We begin week 4 before bedtime and after a long hot afternoon at the beach, so tonight is a short one but I’m excited for this week. Some of my favorite places to visit are in Africa–Egypt, Kenya and Morocco. I think the scouts will really enjoy learning about these fascinating countries.
We start with the pledge that CZ decided last week we should add to the beginning of each meeting. Next we turn to our globe and our children’s atlas to get started. We learn that there are about 50 countries in Africa. The girls guess how many different languages are spoken there–CZ says 25 and AZ thinks it could be 51. The correct answer? 2000-3000! They are amazed.
We read about the extremes of climate and terrain in Africa. The vast desserts, wild grasslands and swampy rainforests, the world’s highest sand dune (Erg Tifernine in the Sahara is 1,300 feet tall), the highest peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,341 feet), and the hottest place on earth–Al’Aziziyah in Libya reaches 136 degrees! This seems unimaginable to us as it was just under 100 degrees in our town today and we can’t imagine it getting any hotter.
From the book Explore the World of Man-Made Wonders we learn a bit about the pyramids of Giza in Egypt. (The kids ask again to hear the story about the time the woman in front of me almost got stuck in the very narrow and dark passage of The Great Pyramid.) We read that 2,300,000 blocks of stone were used to build the pyramid over 4,000 years ago. Each block weighed about 6,000 pounds! Groups of men pulled the blocks up long ramps to reach the top. Inside the pyramid is a maze of passageways, one leading to a chamber that housed the sarcophagus of Pharaoh Cheops and others leading the empty chambers that were meant to trick tomb raiders. The Pharaoh’s chamber was filled with treasures, food and furniture because the Ancient Egyptians believed that the dead could bring these things with them into their afterlife.
From the book Egypt:Enchantment of the World we learn about hieroglyphics, the Egyptian alphabet that dates back to 3000 BC. Pictures stood for different sounds and by 300 BC their alphabet contained more than 700 symbols. AZ gives it a try:
From DK’s Africa we read a bit about the ways that different African cultures use jewelry, colorful fabrics, face paint and tattoos to adorn themselves.
The beautiful and colorful beaded jewelry of the Maasai tribe immediately catches AZ’s eye. But CZ can’t look when she seems that some tribes use a piece of bone or stones to stretch out their ear lobes and lips! Ouch! Actually, the books says that it does not hurt at all, but she is still cringing.
On that note we decide to call it a night but look forward to our own adventures in Africa this week 🙂
Globe Scouts 