiopia. List some of landmarks for our community. How are these landmarks similar? How are these landmarks different?

3. Describe the weather conditions in Ethiopia. How are they the same or different from weather patterns found in our community?

4. Describe farming practices found in Ethiopia. Describe a rural community near your school. How is farming the same or different in your community?

5. List farm products from Ethiopia. List farm products grown on a farm near our school. In what ways are these products similar or different?

6. Explain transportation networks in Ethiopia. Which of these are found in our community? How has transportation helped make Ethiopia a better place to live?

7. List the ways Ethiopia is an important region. Next to each way list an example.

EXCITING ETHIOPIA RESOURCE SHEET 7:

FIVE FUNDAMENTAL THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY FOR ETHIOPIA

|LOCATION | | |

| | |absolute |

| | |relative |

| | | |

|PLACE | | |

|Man made landmarks | | |

| | | |

|Natural landmarks | | |

| | | |

|MOVEMENT | | |

|ideas | | |

|transportation | | |

|migration | | |

|Import/export | | |

|HUMAN-ENVIRONMENTAL | | |

|INTERACTION | | |

|climate | | |

|resources | | |

|pollution | | |

|REGION | | |

|language | | |

|religion | | |

|Ethnic groups | | |

|Industry/Agriculture | | |

RESOURCE SHEET 8 COMPARING GEOGRAPHY

| |OUR COMMUNITY | ETHIOPIA |

|Land features | | |

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|Water features | | |

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| | | |

|Temperature/climate | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

|Farming | | |

| | | |

| | | |

|Industry | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

EXCITING ETHIOPIA

RESOURCE SHEET 9: COMPARING GEOGRAPHY:

1. Contrast Ethiopia and our community use the data from your chart. Include two ways they are different. Include two ways they are alike. Choose data from different categories.

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2. What are some special land forms and water bodies that make Ethiopia special? Use the atlas to help.

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3. What are three natural landmarks and three cultural landmarks a visitor (tourist) might like to see? Choose one of each and explain why a tourist would want to see them.

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EXCITING ETHIOPIA RESOURCE SHEET 10:

COMPARING CLIMATES OF TWO REGIONS

CATEGORY BALTIMORE/ ADDIS ABABA

Latitude

Climate type

January average temp.

July average temp.

Average rainfall

% Winter rainfall

Altitude

Answer these questions about 2 climates.

1. List three ways climates are similar.

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2. List 2 ways climates are different.

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3. Which region probably needs irrigation for farming? Why?

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EXCITING ETHIOPIA RESOURCE SHEET 11: COMPARING AVERAGE MONTHLY WEATHER

Daily high temperature (degrees C.) number of rainy days

Baltimore /Addis Ababa Baltimore /Addis Ababa

January 6 15 11 3

February 7 16 10 5

March 12 17 12 7

April 18 17 11 10

May 24 18 12 10

June 28 17 11 20

July 3 1 16 11 27

August 29 16 11 26

September 25 16 8 18

October 19 15 8 4

November 13 14 9 1

December 7 14 10 1

1. Make a bar graph for each weather category.

2. Compare daily temperature within Baltimore and Addis Ababa

Describe seasonal weather in Baltimore and Addis Ababa.

3. Compare daily temperature between Baltimore and Addis Ababa. How is seasonal temperature alike? How is it different? How are patterns the same?

4. Repeat questions 2 and 3. This time compare rainy days instead of temperatures.

EXCITING ETHIOPIA MENTAL MAPPING

In this activity each group is asked to write down what they already know about the Ethiopia. This is a kind of mental mapping, sometimes called brainstorming. Brain storming encourages divergent thinking. Accessing prior knowledge is concept most elementary teachers of reading are familiar with. The children brain storm (mentally map) and make a group list. The teacher gives each group an outline map of Ethiopia or Ethiopia to focus their thinking processes. Older students can draw their own freehand outline map to focus their thinking. After brainstorming, each group then takes turns reporting their map of ideas to the whole class. Sometimes, the teacher acts as recorder and writes the entire class's ideas on a chart paper. Mental mapping is important in vocabulary and concept development. It's also important to discover misconception children have and correct these misconceptions during instruction. Mental mapping can also be used as a post-test to see what the children have learned about Ethiopia during the unit.

EXCITING ETHIOPIA USING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS:

WEB

After reading the text and making notes about their reading, children use a

Graphic organizer to display their data. A web is convenient and each group needs to decide which categories will be included in their web. Suggest that the students use the five fundamental themes of geography: location, place, movement, environment, and regions as categories. Or, the social studies concept chart (the ABC's for Ethiopia) hanging in the room will offer many other categories for students to use. Students need to make a group decision concerning the use of categories for their web.

Some examples of web categories are: food, clothing, shelter, adornment, tools, weapons, housing/shelter, transportation, personal possessions, household articles, play, recreation, folk art, fine arts, Language and nonverbal communication, social organization: societies, families, and kinship systems social control: systems and governments institutions, rewards, and punishment economic organizations, trade, exchange, manufacturing, property, division of labor, standards of living, education, religions (From what are Universals of Culture? (Cleveland, Craven, and Danfelser, 1979).

VENN DIAGRAM

Use a Venn diagram to compare what we have learned about Ethiopia or Ethiopia with what we already know about the Chesapeake Bay region of Maryland. We use our own region as a springboard to learn more about other regions. It helps students understand new regions when they have their own community/ neighborhood/ region as a reference point. Each group will present their findings to the class. Classmates are encouraged to listen politely and ask questions.

EXCITING ETHIOPIA

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION AND/OR WRITING PROMPTS

1. Describe the location of the setting of this story.

2. Tell about the, theme of place. How does the author let you know where you are.

3. Describe ways people travel in the story. This is part of the theme of movement.

4. Describe ways people communicate in the story.

5. Describe the desert environment. Tell about ways people have adapted to their environment in this story.

6. Describe the region in the story. You can describe the desert, the way people live, the language they speak, their religion.

7. Make a graphic organizer in order to compare and contrast food. clothing, housing, daily activities of Ali and children in your own neighborhood. Discuss interpretations of your organizer.

8. Locate Ethiopia on the world map. Calculate the distance from our community to Addis Ababa. You can calculate distances from other cities, too.

EXCITING ETHIOPIA MAKING A DIORAMA

Students refer to the illustrations found in trade booths or on line as well as magazine pictures you have in your file.

You need:

12x18 white (or sky blue) paper, 6x18 brown paper,

3x14 yellow paper, 9x12 white paper for cut-outs,

crayons or chalk, scissors, paste

Procedure:

1. The background is white. Children draw and color a cloudless sky with blazing sun.

2. The brown paper is middle ground. Cut the top to look like rolling hills.

3. The yellow paper is foreground. Cut the top to look like gentle rolling fatm fields.

4. On the 9x12 paper draw: a farm character, a

Farm animal, and another animal- maybe a wild one. Cut out these characters and paste them on the middle or foreground. (If you would like you can duplicate drawings of each for your students to color, cut, and paste.)

To assemble:

1. Match the ends of all three sheets and staple together.

2. Match the other ends of all three sheets and staple together.

3. The three sheets will be bowed like an arc. This is what keeps the diorama standing up.

MAPS OF ETHIOPIA

WORLD MAP

1. Use the elements of a map to complete your map.

2. Use your scale of miles to determine the distance from your community to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

3. Use your compass rose to determine the direction you travel in order to arrive in Addis Ababa.

POLTICAL MAP:

1. Add map elements to your map.

2. Label countries bordering ETHIOPIA: KENYA, ERITREA, DJBOUTI, SOMALIA, SUDAN

3. Label these cities: Addis Ababa, Lalibela, Gondar, Dire Dawa, and Harer

PHYSICAL MAP:

1. Add map elements to your map

2. Label: Ras Dashem (15,158 ft.)

3. Label: Denakil Depression (-381 ft.)

4. Label: RED SEA, GULF OF ADEN

5. Label: BLUE NILE, LAKE TANA

6. Label: GRERAT RIFT VALLEY, ETHIOPIAN HIGHLANDS, OGADEN

ETHIOPIAN FOOD

Dining in Ethiopia is characterized by the ritual of breaking "injera" and sharing food from a common plate, signifying the bonds of loyalty and friendship. The traditional way of eating is with fingers. "Injera" is placed on the plate with variety of dishes decoratively arranged around it. A small portion of "Injera" is torn off and wrapped around a mouthful of the selected dish.

"Injera", our staple bread, is a flat bread made of "Teff", a fine grain unique to Ethiopia. "Wot" is dipping sauce which maybe prepared using a variety of meats, fish, and vegetables. "Wot" is cooked with "Berbere" (Ethiopian seasoning prepared from matured red chili pepper and other exotic spices) which may range from very mild to spicy hot. "Alitcha" is more mildly spiced dipping sauce prepared with a variety of meats or vegetables.

Ethiopian dishes are prepared with a distinctive variety of unique spices for an unforgettably striking dimension to exotic cookery. To help you make the best of choice for this truly different and exciting dinning experience we offer the following descriptions:

Berbere : A popular Ethiopian seasoning prepared from red chili peppers, garlic, & other spice. Berbere is sun-dried then mixed with more spices & used in wots.

Nitir Kibe : Another Ethiopian basic, Nitir Kibe is pure clarified butter seasoned with several condiments and used in traditional sauteing.

Kaey Wot : A lively sauce prepared with berbere, nitir kibe & meat, fish or legumes.

Alitcha : A delicately mild sauce made from meat, legumes or beans with garlic, ginger and Ird.

Mitmita : Bird's eye red pepper spiced with cardamom & salt, usually served with Kitfo.

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