West Africa (3rd grade)

Virginia Standards of Learning Addressed:

• 3.2 The student will study the early West African empire of Mali by describing its oral tradition (storytelling), government (kings), and economic development (trade).
   

• 3.4 The student will develop map skills by:
  
  a) locating West Africa
  
  b) describing the physical and human characteristics of West Africa
  
  c) explaining how the people of West Africa adapted to and/or changed their environment to meet their needs
   

• 3.6 The student will interpret geographic information from maps, tables, graphs, and charts.
   

• 3.7 The student will explain how producers use natural resources (water, soil, wood, and coal), human resources (people at work), and capital resources (machines, tools, and buildings) to produce goods and services for consumers.
   

• 3.8 The student will recognize the concepts of specialization (being an expert in one job, product, or service) and interdependence (depending on others) in the production of goods and services (in the West African empire of Mali and in the present).