I am lost without map aids but fear the answers to my questions would not be there.

In reviewing my rhetoric student's geo assignment for week one, I find I am not certain of the answers. Anyone able to help?

One page 21 of Student Activities page, under Geo, ques 2, students are asked What European Country controlled the most territory worldwide? I think the answer is Great Britain??

Who ran a close second? France?

Third? Germany?

Question three asks, what kind of political structures dominated Africa? Although I saw the map in the supplements page and I read through the teacher's notes I am not sure of the answer to this question since it asks what kind of political structure dominated? I think I would answer colonialism in that most of Africa was carved into colonies by several European powers. Is that right?

On Ques. 4: how were borders determined? By trade routes?

what relationship did these boundaries bear to tribal divisions? I think I remember from last year, no relationship (which causes problems with local tribes)

What european power was best placed to gain modern advantage from its African holdings? Great Britain?

Finally...what political structures dominated South Africa?? No idea!!

Thanks for any help you can give me!

Lisa in AZ

Dear Lisa,

Let's see if I can help you some.

1. You're right about Great Britain. As we say in our Teacher's Notes, Geography background, if you're coming from Year 3, one of the goals of this week's questions (goal #2 in the last paragraph there on page 71) is for students to review the large colonial empires of the world, and Great Britain's topped the list. Famously, as the world turned each day, "the sun never set on the British Empire"--it's territory spanned the globe.

2. Yup; France was the close second!

3. Germans (especially in Africa) or the Dutch (mostly in Asian islands) would probably be third. The goal here is to notice that these two European nations are not the ones one thinks of first as having large colonial holdings.

4 and 5: Yup and yup. You're on the right track. It's meant to be a broad question about African government: colonial imperialist holdings; they were determined by European diplomats in Europe and cut right across ethnic and political realities in Africa. Good job!

6. You're also right about who stood to gain the most: Britain. Both her position re: trade routes (esp. Suez canal) AND the natural resources (gold and arable land in South Africa) were important in modern times.

7. South America: independent nations (in contrast to Africa)! These were no longer colonies since the time of Simon Bolivar and the Monroe Doctrine, whom we studied early in Year 3.

You were doing great! These are both review questions and thinking ones: trying to get students to think concretely about the relationships that geography affected!

Marcia
Thank you so much! Hey....I guess I learned some geography last year right along with my kids!! LOL!

Lisa in AZ

ps- loving the DE changes and SO happy TOG has found a way to keep going. Praise God!